𝖌𝖚𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖎

t w e n t y . t w o

hands found themselves on the shoulder of the sleeping girl, pushing and pulling to shake them awake. the girl, in response, moans quietly in complaint. she grumbled as she shrunk into a ball, protecting her core.

"heeeyyyy, [name]. wake uuupppp!"

[name]'s eyes opened groggily, before they shot open. her arm rose to hurriedly slap away the person's hand before she scurried away. her breathing was quick and cold sweat formed in panic.

"g-gon.. sorry, i didn't recognise you. i thought.. nevermind. i apologise, are you okay?" she asked, slowly moving closer to the younger boy, where she examined his hand where she had slapped him.

"i'm okay, [name]! i was a bit surprised though, are you okay? did you have a bad dream?" gon asked, eyes round, shining and innocent as usual.

[name]'s lips stretched in an admiring smile. she lifted her arm to gently pat the boy's head, stroking his hair and pushing back loose strands of hair that fell over his face.

"i'm fine, how is the exam going? what did i miss?"

"oh! leorio's turn should be finished soon!"

"i win!" the woman screeched, laughing as she spun and danced in celebration.

the four silently stared as the defeated male dragged him feet down the runway in shame.

"now the score is 2-2," killua claimed, making [name] gasp.

"leorio! you lost? oh of course you did, you would never hurt anybody. you don't look hurt though?" [name] quickly commented, hastily walking up to the male and checking for wounds, making him turn red and laugh awkwardly.

"we didn't fight. physically. we were betting, or gambling," he explained, making [name] shake her head.

"gambling is never good."

the disappointed female took a small step back, turning her head slowly to glare at the opposite side of the building where the prisoners gathered. she felt cold, sharp eyes on her. she knew they belonged to the next opponent. she huffed.

the next round should be interesting.

~

the four prisoners' gazes fell to the cloud headed boy who stood lackadaisically, an unamused expression on his small face. they sighed with pity.

"that little kid is their last member. never thought i'd see him fall prey to that monster," the tall, bald prisoner commented, looking down at the female prisoner who had her hands on both her hips.

"poor thing, he's so young," she said, suddenly jumping in her skin. "oh god, the girl, over there. she's glaring at us. scared me for a sec."

the male lifted his head to glance at the said female, who, as foretold, was staring at them with seemingly glowing, round eyes that made a cold shiver run down his spine. he blinked, furrowing his eyebrows with confusion.

"no.. she isn't looking at us, she's looking at.."

the man slowly turned around, meeting eyes with the last opponent. cold, sharp, murderous lapis lazuli eyes. he swallowed the saliva that built up in his throat.

"i didn't want to use him. however, the hunter exam has no mercy. if he dies, that's fate," the voice escaping the camera spoke. "i'm removing his handcuffs."

the prisoners, taken aback, hastily turned around to look at the last prisoner to be free. they stared with wide eyes. the handcuffs fell to the floor with a violent thud. he was free.

the feared man stood. his tall, muscular figure loomed over the four prisoners. the blue-grey skin-toned prisoner scoffed, marching forwards toward the man.