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The third phase had finally ended, all the applicants that were able to reach the tower's base for 72 hours continued to the fourth phase. You were greeted with the sunlight and breeze as you exited the tower. The feeling reminded you of getting out from the testing gate back in Kukuroo Mountain. It had been precisely 12 days since you left the estate to look after Killua.
The third phase's examiner congratulated the applicants that passed, He informed that all that remained was the fourth phase and the fifth phase. There were two more phases to complete the exam.
Hisoka and you were required to walk forward for the fourth phase. As he stepped forward first, you noticed that everyone's gaze was focused on Hisoka's wound near his neck that you caused.
You were then instructed and informed about the objectives for the next phase. You did as what was instructed, you walked forward and pulled out a card out of the box and then walked back to your position with a plastic card in your hand.
Gittarackur was the one who stepped forward next, you made eye contact but you were the one who broke it off first feeling a little uneasy and uncomfortable.
The Examiner then asked the applicants to peel the sticker off of the plastic card once everyone was done picking their cards. You did what you were told, your card revealed the number 4.
You were on high alert, a memory flashed on your mind of what could be number 4. or who could be number 4. "The number you see is your target." The examiner added. All of the sudden, the applicants became wary, they removed their badges to hide it. You felt the change of atmosphere, everyone was uneasy, especially the boy Gon.
You on the other hand, didn't bother to hide your badge, there was no point, if someone wants to steal it from you, you'll simply kill them.
You couldn't help but notice the uneasiness from Gon as you were just behind him. You took a little peek of his card, it says 44. How lucky. But it'd be fun if it was my number. You thought to yourself,
The best timing in stealing Hisoka's badge would be when he's in combat. You thought as you observed that Hisoka don't really pay any mind to the surrounding when his intentions are to kill.
Your eyes then transferred to the man with blonde hair wearing sunglasses and a black turtleneck who seemed to be an ex military, he wore a cocky and confident grin as he looked up from his card who's number was his target. He already had his badge removed but you were certain your memory served you right, he was number 4, he stood out earlier during the third phase, he did you a favor.
You looked oblivious and quite innocent and bored at the same time, you already figured out your target. You believed you heard his name was Joaquin from the other applicants. He looked strong, but of course, you were stronger. All of the sudden, your target, 4 caught you looking at him, he flashed you a cocky grin paired with a wink. You sighed, How boring. But then again, you weren't in the exams for entertainment.
The examiner then proceeded to give a little lecture on how the fourth exam works. You need to collect 6 points in total. Your badge is equivalent to 3 points to you and the one who have you as their target. Your target's badge is also worth 3 points and everyone else's badge are worth 1 point. All you have to do is steal your target's badge and guard yours. You chose the easiest and fastest plan, you just wanted to end it quickly.
All the applicants were asked to embark the boat to Zevil Island, where the fourth phase will be held. You weren't curious as to who was lucky enough to pick your number, you hoped it's not someone who doesn't puts up a fight, so you could at least have a little fun. You already set a plan to pass the exam with Killua.
An enthusiastic guide introduced herself to the applicants only to be ignored, she realizes this as she felt the tension from the examinees.
You all sat on the wooden floor boards of the boat, you were next to Hisoka, and next to Hisoka was Gittarackur. The three of you still had your badges on your chests.
"For the next two hours, you're all free to do whatever you like. Thank you and I hope you all enjoy the rest of the voyage!" The guide said losing her enthusiasm as she left the applicants alone.
"How would you feel if you happen to be my target?" Hisoka purred, teasing you lightheartedly as he turns his head to face you.
"I don't care, I wouldn't let you have my badge."
"Oh? Are you determined on passing the exam and becoming a hunter or is it just your pride that drives you?"
"The latter. There's no way I'll let you have it." You said with your usual bored tone. Hisoka laughed at your honesty as you admitted the truth. Gittarackur who was beside him who's gaze was on the floor, listens to your conversation.
"What about you Gittarackur?" Hisoka asked, turning to Gittarackur.
"I wouldn't like that. I need to pass in order to obtain a license for an upcoming job. I would have to kill you, It'll be too much of a hassle and it'd be a waste." Hisoka grinned at his answer.
"I believe compromising could work. I thought you two were friends." You commented at Gittarackur's amusing answer.
"Who says we are?" The man plainly said with his distorted robotic voice. Hisoka placed his hand on his chest with a slight pout on his lips,
"So it was one sided all along?" The magician asked acting hurt. You scoffed at their interaction.
You had to wait for two more hours to arrive at the island. Your eyes wandered and saw Killua standing up from his position, you were sick of sitting down so you stood up to follow him,
You stopped as you saw Killua sitting beside Gon. They were talking about their target. Gon still had the nervous look on his face and you could totally feel his uneasiness despite the distance.
"If I'd have just been smarter about it, I would have memorized everybody's numbers." Killua said resting his head on the wood. "When he started explaining it, that's when I started paying attention. But everyone had taken off their badges already." Killua said, annoyed that he doesn't know his target.
You took your time on watching them converse, Gon admitted that he was happy but nervous because he believes he's at least capable of stealing Hisoka's badge.
"Y/N." Killua acknowledged as he noticed you standing from the distance. You just hummed and walked over to them,
"Who's your target?" You sat down beside Killua who was beside Gon. Gon just smiled at you as an acknowledgment.
"I won't tell you." You replied, settling down beside Killua.
"What! Why?! It's me isn't it?" He whines as he accused you, panic laced his voice. As he gave you an accusing and betrayed look.
"Perhaps." You said lightly. You noticed Gon laughed at your little interaction with his friend,
"So it's really me?!" Gon laughed at Killua's scared face, he was sweating bullets, he's never seen Killua like this, it made Gon burst into laughter. Gon's nervous and terrified feeling vanished temporarily.
"It's not you, kil. Stop whining."
"Good. 'Cause I'll be dead meat if it was me." Killua sighed in relief wiping an imaginary sweat on his forehead,
"What why?" Gon asked out of curiosity.
"What do you mean why? Y/N's strong as hell." Killua said as a matter of factly.
"Yeah, but isn't she your sister?"
"Yeah! But it's not like she'll hold back when it comes to me! If you've seen how my brother and her train me, she's brutal."
"Hey, I won't harm you. I'll just probably knock you out."
"You're no fun!" Gon laughed at your lighthearted jokes seemingly forgetting that he had picked Hisoka's number, temporarily feeling light and at ease. Killua on the other hand huffed and was annoyed that Gon laughed at him, while you just chuckled.
Before you knew it, you already arrived. "You will be disembarking in the order you completed the third phase." The guide said with her usual enthusiastic tone. Some sighed at the idea, some agreed. "You'll go ashore one at a time, with two minutes intervals separating each of the applicants, all right?"
"You will be in the island for a week, that means you only have seven days to collect your six points, then return to this location."
"First applicant, get ready to disembark!"
"I guess we will be waiting for a while." Killua muttered as he saw you leave his side. You stepped forward and stood next to Hisoka since you and him tied on completing the third phase.
Hisoka bid you goodbye with a delighted smile on his face as he stepped forward, disembarking the boat.
You then heard Kurapika and Leorio muttering to themselves, they agreed that it was an advantage to whoever stepped in the island first, because they'd have time to hide and watch the other applicants. You agreed with them silently, it was not a good thing that it was Hisoka who disembarked first.
Hisoka vanished from everyone's sight as he entered the inner part of the island which was surrounded by trees. "That was two minutes. The second applicant may go." The cheerful guide looked at you, so you stepped forward and disembarked the boat.
You could feel everyone's eyes glued on you, but you ignored it. You finally stepped on land, in an instant, you vanished from their sight.
You were now deep in the forest, you scanned the area, searching for a place to rest and hide from the other applicants, especially from Hisoka.
It has been approximately an hour, all the applicants must already be in the island, you can sense multiple presence from the distance.
Your body was sore, you had your ability activated for nearly 3 days after all. your mind was foggy and you were already feeling irritable. It wasn't safe to settle on the tree branches, there were applicants capable of climbing, it was risky to hide up the trees. Damn, I need to rest or I might pass out right here and now from exhaustion.
You found a good tree to temporarily rest on, You were surrounded by tall trees with thick bushes, perfect for enemies to conceal themselves. You felt a pair of eyes watching you. You couldn't tell where it was from but it's definitely in the bushes. You considered using your En but you hesitated realizing that you were barely able to hold yourself up. Dammit, how annoying.
"Come out already." You said, disrupting the silence. You waited for a moment but, no one responded. You were easily irritated when you're exhausted,
"I said come out, I don't have all day." You repeated with impatience lacing your slightly raspy voice. You sounded crazy, but your guts served you right, someone was watching you, they were good at it, you thought it was just a mistake put you picked up on a faint presence.
The bush to your left rattled, you stood there with tired and unamused eyes waiting for the person to show up. The bush stopped moving. Silence engulfed you ears as you anticipated an attack,
With your inhumane reflexes, you turned your head to the side dodging a bullet from behind you. A trap. The bullet then hit a tree from afar and it exploded, breaking the tree's trunk. Your eyes then turned to the source of the attack,
Number 4. Your target.
"Hah! That tree should've been you, lady!" The blonde man exclaimed loudly, it annoyed you at how obnoxious he was, not to mention, it wasn't the best timing that an applicant showed up, you're totally helpless.
"So, I'm your target?" You asked with a plain voice facing him.
"You really did me a favor. Ya think you're strong enough to display your badge? or are you just a stupid little girl?" He pointed his pistols at you with a big cocky grin on his face. It'd be fine it was an ordinary or poisoned bullet, you could take that, but an explosive? Nah.
"You tell me." You charged at him as you noticed his fingers were about to pull the triggers. Unfortunately for him, you were faster. "What a coincidence, you're mine too." You smirked, it was apparent how exhausted you looked because of your dark circles and heavy eyes.
Despite your exhaustion from pushing your abilities to the limit, your face bore an unmistakable expression of annoyance and boredom. You longed for nothing more than a moment's rest,
"HAH! TAKE THIS!" As your target unleashed a barrage of explosive bullets, you deftly dodged and weaved through the chaos, your movements a mix of exhaustion yet steely precision. You moved with eerie silence. Each dodge and counterstrike displayed your mastery that intimidated your target. You felt the undeniable weight of fatigue threatening to slow you down.
With each passing moment, your irritation grew as you felt that it was getting harder and harder for you to move, fueling your movements with a fierce resolve to end the fight immediately.
In a decisive moment, you saw your opening and seized the opportunity with a calculated strike. Your target's face displayed a terrified expression. With a swift, precise move, you disarmed your target and incapacitated him with a final, measured blow on his neck.
As the knife of your hand made contact with his neck, his eyes grew wide, his body collapsed on the ground, making a loud thud. "That chop's enough for you to be paralyzed for about five days. I'm kind enough to give you an extra two days to get your points." You mused, bending down to reach for his badge.
As you stood back up, you hid the badge somewhere in your body. All of the sudden, your vision turned blurry, everything was moving and you felt light headed. Right, I'm about to pass out.
You fell on the ground with your paralyzed target just beside you. His eyes widens as he saw you lying next to him with a different appearance, you were back to your normal form. Your nen ability deactivated due to exhaustion.
"What the hell... I can't move." You felt as if you were also paralyzed, but in reality, you were too drained to move a muscle. You could hardly breathe, too tired to inhale.
You heard barely audible footsteps approaching your target and your figure on the ground. A dark and tall shadow was casted on your face, you did your best to move your eyes to look at the source of the shadow.
"Hisoka, have you taken your target's badge?"
"You don't even know who your target is yet, do you?"
"Want me to tell you?" The man continued his conversation as he approaches your figure.
"Gittarackur..." You acknowledged, whispering his name on your breathe. The man unexpectedly bent down with his stiff rattling body, he had already hung up the call. He looked closely at your face. His hand slowly touched your cheek, moving strands of hair away from your forehead with a familiar and eerie smile plastered on his face.
All of the sudden, with a smile, he threw a pin at a random direction, as if he was aiming for someone.
Your eyes squinted, thinking to yourself as to why you felt such familiarity. With a stiff but smooth movement, you were already in his arms, carrying you in bridal style. "Gittarackur." You called out once again, you didn't considered fighting back and it's not like you could.
Gittarackur walked away from your position with your body in his arms, You were left to wonder where he's off to with you in his arms. It was nearing dusk, the sun turned into the hue of a warm purple, radiating off a beautiful sun-kissed glow on your skin.
You heard yelling nearby, but you were too exhausted to care, your eyes barely opened. It was a bad idea to let your guard down around the man, Gittarackur, but you had no choice, it's not like you could move.
It was unusual to feel light and comfortable around Gittarackur, however, you felt strangely at ease with him. If he's able to conceal his malice, he sure is good at it, because you didn't sensed even just an ounce of it coming from him.
Suddenly, Gittarackur pulled out a bunch of pins from god knows where. He then threw it effortlessly with an on point precision despite carrying you with his other arm. You felt the man walked forward, through a bush.
"Sorry, I was careless so he got away." Gittarackur mused with his plain, distorted, robotic voice.
"Hm? What do we have here?" Hisoka purred out of amusement as he saw that you were almost unconscious in Gittarackur's arms. "And, don't lie to me, he probably begged you to grant him his last wish and you relented. Am I right?"
"Well, I may have felt sorry for the man. He was going to die anyway."
"You really need to stop pitying those who serve no purpose."
"But you're guilty of that yourself. You've walked away from opponents before finishing them."
"I do have standards. Why waste time on people who are utterly useless? I only spare those premature deaths would be a waste. Such as Y/N's."
"You two fought?" Hisoka smirked as he sensed a tinge of spite in Gittarackur's tone.
"We met before the hunter's exam in heavens arena, she looked like she was there for fun after a job. We had a quick one in an elevator." Hisoka smirked with his statement. You were annoyed at how inappropriate he made it sound, however, you couldn't say anything anymore, the exhaustion caught up to you, you could only listen.
"The second round was when we finished the third phase together." Hisoka added with mischief laced on his tone as if he wanted Gittarackur to think more of it. But why does these informations matter to him? Your thoughts were disorganized in your head, confused and bothered but, too tired to even ask.
"Hm. I see." Gittarackur hums, "Well," With his other arm, He removed the pins on his face, one by one. For a moment, nothing happened, but your eyes widened and suddenly, you could utter a word as if you've regained your energy from shock as you saw Gittarackur's face reconstruct itself and his hair turned dark and long, reminding you of someone you know very well.
"Hmm. That's always fun to watch." Hisoka commented. His eyes bore on to your shocked figure as he grinned at your reaction.
"It does takes its toll on me." The familiar man replied. His robotic and distorted voice were replaced with the familiar voice you're used to hearing.
Your eyes were glued at him, multiple thoughts came running through your mind. What is happening? Is this some kind of fever dream? You recalled that you passed out from exhaustion just earlier, and recalled when Gittarackur walked over to this place. This is real. You realized.
You were completely shocked, your eyes widens, it was unusual to see you like that, you felt terrified and deceived at the same time. 'Gittarakur's' purple skin turned normal and familiarly pale.
You exhaled unevenly as you realized you were holding your breathe from anticipation and shock, your heart felt like it was going to burst from how loud it was beating, adrenaline rushed through your veins.
The man opened his eyes, revealing his empty, big, emotionless dark pupils. His gaze transferred to you with an almost mischievous yet endearing look.
You pushed yourself to speak, it felt like there was a rock stuck in your throat, preventing you to utter a word. Your body felt like it regained its energy after witnessing the revelation in front of you. seconds passed, a delicate whisper then came out of your lips.
"I-Illumi."