𝖌𝖚𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖎

n i n e t e e n

"hup! take your time. this may be majority decision, but you're free to discuss it," the prisoner announced, making himself comfortable on the ground he sat on. "we have plenty of time.."

[name] moved her gaze from the prisoner and towards gon, who turned to look at the four with pure eyes and upturned lips.

"hey, which one should i choose?"

"damn.. which one should we take..?" leorio mumbled.

[name] crossed her arms, humming as she knitted her eyebrows together in thought.

if we knew the long one's been tinkered with, we would choose the short one, but what if the short one's been modified as well? it's most likely safest to go with the longer one.. [name] thought.

the girl lifted her head to meet eyes with gon's round, innocent eyes. taken aback, she flinched, heart racing and body frozen. the boy remained quiet for a moment before giggling and waving enthusiastically.

[name]'s cheeks came to shine a soft pink. she nodded, lips zipping in embarrassment.

"gon, you decide!" kurapika abruptly yelled, making heads turn in surprise. "we'll abide by your decision. choose the one you think is best."

"are you sure about this? he never thinks anything through," kilua explained, looking over curiously at kurapika, who fixed his posture and kept a stirn gaze at the prisoners at the exit.

"instead of wasting time fretting over what to do, let's rely on gon's instincts."

"instincts, huh..?"

"i get to choose? okay! i choose the long one!" gon yelled without hesitation, making the opponent chuckle.

"you want the long candle?"

"because obviously a longer candle will burn a longer time!"

the four at the entry irked at the boy's remark, surprised and disappointed at the boy and his reasoning.

"er, he's just taking it at a face value.."

"i knew he wouldn't think it through.."

"gon's pretty innocent and.. airheaded.."

"well, that's that," kurapika mumbled, pressing the o button on his stopwatch, the rest following suit without objection.

~

lifting their arms, the two placed the top of the candle into the fire, the string catching fire.

the two returned to the centre, standing face-to-face with one another, candle in hand. gon stared at the scrawny male who smirked with quirked eyebrows.

killua looked down at the time remaining on his stopwatch.

"normally, how long would it take that candle to burn down?" killua inquired, looking up to look at gon's candle.

"five to six hours?"

"it's going to be a while, i could probably take a nap.. i didn't get much on the airship," [name] claimed, coincidentally yawning afterwards.

suddenly, a powerful gust of air escaped from below, making her clothing flap. [name] shivered.

"a strong wind is coming from below. that means we should watch our step.. no time to relax, huh..."

the prisoner standing before gon giggled, teeth revealing as he grinned.

"if you don't pay attention, your candle will go out.."

"that's because you're planning to do something bad," gon explained, eyes firm on the prisoner. "otherwise your candle would go out first."

"i won't do anything. after all.. i've already taken steps..."

within a fraction of a second, the flame on gon's candle ruptured with life, wax dripping down it as the candle rapidly shrunk in size.

gon screamed in surprise and pain.

"hey, look at gon's candle! the flame suddenly got stronger!" leorio pointed out, eyes widening at the sight.

"he must have hidden gunpowder or some other highly flammable substance inside to make the candle burn faster!"

"at this rate, his candle will only last another two or three minutes..!"

[name] closed her hands into fists, clenching and biting her lips with anticipation and concern. she held her breathe, heart pounding against her chest.

"damn.. hey! that was dirty! i knew you tampered with the long candle!!"

"....eheh...!"

the male's smile faded as his eyes widened and eyebrows raise in curiosity as to why the boy would laugh in such a situation.

"if the fire's stronger," gon began, gently placing the now very small candle on the ground, "then a little breeze won't extinguish it!"

the boy took off, kicking at his feet and dashing towards the prisoner with incredible speed.

gon came to a stop, blowing on the candle and extinguishing it. he looked over at his own candle, which vibrantly burned. he giggled.

"i win!" gon exclaimed, using his index and middle finger to shove a peace sign into the shocked prisoner's face.

[name] blinked, confused at what had just unfolded. she froze, before relaxing, smiling and chuckling quietly in amusement.

what a weirdo...

~

the metal runway emerged from beneath the slab of concrete, gon strutting down it with a wide grin.

"yay! i won!"

"good job, gon! now we have a win!" leorio yelled, raising his arms in celebration. "once kurapika and i win, we can advance!"

"good job, gon! i'm impressed at how you thought of that so fast! for a second your brain almost worked as fast as your legs for a second!" [name] exclaimed, smiling and internally giggling at her subtle tease, though the boy didn't seem to notice.

shackles dropped from the exit. another large supposed male walked forward into the light.

"all right. i'll go next," kurapika pronounced, marching forwards and onto the metal walkway.

the prisoner grabbed his cloak, ripping it off and tossing it into the air, the four at the entry showing signs of surprise.

the man had a strange pale, greyish blue pigment to his skin and had hearts tattooed onto his left chest. he was missing teeth and a nose. his left eye was swollen and scars ran down his eyes.

he howled and laughed.

"i'm next!"