𝖌𝖚𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖎

t w e n t y . s e v e n

"#44 is... seriously?"

the haunting image of the powerful, sultry man seemed to be shared in each of the three children's minds. they simultaneously shivered in disgust and fear. killua shakes his head, looking towards gon who stared down his card.

"you have really bad luck.."

"you think so?" gon asked, smiling awkwardly as his cheeks flushed a soft pink.

"i'm sure you'll figure something out to outsmart him and take his ID! you may not be as smart in some areas, but i know you can think of something to use against him that others might not think of. i believe in you, gon," [name] stated confidently as she maintained firm eye contact with gon, who grinned.

"thanks, [name]. i feel a little better because you've cheered me up!" he gleefully said, shifting his attention to killua's card. "who's #199?"

"you don't know, either? how about you, [name]?" killua inquired, turning to look at [name], who sadly shook her head at the question.

"sorry, killua. i'm not sure."

killua closed his eyes and leaned back onto the boat's side in frustration.

"i didn't bother to memorise everyone's number. after the initial explanation, i started checking tags, but everyone had removed them. that's so lame," killua explained, making [name] nod and agree.

"haha, same here. you should've seen my face! i glared so hard because i was so frustrated!" [name] laughed, imitating the face she made before quieting down. "so.. any clue who #80 might be?"

gon and killua shook their heads, making [name] huff. she met eyes with killua's deep blue ones. she smiled to cover her disappointment, but she was a tad thrilled. this would just make things more interesting. a game of tag without knowing who your target is. though she doesn't know who her target is, she can still pass by collecting three one-pointers.

as the three conversed and eventually separated, two hours had passed smoothly without any major problems. the boat was stationed next to zevil island, connected by a wooden plank that stood as a bridge between the boat and the next phase. the hunter exam applicants anxiously stared at the plank and the island.

"thank you for your patience, everyone! we've finally arrived at zevil island!" khara, the guide, pronounced. "now, please disembark in the order by which you cleared the third phase."

"tsk, this again," leorio scowled under his breath.

"after each person disembarks, we'll wait two minutes before the next person's turn," khara stated, lifting her arm to show a stopwatch.

"that means we'll be waiting for a while," killua stated, making gon nod and hum in agreement.

"you will stay on the island for exactly one week! during that time, you must amass your six points of ID tags and return here. all right then, the first person may start!"

the familiar tall, slim, red haired male stepped forward, trotting off the boat and onto the island. all eyes were on him. he slowly approached the forest, carefree and without a sweat.

"i understand.. those who disembark earlier hold the advantage," kurapika calculated, leorio standing beside him with furrowed eyebrows and wary eyes.

"yeah.. they can hide and monitor their target's movements."

hisoka entered the forest and disappeared silently without a trace. two minutes had passed when khara announced the disembarking of the second applicant, third, fourth all the way down to the twenty-fourth.

[name] watched intently as leorio disappeared from her sight into the forest without a last look behind him. she smiled as khara announced the passing of two minutes. [name] stepped forwards toward the plank, taking wary steps and stepping onto the island safely. she turned around and bowed slightly.

"thank you, miss khara. you're doing amazing a guide. keep doing what you're doing," she almost whispered, waving the guide a final farewell before she disappeared into the forest as did the other twenty-three hunter exam applicants had before her.

now, perhaps a plan?

~

for the first few hours of the first day, [name] simply wandered, unsure of what to do and where to start. she, unusually, had not met with any of the hunter applicants and it was only until the sun set when she truly began to try pass the exam. from that point on, she decided that, while she went searching for true target, she'd hunt a few sheep to get points.

she never killed any of the applicants she came across, though took necessary means to achieve the ID tags she had demanded. she had collected enough, but had a few extras she happened to get along the way.

one afternoon, hisoka sat solitarily in the middle of a clearing, leaning against a tree. gon was hidden inside a bundle of bushes, stalking, waiting for hisoka to encounter a prey and fish his ID tag while he was busy. it was when hisoka finally moved and spoke that his concentration was broken.

"i know you're there."

he noticed me?

hisoka picked himself up off of the ground and approached in gon's direction.

"if you won't come out, i'll come to you.."

i guess that's it... in that case, it's all or nothing..

suddenly, after long, dreading seconds of silence and as the building tension seemed close to peaking, the bushes rustled beside gon. someone had emerged from the bushes. gon looked up and beside him. a middle-aged man. the man remained silent as he swung a spear across the surface of the bushes, barely cutting the tips of gon's hair.

"i challenge you to a duel," the man challenged boldly, making hisoka smirk.

"you'll die."

the man said nothing else as he approached hisoka, readying himself and his spear as he got down into a fighting stance, arms out with his spear to his side. his eyes narrowed to glare at hisoka before they widened as he let out a gruff huff and dashed at hisoka. the man sliced and pierced the air, missing hisoka narrowly every swing. gon noticed something wrong.

why? why isn't hisoka fighting back?

as the strange man let out an exasperated roar, he swung furiously, slicing the tree hisoka previously rested on clean into two. the man huffed and breathed heavily, clutching his spear.

"hisoka, explain yourself.. why won't you attack me?"

"..if i continue to avoid your attacks, you'll die eventually."

swarms of small, red butterflies flocked towards the man's lower back, where a major injury was found.

"i can tell from the swarm of hemotropic butterflies that your wounds are grave. someone else has already dealt you a fatal blow, yes? though i do understand your desire to die in battle.."

"if.. if you understand so well, why do you refuse to fight me?!"

"i have no interest in the dead."

"what? i'm not yet..."

"you're already dead. it's in your eyes," hisoka claimed, looking down on the dying man and walking away to take a seat on the fallen tree. "bye-bye."

the man struggled. he shakily picked himself up with the help of his spear and tears welled and spilt from his eyes. he let out the final roar as he sprinted at hisoka with his spear high and emotions flooding.

then, a needle flew through the air at a perfectly straight angle into the man's neck. following the first needles, dozens more pierced the man in the face, making him freeze and fall backwards. he was dead.