𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝘬. 𝘻𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘺𝘤𝘬

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

Y/N POV

I'm woken up by the cheery woman from the start of Phase Four. "The Fourth Phase has just ended," she booms through a megaphone. "Will the applicants please return to the starting point at once? You'll be given one extra hour of time. If you do not return during this time, you will fail the exam. Also, you cannot swap cards. Anyone caught doing that will be disqualified."

I walk onto the plain and sit down, waiting for the others. By the time the woman comes out, there are only six others around me. Where's Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio? And Killua, of course. I think to myself. 

The woman calls out our names, and we flash the tags that we have collected. 

Killua comes over and sits down next to me. "Hey, Y/N." 

"Hey." I look down, then turn around and hug him. He gasps in shock and just sits there, frozen. 

"Wh-what's this for?" I notice by the tone of his voice that he's never had a hug before. Or at least, not a real one. 

"I'm sorry. I push lots of things onto you in this short time that we've known each other, and you always take it decently." 

"Well," Killua squeezes my arm a little, and then I let go. He grins at me, swinging his legs. "I wasn't always decent. Remember that time I slapped you? And almost killed you?" 

I scowl. "I'm trying to be nice here, Killua. I'm a very mean person, so if I am nice to you, take it to your advantage." 

"Ok, ok. Well, thank you, darling. Appreciate it." He ruffles my hair, which reminded me. 

Leaning my head on his shoulder, I smell him and myself. "We need to shower." 

"We do. Also, did you ever braid your hair again?" 

"You remember that?" 

"Yeah. But did you?" He slings an arm around my shoulder.  

I smile inside my head. He remembered. "Nah. Too busy watching you getting followed." 

"Stalker," he smiles. 

"Faker." 

"That's not even a good comeback."

My cheeks turn a little red. "You don't think I know that?"

The woman finishes counting the points. "So . . . only seven applicants have passed? Oh?" 

We turn around and see Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika. I wave at them. Kurapika waves back, smiling slightly. Killua's hand unconsciously clutches me closer to him. I smile to myself again. 

"Ah, three more arrive at the last minute!" the annoyingly chipper woman says, marking them down. She points to the airship up in the air, telling us that we will be boarding it to go to the Final Phase.