ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ᴍᴇ ғᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ, ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ 6,126 ᴡᴏʀᴅs, ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙʀᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ! ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪs sᴏᴍᴇ ᴘʟᴀʏғᴜʟ ʙᴀɴᴛᴇʀ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ᴋɪʟʟᴜᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴠᴀʟᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ, sᴏ ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴜʏs ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ɪᴛ.

ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ sᴇᴇ ᴠᴀʟᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ's ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ɢᴏ ᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ғɪɴᴀʟʟʏ ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇᴅ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴇʀ ɴᴇɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇʀ ᴀʙɪʟɪᴛʏ ɪs ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴀ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪɴᴋɪɴɢ.

ʙᴜᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ sᴀɪᴅ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ, ᴛʜɪs sᴛᴏʀʏ ɪs ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ sʟᴏᴡ-ʙᴜʀɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴜɴʟɪᴋᴇ ᴍᴀɴʏ ᴏғ ᴍʏ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ sᴛᴏʀɪᴇs ɪᴛ's ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ᴠᴇʀʏ sʟᴏᴡ sʟᴏᴡ-ʙᴜʀɴ.

ɴᴏᴡ, ᴛʜᴇ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅsʜɪᴘ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ᴠᴀʟᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴋɪʟʟᴜᴀ ɪs ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴘʟᴀʏғᴜʟ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴀʟsᴏ ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴀʀɢᴜᴍᴇɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇs.

ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ʏᴇʟʟ ᴀᴛ ᴍᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ, ᴋᴜʀᴀᴘɪᴋᴀ sᴇᴇs ᴠᴀʟᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ᴀs ᴀ ʏᴏᴜɴɢᴇʀ sɪsᴛᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴇғɪɴɪᴛᴇʟʏ sʜᴏᴡs ɪɴ ʜɪs ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ.

ᴀʟᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ ᴠᴀʟᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ᴅᴏᴇs ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀɴ ɪɴɴᴏᴄᴇɴᴛ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴄʀᴜsʜ ᴏɴ ᴋᴜʀᴀᴘɪᴋᴀ ᴀᴛ ғɪʀsᴛ, ɪᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ɢᴏᴇs ᴀᴡᴀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴍᴇᴀɴ, ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴄʀᴜsʜ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴍ?

ʙᴜᴛ, ɪᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ɢᴏ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ᴀɴᴅ, ᴏғ ᴄᴏᴜʀsᴇ, ᴍᴜᴄʜ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ sʜᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴅᴇᴠᴇʟᴏᴘ ғᴇᴇʟɪɴɢs ғᴏʀ ᴋɪʟʟᴜᴀ.

ᴀɴʏᴡᴀʏ, ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ!

ꕥ

ఌ

As the man talked, Lippo's words bounced and echoed all over the secluded area once more through the speakers of the tower.

'The Hunter Exam Committee has officially hired them as examiners. You will be fighting against six of them, the battles will be one-on-one. Each person may only fight once and you are free to use any method you'd like. There will be no draws. A winner is declared when the opponent admits defeat'

'You may pick your order',The first prisoner said.

His cloak had already vanished, thrown aside as well as his handcuffs being broken and the prisoner had a muscular body tone, scars coating his head and he had very odd feeling about him.

'It's majority rule, so secure at least three wins and you may pass. The rules are simple'

'Well, I prefer straightforward rules',Killua shrugged and seemed quite unfazed by the entire ordeal of fighting prisoners.

'However, the actual fights will not be quite so simple',Lippo continued,'The prisoners sentence will be reduced by one year, for every hour they delay the applicants here. In other words, their goal is to also buy time'

'I understand',Kurapika stated, midwinter eyes ebbed ever so gently with cement, accentuating every feature and glistened like stars melted in platinum,'Then our own goal is to finish this within seventy-two hours. Time will be critical within these battles'

'Alright, I'm up first',The bald man declared, enthusiastically,'Choose who will go first'

'What should we do?',Killua asked, clicking his tongue,'They said that we can use any method'

Looking at each other, the group tried to decide who would go first and Valentine prepared to raise her hand, but was stopped by a steel-like grip, gently keeping her hand in place, causing her to look up; gold and blue connecting.

As they connected eyes, Killua sent the girl a look, slowly shaking his head and she frowned deeply, before looking towards the others as he let go of her hand.

Even though the tsundere personalitied boy didn't want to admit it, he was worried for his blonde-haired female companion and frowned at the thought of his friend getting hurt.

'Besides, we don't know what tricks they have up their sleeves',Kurapika added thoughtfully.

"I'll go"

Everyone turned towards the golden eyed girl and surprise coated their faces.

'Valentine?!'

The young girl took a step forward, stretching out to prepare herself and her body untangled from the darkness.

Glancing over her shoulder, she could see the worry that flooded over their faces and she sent them all a reassuring smile.

"You don't have to worry about me, I'm tougher than I look",Valentine reassured them, a bright smile lighting up her soft and angelic features,"I'll act as bait and try to figure out what they're planning. But.. just don't be too upset if I have to end up surrendering"

'Wait, hold on. Kurapika's right, kid',Leorio retaliated, furrowing his eyebrows and was skeptical about the simple challenge the prisoner had proposed,'You can't be sure that his challenge doesn't hold any traps'

A sigh passed through small, bubblegum pink lips and golden eyes stared at the people in front of her, her eyes shinning with determination.

"The goal of this challenge is to finish quickly, right?",Valentine stated and her soft eyes stared at each and every one of them, gleaming with emotion,"Please, trust me"

The four were still unsure about the decision and looked at one another, giving each other meaningful glances as they slowly began to agree with the golden eyed girl.

Time is of the essence.

'Be safe, Valentine',Kurapika said softly, approving of the young girl's courageous decision.

'Good luck..',Leorio muttered and turned away, as if he were afraid of her being injured.

'Are you sure, Valentine?',Gon questioned, his large orbs reflecting back his worry and the look on his face just screamed worry for his friend,'If not, then I can g-'

A low hum left her lips as she placed her hand on the boy's head and even though she was a few inches shorter, she just about reached the soft trusses of hair as she gently pat his head, the bright smile never leaving her face.

Gently taking the small bird that clung to Valentine's shoulder, Gon held the baby blue bird in his hands, gently petting his head with a bright smile.

"I'll be just fine, Gon. Like I said, I'm stronger than I look",Valentine cooed in a soothing tone, trying to comfort him and received an approving nod from the boy, a plank reaching out to the arena.

This allowed her to step on it and make her way towards the arena surrounded by isolation, gusts of wind occasionally flying up from the emptiness below.

On the other hand, a scoff filled the air and Valentine turned her head, watching as Killua shoved his hands into his pockets. If he were feeling any concern, nothing gave it away and he didn't seem interested in anything going on.

'Good luck then, I guess. You're gonna need it if you're going up against a brute like him'

A light giggle broke through her lips, a look of mischief flashed within her eyes and Valentine watched as Killua slightly straightened his posture, a look of intrigue filling his gaze before it quickly vanished.

A light hearted grin spread itself across her lips and Valentine sent a meaningful wink towards the snowy-haired boy, watching as he quickly looked away; a rosy pink coating his cheeks.

"Of course, Snow White",Valentine teased with a grin, her eyes shining like stars in the night sky.

An irritated scowl formed on Killua's face and she could almost see the vein popping out of the skin of his forehead.

'Did you just—... Well you look like Goldilocks, you idiot'

A dramatic and playful gasp broke through her lungs and Valentine placed a hand on her chest, a playful smile on her lips.

"Oh, how you wound me, Killua",Valentine stated and feigned a look of hurt.

An eye roll was the last thing she saw of Killua, giving him a small wave and she lowly laughed to herself, a glint sparkled within her eyes which went unnoticed by her friends. Once she reached the arena, Valentine quickly observed the man's appearance and tried to figure out who she was fighting against.

Based on strength, he could clearly outmatch the small girl and so, attacking him would be impulsive and reckless. But, based on speed, it was quite clear that Valentine had him beat and so, maybe, she could use that to her advantage.

'So, how should we fight?',The prisoners question broke Valentine from her train of thoughts and compared to her, he had a towering build; it would be tough to break through without sheer force unless you were willing to break and bleed,'I propose a death match, unless a little girl like you can't handle that'

The smirk riding gradually up the corner of his lips earned a small head tilt and a light, innocent hum as her bright eyes lightly blinked, seeming unamused or unfazed by his name calling.

"Okay",Valentine responded, her lips breaking out into a blinding smile and her eyes crinkled slightly.

Choking on his saliva, it seemed that Leorio was the only one affected by her simple response.

'V-Valentine, are you crazy!'

Ignoring the older man's shouts, Valentine tilted her head and stuck out her tongue, lightly licking her lips; seeming quite unfazed by everything, if anything, she seemed too innocent to even be fighting.

"Should we begin?"

The strange thing about the girl that all of the prisoners could see was that she didn't hold a fighting stance or martial arts pose, but she just simply stood there and it intrigued Lippo; who was watching the match behind camera's.

'Oh, with pleasure',A sickly twisted smile made it's way onto the man's face and the atmosphere changed.

He made the first move and charged forward, his arm outstretched with the subtle intent to tightly grip her neck. However, even though he expected to crush her windpipe, the small girl disappeared before his very eyes and he only made harsh contact with the ground.

The only sign that the girl was ever there was the small cloud of dust that hung in the air.

'Where did she...?',The prisoner questioned and his eyes widened.

Appearing behind him from a blurred apparition, Valentine landed a blow to the back of his neck and used the extra momentum to push off of the same spot with her opposite foot, taking the man aback.

A slight cough broke through the man's vocal chords from the unexpected attack and even though it was quite a thought-filled attack, it barely did any damage to the man and only winded him for a brief moment.

The blonde haired girl slid across the floor and dug her fingers into the ground, slowly coming to a stop as she stared up at the man, her eyes glimmering with intensity.

With a booming battle cry, the man charged at her again and missed once more. It was really beginning to thin his patience.

Anger protruded through a vein on the side of his head and Valentine smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hi there"

Watching as the man's eyes turned towards her, Valentine sent him a small wave, the unbothered and kind expression on her face sent the man into an anger-filled rage and he propelled himself at her again; but missed once more.

So, she did outmatch him in speed.

As she was thinking, a flash of white invaded her vision and her pupils dilated, time moving slowly in her eyes, before her reaction time kicked in. Grabbing his wrist as quickly as she could, Valentine jumped off the ground just in the nick of time as his other arm swung towards her and in mid-air, she landed on his arm; the soles of her shoes digging into his arm and with as much strength as she could muster, she leapt back.

Landing on the other side of the arena, beads of sweat fell from her forehead and her chest quickly rose and fell with each breath; her breathing coming out in quick pants.

A small pain spread through her wrist and Valentine glanced down, watching as an array of black and purple began to coat her pale skin, causing the blonde to purse her lips, looking back up at the prisoner.

Watching as the girl's jaw clenched in anger, the prisoner watched as she disappeared once more and so, he tried looking around for the blonde she-devil.

A brute force slammed into the side of the man's head, a tang of blood coated his tastebuds as his neck snapped to the side and blood sprayed past his lips, a few drops falling to the ground.

Watching as his hand came towards her, the girl held up her hands but a harsh hit still fell upon her cheek and she was sent flying back, her body rolling momentarily before she pushed her feet off of the ground and flipped back, her feet harshly hitting her ground; a blinding flash of pain spreading from her wrist causing a small hiss to break past her lips.

Looking back up, a low growl of anger slipped past her lips and she charged forward once more, one of her eyes glowing momentarily.

Swiping at the ground with her foot, the blonde kicked up a cloud of dust and a small cough echoed through the air, a cloud surrounding the man as he rubbed at his eyes, trying to get rid of the sting of pain the dirt had caused.

Racing forward, Valentine kicked a pebble forward towards the left of the man and watched as he blindly turned that way; distracted.

Pushing forward, the blonde appeared on the right side of him and swung her foot forward, a rough hit bashing against the side of his jaw.

A quick reaction came from the prisoner and his arm swung towards her, causing the girl's body to fly across the ground, a small yell of pain leaving her lips as the rough stones of the ground dug into her body.

'Valentine's going to forfeit',Kurapika spoke up, studying the girl's body language and could see the pain that flashed through her eyes, even though her face was void of any emotion.

Everyone's eyes turned towards Kurapika and they silently wondered how he could tell.

'He's right',Killua said, causing everyone's gaze to turn towards him as he studied Valentine's body posture,'She may have him beat in speed and stamina, but having hurt her wrist when she blocked his hit, it's starting to put a damper on her. Her speed is starting to slow down'

Looking back towards the young girl, everyone saw the breathlessness she exhibited from leaping and running, the building sweat on her forehead was more apparent now as it fell down her cheek.

Feeling the warm and sticky sensation of something rolling down her skin, Valentine slowly reached up and gently wiped under her nose, smudging the substance as she pulled her hand back; seeing her blood coating the pale skin of her fingers.

Looking back up, Valentine gently touched her wrist and a blinding sensation of pain flowed through her veins, causing a light wince to pass on her features.

"I surrender"

The man turned around and gave her a menacing glare, which soon turned into a dark chuckle; unbothered to hide his amusement from the so-called death match. Even though he'd hate to admit it, the young girl had put up quite a good fight up until the end.

Unfazed by his nature, Valentine patiently waited for the metal plank to reach out and safely reunited herself with her friends.

Leorio's mouth was widely hung open as he tried to process the match inside of his head and a look of disappointment was on his face.

'Why would you surrender?',Leorio questioned loudly, trying to process the match in his head and looked towards the small blonde,'You were in the lead, weren't you?'

Lightly shaking her head, Valentine disagreed with his statement and this caused the older male to stare at her, his eye twitching in anger.

"Time is the aim of this game, Leorio",Valentine stated, before turning her gaze towards the man who was her opponent,"He was going to crush my windpipe so that I wouldn't be able to surrender and then, he'd torture me to pass the time"

Giving the girl a small smirk, he sauntered back to the tunnel where the other mysterious prisoners waited for them ominously.

Exhaling wearily, Valentine returned to the area alit with the flames of the candles and leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down it as she let out a slow, shaky breath, keeping a gentle grip on her wrist and felt the slight tickle as blood slowly fell down her nose in a straight path, coating her skin.

Having her hand pulled up close to her chest; keeping it out of sight, Valentine looked up at the others and a bright smile pulled at her lips.

"I'm sorry about the awful start, guys",Valentine apologized, her cheery attitude showing through her voice,"But, I know that you guys will have much better luck than I did! And I'll be cheering you all on"

With the typical happy expression on her face, a light blush coated pale cheeks with color and Killua looked away, a scoff breaking past the barrier of his lips.

'Don't go saying stuff like that, you weirdo'

A light chuckle left Valentine's lips and she only smiled brighter, the color of a rose coating her cheeks as blood hurriedly bustled through her veins, her face heating up.

'Ah, well..',Leorio trailed off and bashfully rubbed the back of his neck.

Hearing footsteps gently making their way towards her, Valentine looked up causing grey and gold to connect, a small smile spreading it's way onto Kurapika's lips as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder; a calm and impressed look on his face.

'You did well, Valentine'

'Yeah!',Gon agreed honestly, quickly bobbing his head up and down in a nod.

Smiling at her friends, Valentine couldn't help but feel a spark of gratefulness light within her chest.

Slowly walking towards Valentine, Gon held out his hand and the blonde slowly reached up, watching as Zeus jumped from the boy's hand, gently landing in her palms.

'It's my turn now!',Gon exclaimed happily, walking towards the edge and waited for the bridge to come across.

After that, the next prisoner was released and he was skinny with shirt black hair, going by the name Sedokan. This time, Gon had eagerly volunteered to fight him, promising himself that he wouldn't let his friend's down.

ꕥ

As Leorio finished wrapping the ace bandage around Valentine's wrist, he went to his suitcase and took out an ice pack, gently handing it to the young girl.

Meanwhile, Gon and the prisoner had arranged a rather interesting battle and since his opponent was physically weak, whereas Gon himself was mentally weak, they both agreed on a simple game to play.

Both of them would light a candle at the same time and whichever fire went out first, would be determined the loser.

'Now, decide',Sedokan took out two candles, one was short while the other was tall and it clearly already made the game unfair in some way, neither applicants had expected that due to the shock coating their faces,'Press O for the long one, press X for the short one. The majority wins'

Leorio's eyes widened.

'We're meant to choose?'

A small sigh left Valentine's lips and she itched at the bandage wrapped around her wrist.

"Maybe he tampered with the longer one, since most people would pick that one since it takes longer to burn"

'Or he knows that we'd pick that then we'd pick the short one instead, so he would tamper with the short one',Kurapika argued in a calm and reasoning tone.

'Damnit',Leorio cursed under his breath.

Turning towards his friend's, Gon's bright eyes shone against the light being illuminated by the candles.

'Guys, which candle should I pick?',Gon yelled out.

Everyone discussed the possibility of which candle could have been tampered with and Leorio pointed out that this was clearly a trap.

Closing his eyes, Kurapika took a moment and pondered over the situation.

Looking down towards Zeus, Valentine gave the little bird a bright smile and feeling someone sit down next to her, a hum of confusion left her lips as she looked up.

Eyes the color of ice connected with eyes of molten gold, the rays of the sun and the waves of the ocean clashing together as one.

'How's your hand?',Killua questioned.

Hearing him speak up, Valentine tilted her head and her lips parted momentarily; his voice was as quiet as the wind and as strong as a boulder.

Lightly shrugging her shoulders, eyes of molten gold glanced down at the bandaged limb and gently touched her sore hand, flinched away as a sting of pain zapped through her body.

"It hurts a little bit, but I'm alright",Valentine cheerfully explained, looking back up at the ocean eyed boy and smiled brightly.

Eyes of ice looked down at her injured hand and a frown tugged down his lips. Slowly reaching forward, Killua quickly changed his mind and hurriedly pulled his hand back, resting them in his lap.

ꕥ

After Gon had won his fight, Tonpa had gone next, but just was the man was going to fight, he immediately forfeited and lost them a few hours.

Which had clearly pissed off Leorio.

ꕥ

'Alright, I'll go',Kurapika notified his friends, lifting and sinking one foot forward, his chest was unintentionally puffed out and his build was lean.

Knowing that would take a miracle for someone like Kurapika to be defeated by one of these prisoners so easily, Valentine gave the blonde smile of encouragement.

The next match was between him and a prisoner who was still cloaked, though judging by his fists, the man's blue skin was definitely inhuman.

"Good luck, Kurapika",Valentine cheered gleefully and brightly smiled at the teen as she stood up, walking back towards the group.

A small smile tugged at the edge of the blonde's lips and his grey eyes locked onto her mystically golden gaze.

It was no surprise, however, that the once brightened atmosphere turned tense and dark again. When the prisoner finally revealed himself, it showed a man with a horrid body and blue skin, causing Valentine's eyes to widen at the sight.

'That's one freaky body..',Leorio muttered.

Nodding in agreement at his statement, Valentine and Killua stared at the man; one with horror and the other with boredom.

'Look here! I've killed nineteen people, but it bugs me that nineteen is such an uneven number. I'm so glad I've gotten to meet number twenty',The prisoner bragged and pointed to his chest, revealing a row of tattoos.

Tilting her head, Valentine furrowed her eyebrows and deeply frowned.

Who would keep count like that?

'Now we have a serial killer?',Leorio stated nervously and Valentine could tell that the man was lying.

She could hear his heartbeat from where she stood.

As the man laughed, Kurapika kept a calm expression the whole time and softly shrugged; nonchalantly.

'Okay',Kurapika stated calmly.

A surprised look took over the prisoners face and he looked at Kurapika, seeing that he didn't have an ounce of fear coating his expression.

'You can decide how we settle this contest',Kurapika calmly stated,'I'll agree with your choice'

'O-oh.. you've got balls',The prisoner laughed and seemed quite unsettled by Kurapika's calm demeanor.

The prisoner continued to stall and set rules for the match, all while Kurapika calmly agreed to them.

Soon enough, the battle began and as ordered by the prisoner, the blonde discarded his tabard revealing a white tunic and pants, which the tunic had been tucked into.

Feeling heat rise to her face, Valentine's lips parted and her eyes widened as her heart madly pounded within her chest.

As her heart pounded against her rib cage, Valentine dramatically fell back and held a hand to her chest, feeling as she fell into someone; causing them to quickly stop her and themselves from falling to the ground.

'H-Hey, what are you doing, moron!',A certain tsundere's voice floated into the girl's ears.

Studying the girl in his arms, Killua noticed the red that painted the soft, pale skin of her cheeks and saw the love struck look on her face, causing him to glance up, noticing what; or rather, who, had put her in the state she was in.

Kurapika.

"That was so hot..",The young and innocent blonde muttered, causing Gon to look over at the two in confusion, tilting his head at the sight.

A strange feeling that he had never felt before, engulfed Killua's entire being and he scowled, roughly flicking the dramatic girl's head, causing a small yelp of pain to leave her lips.

The feeling felt like a raging fire that burned everything in it's path and consumed his heart as it rapidly beat within the cavern of his chest, a strange pain filling the void.

The scowl on Killua's lips deepened as he tried to get the girl off of him and to no avail, so he huffed, rolling his eyes as he sat back, leaning against the wall behind him.

The prisoner made his first move, launching himself into the air and landed a punch, causing Kurapika to fly backwards, avoiding the large punch which created a large dent of the ground. Small pieces of rubble flew up from the ground, a chuckle breaking through the man's lips and he turned around, showing off a certain tattoo on his bare back; the sly smirk on his face would soon be wiped away as he was unaware of the turn of events that were about to occur.

'A spider with twelve legs..',Leorio trailed off as Valentine's eyes widened.

Quickly sitting up, Valentine felt the rage that slowly began to build in her chest and her shock was present on her face, feeling Killua's confused gaze.

"It's a symbol that symbolizes the notorious band of thieves, the Phantom Troupe",Valentine continued, her voice gradually growing quiet.

'Really?',Gon asked, never hearing of the notorious band.

'Definitely, they're infamous',Leorio confirmed, shaking in his boots,'I heard about them straight from Kurapika'

A deep frown formed on Valentine's lips and she stared off, unaware of the blue eyes that studied her.

She had seen the tattoo before and it was nothing like the fake the prisoner had on his back. This prisoner was nothing but a bluffing coward.

As soon as her thoughts ended, Valentine watched as Kurapika knocked the man to the ground and caused a dent much larger than the one the prisoner had created. But, the young girl had also noticed the beautiful, glowing scarlet hue that his eyes had turned; eyes the color of lava that was deep within the deeps of the cavern and Valentine was in awe of the beauty.

She had heard from her mother about when she had met a man from the Kurta clan, she had told Valentine the stories of his beautiful scarlet eyes and how, after years of friendship, she had suddenly lost contact with the man.

From beside her, Killua let out a low whistle at the gallantry displayed by the Kurta during his fight.

'Keep this in mind... first, the real Phantom Troupe members have numbers engraved on the spiders back. Second, they don't bother to keep count of how many people they've killed. And third, never mention the Troupe again',Kurapika threatened lowly and turned his head towards the prisoner, eyes dauntingly gleaming like rubies,'If you do, I'll kill you'

The body of the prisoner remained immobile and it didn't take long for the plank to reach out to the arena, allowing the blonde boy to safely cross.

His eyes were drawn shut, giving his fellow comrades the uncertainty of whether his crimson eyes were still there and nevertheless, once he returned, Valentine could feel the heated anger that rolled off of the Kurta in waves.

Taking a seat beside Valentine, a deep sigh left the teenagers body and this caused the young girl to look up at him, her golden eyes filled with worry.

'Are you okay, Kurapika?',Leorio questioned, a worried and hesitant tone clear in his voice.

'Yeah, I'm not injured',Kurapika responded and unlike before, his tone was back to normal and less demonic-like.

On the contrary, what Leorio had meant to ask did not match the answer Kurapika have given.

'Is it... safe for us to be near you?',The man with glasses reworded his previous question and took a step back.

'My apologies',Kurapika sighed and when he opened his eyes, the same copper swirls of serenity returned,'I knew he was weak from the start. Mentally, I knew he was just a bluffing liar too. But as soon as I saw that spider, my vision turned red and I forgot to tell you guys, but whenever I see a spider; any spider, all of my rationale collapses and I turn primal'

The words that came from Kurapika's mouth caused a drop of sweat to fall down everyone's forehead and they all nervously laughed.

'You should've told us, like, a long time ago',Leorio stated.

It would've been quite helpful to have known that sooner.

Leaning his head back against the wall, a sigh escaped through his nose and Valentine expressed her concern by placing her hand on his shoulder; unaware of the burning glare that settled onto her hand that was on Kurapika's skin.

'That can only mean one thing',Kurapika spoke up,'The rage inside me remains as strong as ever. I suppose.. I should be happy'

Turning towards Leorio, Gon lowered his voice into a whisper and leaned towards the teen.

'I think we ought to keep Kurapika away from spiders from now on'

ꕥ

Eyes of molten gold slowly turned towards the teen beside her and studied his face, trying to find out what he was feeling.

In a tired state, Kurapika's fingers reached up and he gently massaged his forehead, a light sigh passing through his lips.

As a million thoughts rushed through her head, Valentine slowly reached forward and hesitantly placed her smaller hand atop of Kurapika's slightly larger one that rested on his leg, feeling as his heart rate slowed down; slowly beginning to calm.

Slowly glancing up, eyes of grey and gold connected and soft lips of bubblegum pink stretched up into a gentle smile, her eyes soft with an expression of warmth; the tension in the air around them beginning to lessen.

Letting out a shaky sigh, Kurapika's lips twitched up into a gentle and reassuring smile, his other hand coming up to rest a top of her own, giving her a small nod.

It was time for the fourth match to begin and Leorio had volunteered to go next, but a prisoner had explained that it wouldn't be possible since Kurapika and Majitani's match had yet to end. The third match would've been over if one of them died or surrendered, but this wasn't the case and Majitani was only unconscious.

'Alright, Kurapika! Go over there and put that loser out of his misery',Leorio commanded.

'I refuse'

'What do you mean, refuse?!'

'The fight was already over. It was clear to me that by the time I punched him, he had already lost the will to fight. I will not continue fighting a loser'

'Seriously? What are we supposed to do, cause those guys are claiming the match hasn't even ended yet'

'I will leave that to him, he can decide his own fate just as soon as he revives'

'Come on!',Leorio complained,'We don't have that much time and it's running out, we can't afford to sit around and wait'

'My minds made up, Leorio',Kurapika snapped.

It didn't matter how many times Leorio begged, Kurapika wouldn't fight Majitani anymore; he had made up his mind and that was final.

No amount of begging would persuade Kurapika into finishing off Majitani.

Killua had offered to finish him off for the Kurta, but he couldn't since it was a one-on-one battle and he couldn't interfere.

Annoyed, Leorio turned towards Gon who had agreed with Kurapika's statement and that they shouldn't do anything.

'Alright, I'll finish this off! So, toss that guy out of the ring and send in your next competitor',Leorio yelled to the prisoners and the fire within his soul ignited with a feeling of excitement.

'We can't do that'

'Huh?'

A prisoner walked out of the shadows, bending down near the unconscious man. They had only spoke four, meaningless words but it was enough to decipher the fact that she was a female; her feminine voice giving her away.

'Did you forget? It was a death match, he is neither dead nor has he surrendered yet',She explained,'Until then, the victory hasn't been given'

With that being said, she returned to the shadows with the swish of her cloak.

ꕥ

It was a difficult time discussing their share of opinions, Leorio was the one losing his cool most of the time, siding with the fact that Kurapika should finish off his match, dismissing his traumatic past and the reason why he refused to do so.

Hence due to the fact that he was just recovering after seeing the tattoo of the spider on the man's back, the blonde was in no mood to kill his opponent and Gon had suggested that they'd wait.

Nevertheless, Killua and Leorio had gotten into an argument of their own and having not gotten his way, the latter went off to sulk in the corner.

Without a choice, everyone simply decided to wait for the blue prisoner to get up and a tensed silence lingered in the air between them.

After a while, Gon seemed to be the only one staring at the unconscious prisoner, an unreadable expression coated with a layer of curiosity covered his face and Killua walked up to the dark haired boy, standing beside him.

'Is something wrong, Gon?'

'Uh-huh',Gon hummed with a nod and pointed towards the body.

Receiving the message, the silver-haired boy walked back into the tunnel to inform Leorio and he froze at the sight before him; Valentine was fast asleep, her head resting gently upon Kurapika's shoulder.

Pulling his gaze away, Killua walked towards Leorio and watched as the older man looked up at him.

'There's a possibility that he's already dead',He bluntly informed and the amount of disinterest he had in the Hunters Exam only seemed to grow.

'It's been hours and he hasn't moved an inch',Gon added.

Realizing how high the possibility was, the three rushed towards the entrance and Kurapika looked down at the young girl who was resting on his arm, calm breaths leaving her lips.

Gently shaking the girl awake, Kurapika watched as golden eyes slowly fluttered open and she tiredly looked up at him.

Helping her to her feet, Kurapika and Valentine walked towards the edge and joined the others, staring at Majitani's unmoving body.

'Hey!',Leorio yelled out,'Can you check his body?'

'What was that?'

'He could be dead already'

'I already told you, he's just unconscious',The prisoner replied, almost as if she were insisting it and this caused Valentine's eyes to narrow.

'How many hours has it been already?',Leorio spat out,'I can't just believe your words!'

A hum of amusement left her lips and her eyes gleamed.

'Then let's make a bet',She commented.

'A bet?',Leorio questioned,'On what?'

'On whether, he's dead or alive'

'What would we wager on?'

'Time'