𝖌𝖚𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖎

f i f t e e n

"we apologise for the long wait. the airship will soon arrive at its destination."

~

carefully descending the airship, the rookies turn to face the chairman and anita, who patiently stood beside him.

"chairman netero said he wouldn't press any charges against me. thank you, it's all thanks to you," anita said, looking down to meet eyes with gon's round eyes.

"it's nothing.."

"good for you."

[name] quirked her eyebrow in confusion but clapped quietly anyways. she flinched upon seeing a familiar white haired boy trot boldly towards anita.

the boy lifts his hand, palm up. anita's eyes widened at what she saw.

"that's..!"

"you dropped it."

anita snatched the earring from killua's palm. her eyebrows knitted together.

"it was a gift from my father!" anita claimed, her sage-green eyes glarin furiously at the boy.

"that's a crystal from a spice rock, isn't it?"

"spice rock?" gon asked curiously.

"the refined spice rock can be addictive," killua explained, blankly staring at the girl standing before him.

"once you taste, you become addicted to it.."

"i heard many people lose everything in order to buy the spice.."

anita, taken aback, screams in disagreement, only to have the chairman confirm the truth.

"you didn't know?" killua asked, making anita tremble and become quiet.

tears quickly welled up in her eyes as she began to explain of her father's kindness with love.

"my father was very kind.. and there were always smiling faces around him.."

"your happiness was built upon the misfortune of others," killua stated coldly, turning on his heel and walking away.

"killua.."

"still, my father was precious to me..."

"why don't you take the hunter exam again next year! so you can become a real blacklist hunter!" gon exclaimed, smiling up at the girl.

she slapped her hands onto her face, squatting and crying into her palms.

~

"ahem! everyone, the exam's third phase will begin here at the top of the 'trick tower'!" bean explained, earning a few questions and remarks from the audience. "to pass this phase, you must reach the tower's base alive. the time limit is seventy two hours. with that, we will now begin the third phase. i will pray for your success!"

~

"best of luck everyone!" a microphoned voice called from the departing airship.

[name] awkwardly waved away the airship, before crossing her arm over the other, squeezing them tightly to her chest. she peeked over the edge of the tower. her stomach turned at the sight as she quickly scurried away. she felt sick.

"are we supposed to climb down..?"

"that would be suicide.."

then, a chuckle escaped from behind the group of rookies. they turned around to find a mid-aged man with the badge number of 86.

"maybe for a normal person, " the man said, strutting towards the edge and carefully made his way down the tower, huffing with pride. "but a top-class rock climber can handle this, no problem."

the five gawked at the sight.

"wow.."

"he's going down pretty fast."

"he is, but how are we going to get down?"

the sounds of slow flapping catch the attention of the hunter applicants, making them turn their heads in search for the owner.

suddenly, from around the corner of the tower, huge bird-like creatures make their way towards the rock climber, mouth wide open to reveal sharp teeth.

"stop! stop it!!" the man cried, only to have himself carried away in the mouth of the creatures.

[name] covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

"w-what the heck was that?!" [name] asked to no-one in particular.

"i-i don't know.. b-but i guess we can't climb down the side..."

"....it was really ugly.."

~

"what's up?" leorio asked as the blonde male in front of him abruptly paused his walking.

"there are fewer people around.."

"what?!"

"i count twenty three, which suggests almost half of the applicants have already found an exit," kurapika explained, making leorio and [name] look around.

"you're right, kurapika-kun.. there are less people than before. there don't seem to be holes where people have broken the floor, so what could it be..?" [name] asked, eyebrows quirking.

"that means there must be hidden doors that lead below.."

"kurapika! leorio! [name]!"

the three swivelled their heads to meet gon and killua who waved in their direction. they jogged over towards the boys.

"what is it, gon?"

"look! i found a hidden door!"

gon bent down to his knees, pushing the floor in front of him for it to sink slightly and rise when the pressure of his hand was released.

"i see now. so we can descend by flipping the stones," kurapika gathered, using his fingers to hold his chin.

"okay! great job, gon! let's head on down!" leorio exclaimed, slapping a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"but i'm confused."

"about what?"

"there are also hidden doors here, there, over there and over there as well," gon claimed, pointing at the hidden doors around them.

"five hidden doors, located in the same area. it sounds suspicious to me. some could be traps.."

"and it looks as though each door can only be used once," killua said. "we tried opening a door someone else used, but it wouldn't budge.."

"judging by the door's size, only one can fit at a time.."

"in other words, only one person can use each door. we'll have to split up. gon and i decided that we're each going to choose a door," killua explained.

"no hard feelings if one of us springs a trap! what are you guys gonna do?"

"i can live with that. luck is part of the game," leorio claimed, kurapika walking up beside him.

"i have no objection. other than [name], that settles it. how about you, [name]?" kurapika asked, glancing in the girl's direction.

[name] held her chin, humming and closing her eyes. she huffed and smiled upon a decision.

"i don't have any problems or objections with the traps or the separating! i guess we'll all go at the same time!"

~

the five stood behind their respective doors, lifting their heads to connect eyes with one another.

"let's go, on the count of three."

"i guess this is goodbye for now."

"we'll meet again, at the tower's base."

"right. i pray for your success, everyone."

"then let's go. one!"

"two!"

"three!!"