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Killua and Gon had managed to complete both of their matches in a single blow, moving up to the 50th floor with ease as Kamine was forced to take the visitor's elevator up to the 50th floor to meet them, much to her chagrin.
To her surprise, they were happily chatting, or at least Gon was, to a new friend they must've made in the elevator coming up to the 50th floor. He was much shorter than the two other boys and appeared to be roughly the same age as herself.
"Eh?!" The new chestnut-haired boy gasped, "You two are that strong and you don't follow any disciplines?!" He seemed utterly baffled as the two twelve-year-olds just shared a confused look.
"I don't think so?" Gon frowned tilting his head towards Killua who just shrugged.
"I'm humbled to be in your presence..." The new boy sighed, seemingly slightly defeated as he followed the two boys.
It was then Killua and Gon finally noticed Kamine's presence, watching them from beside the visitors elevator.
"Kamine..." Killua gave her a soft smile as Gon practically jumped on her in excitement, "Kamine! You made it!" He smiled giving the girl a tight hug as he stepped back, "Did you see my match Kamine?! I took him out with one push!" Gon prattled on as Kamine gave him a weary look. Truth be told, she didn't get a good look at his match due to the sudden vision she received in the bleachers beside Killua, but she didn't have the heart to tell Gon that just yet.
"Oh, is this one of your friends?" Zushi peeked out behind Gon as he approached the female, "It's nice to meet you I'm Zu-...." He paused staring at the female as she tilted her head cutely in confusion. "Shi..." He finished with a murmur.
As if the boy's brain was shortcircuiting he just stared at the female blankly as the two other boys just watched in confusion.
"Zushi, this is Kamine." Gon decided to introduce the female knowing how quiet she could be, "Kamine, this is Zushi. We met him in the elevator coming up here." Gon gestured toward the frozen boy as Kamine nodded in recognition.
"Zushi? What is wrong?" Gon frowned staring at the boy who finally seemed to snap out of his trance.
"Huh?!" He gasped looking between the two before flushing bright red, "I'm uh! Zushi!" He rambled taking a step away from the two, "Oh wait-! I already said that!" He nearly winced in embarrassment as he struggled to talk to the female.
"So you're uh, Kamine... right?" Zushi looked up at the female for only a brief second before averting his gaze once more.
The awkward boy's rambling were cut to a close as a new voice interrupted their conversation.
"Zushi, you did well." An older man approached the four as he gave Zushi a few claps. His hair was dark and thin and his clothes seemed haphazardly thrown together as seen from the half of his shirt still untucked into his pants.
"Master!" Zushi smiled in recognition as he finally turned his attention away from the female.
"I'm happy to see you stuck to my teachings." The man, who he later introduced himself as Wing, explained. "I really wasn't expecting to see any other kids around Zushi's age here." Wing smiled at the trio, "Are you all participating in the Heavens Arena?" He asked looking at the group.
"We are," Gon nodded, looking between himself and Killua, "But not Kamine, though. She's just here to watch." Gon explained.
"I see." Wing said simply, "What brings the three of you here then?"
Gon began explaining the trio's situation to Wing who seemed deeply interested in the group's journey in coming to the Heaven's Arena. Meanwhile, Killua couldn't help but notice Zushi's lingering gaze on the blackette beside him. He couldn't pinpoint why, but the boy's actions were really starting to get on his nerves.
"Stop staring at her you creep." Killua nearly murdered him with his glare as he spoke to the younger boy who winced at him in shock. Thankfully it didn't seem like the rest of the group overheard them as Zushi shied away from his murderous glare, turning his attention back to his master who seemed deep in conversation with both Gon and Kamine.
"I see. Well, even so, make sure to always pay close attention to your opponent's body and your own." Wing gave the duo a word of advice as Gon smiled.
"Osu!" He repeated, copying Zushi as he shot the man a smile. Kamine simply nodded in recognition as she fumbled with the straps of her bag once more.
"C'mon Kamine, Gon, we have to get our prize money." Killua rolled his eyes, pulling the female away from Zushi as the boy in question began following the trio.
"Why are you following us?" Killua nearly hissed at the boy as he snapped his head around.
"I need to get my prize money as well? We're going to the same place." Zushi seemed bewildered by the boy's animosity as Gon shot Killua a confused look.
"Yeah, what's wrong with him coming with us? He seems nice." Gon said to Killua, just barely above a whisper so Zushi couldn't hear.
"What's wrong is-!" Killua snapped before glancing at Zushi who in turn seemed completely innocent of his internal accusations. He glanced back at Gon, "Nevermind, you wouldn't get it." Killua sighed, making sure he walked between Kamine and Zushi, both the female and Gon completely oblivious to the full-out war Killua mentally declared to Zushi.
After receiving his prize money Killua walked over to the vending machine to use his money to buy a soda, "Winning on this floor gives you about just enough to buy a soda." Killua explained as he watched Zushi approach the female once more.
"Here you go Kamine you can have my--" Killua nearly exploded with rage as he ripped Zushi's soda away from him, "She doesn't need your soda, here, Kamine you can have--." Killua paused as he turned to the girl who was already drinking the soda Gon gave her, in turn, she gave Gon a small chocolate bar.
It appears the two made a trade with each other in order to split Gon's prize money fairly.
Killua just sighed as Zushi gave the boy a small "tsk". Barely catching it Killua shot his head around to notice the small gleam of recognition within Zushi's eyes as he returned Killua's glare.
'That... brat!' He internally screamed noticing Zushi's retaliation, 'So he was just pretending not to notice!' Killua recognized as cut menchis at the boy with his eyes alone.
The two boys continued shooting death glares at each other until it was time to head to the waiting room, Kamine yet again having to part ways for only participants were allowed inside.
"Oh c'mon... can't she just sit inside with us? I don't want to leave her in the stands all alone..." Gon pouted at the employee who just sighed, clearly frustrated with the rules himself.
"Unfortunately no, the rules state that only participants are allowed inside the waiting room, allowing outsiders in would allow people to gauge the competition before entering the arena which would lead to an unfair advantage." The employee explained as Gon's pout grew deeper.
Kamine just sighed before placing a hand on the juniper boy's shoulder, signaling that it wasn't worth arguing with the employee. She turned her head before pointing to the elevator, she would meet them in the arena-- watching them from the stands.
"Okay..." Gon pouted as the female turned away.
"Stay safe, Kamine." Killua patted the female on the head as she nodded, a little confused herself. Shouldn't she have been the one saying that to Killua? Nevertheless, she knew no one on this floor would stand a chance against Killua at this level so he didn't really need her support to begin with.
"Oh wait! I almost forgot!" Gon smiled before giving the girl a firm hug, "A good luck hug! I'm sure I'll win now!" Gon said innocently as he skipped off, Kamine completely bewildered by the boy's behavior.
Zushi almost stepped forward, asking Kamine for a good luck hug himself, before he felt Killua's bloodlust so thick he thought the boy would kill him right there if he made a move. "Hahaha... good luck Kamine..." Zushi sighed, rubbing his head bashfully as the girl gave him a nod.
To the group's surprise, she actually responded offering Zushi a small few words as she turned to walk away, "You too." She said simply offering the boy her best wishes. Unlike Gon and Killua, Zushi would actually need all the luck he could get to pass this floor. She decided there was no harm in trying to help the boy a little bit.
As she walked away she failed to catch how the boy's face turned bright red, only furthering Killua's anger and jealousy as they turned away.
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Kamine did wish the boy good luck, but apparently he would've needed a lot more luck than she originally predicted, considering that his opponent ended up being Killua. She sighed before leaning back in her seat, watching the buttons in front of her flicker as they urged her to vote for the prospective victor.
Better luck next time Zushi. She sighed before pressing down on the red square. Clearly, Killua was going to end this battle in a single chop, she just hoped Zushi wouldn't get too injured from it.
To her surprise, her sentiment was not shared as the crowd seemed to favor Zushi over the slender white-haired boy. Were they all just optimistic? Or did they seriously believe that Zushi stood a chance against a trained assassin like Killua?
Killua frowned as he looked at the clear favorite of the match-- Zushi. He had only known the boy for less than a day but he already felt irritated by the false innocent charade he liked putting on in front of Gon and Kamine.
To be entirely honest, he was internally grateful that Zushi was his opponent. He would be able to take some of his frustration out on the boy without it seeming like he just enjoyed beating up those who were weaker than him, he just hoped he wouldn't go too over the top and put the boy in the hospital.
Deciding to just settle this the same as he always does he approached the boy confidently, smacking him in the back of the neck as he reeled in shock, falling to the floor.
"Sorry Zushi, but I'm only using one attack until I get to the 150th floor." Killua looked down at the boy who seemed to be veering in and out of consciousness.
To his surprise, however, the boy got up, startling both Kamine and Killua. Killua gasped as he watched the boy fix his stance, his eyes ablaze as he glared at Killua. Was it just a fluke that he got back up? Did Killua not put enough strength into the chop to knock him out?
Deciding to test that hypothesis he attacked again, this time making sure to put enough strength to knock an elephant out cold in his chop.
Despite that, Zushi arose again, completely baffling the albino boy.
Kamine sat up in shock as a familiar feeling of dread overtook her. Was this the horror the illusion was trying to show her? Was Killua going to die here?
As if her fears were confirmed Killua backed away in alarm at the boy, his feet nearing inches away from the ring as his muscles tensed up like a scared animal. Kamine winced, she hadn't seen Killua that afraid since Illumi revealed himself at the Hunter's Exam.
She furrowed her brows as she glared at Zushi with everything she had. Her eyes began to sear in an all too familiar way as a deep purple mist seemed to be exuding from Zushi's body.
Was Zushi's energy attacking Killua? Kamine couldn't fathom just what her eyes were seeing as she stood up, her mouth opened as she prepared to call out to the boy.
"Killu-" She was cut off by an even louder voice silencing the crowd, "ZUSHI!" Wing appeared to beckon out of nowhere interrupting the match as Zushi came to a halt, his energy receding as Kamine sighed in relief.
It was then that Killua's eyes glanced over to the crowd, picking up on her standing figure as she was sure he met her worried eyes. Killua gave her a nod of recognition, almost to say that he was okay before attacking Zushi again, the boy standing up as if the attack that Killua was sure he put enough strength in barely phased him.
Killua frowned as he noticed Zushi's wandering gaze. "What are you looking at?" He muttered in frustration as he felt his anger begin to rise once again. Killua followed the boy's eyes until he met Kamine's once again. It appeared Zushi and Kamine were looking at each other as Killua couldn't calm his animosity.
As if something snapped within him he stepped forward, punching the boy straight in the gut as he watched him spit out some blood-- flying into a wall outside the ring with a large bang as the crowd erupted in cheers.
"Crap! I didn't kill him did I?!" Killua winced as he waited for the smoke to fade. Much to his surprise the boy stood up once again, just breathing heavily as he held his side.
Killua was completely baffled by this. He was sure he put close to 100% of his strength into that punch, under normal circumstances even 50% of his strength would be enough to hospitalize someone-- let alone kill them.
Killua grit his teeth as he watched the announcer award him a critical hit and knockdown allowing him the victory from a technical knockout.
Something fishy was going on with Zushi, Killua decided.
He just couldn't figure out what.
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-* notes *-
#69 - Bungee Gum has both the properties of rubber and gum ;).
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