———Y/N———
Wow, I can't believe that I forgot all of that. I wonder how I didn't remember that, but how did that memory with red haired boy end..?
"Hurry up Y/N! You're not paying attention!" The group of younger boys all yelled at me. Even though our encounters during this exam were limited compared to those of Illumi and Hisoka, they seemed to have grown on me. I felt the need to protect them... I wonder why.
The last phase of the exam was finally taking place. There was no one that seemed too pumped up about the fights, other then Hisoka of course.
"Y/N! You're up first!" A little green haired boy told me.
I giggled, maybe there was more then one person excited about the fights coming up.
"Who am I up against, I hummed".
"Um... It looks like Kurapika."
——————
"So Y/N It seems that we're fighting against eachother".
"It seems so, but I'm not too good at hand to had combat." I frowned, I didn't just want to forfeit the first match, what a bummer that would be.
"I feel like you are underestimating yourself."
Hisoka could be heard giggling from the outskirts, seemingly unphased and uncaring of the way that this fight would end.
On the other hand, I looked over to Illumi and he seemed to be, internally at least, a worried wreck. They really are opposites...
Kurapika looked almost nervous, but still held his head high and confident,
"Are you going to start the fight Y/N?"
"Um... No I don't think I will". He gave a somewhat dumbfounded look. I didn't budge from the starting time of the 'fight'.
Killua was whispering over to Gon, and they had started a tic-tac-toe game on the floor with the expo marker that was used to create the exam bracket.
"I think that this is going to become a stand-off rather then a fight." Killua whisper-grumbled.
"Yeah, but at least it's better then then one of them getting hurt." Gon started, but Killua just pouted.
"But this is going to be soooooo boringg". Killua seemed rather upset that all of this was happening, well after all he did come here to clear his boredom.
Kurapika didn't seem to be making a move anytime soon, he probably had some kind of moral that didn't let him hit women. I hope that wasn't the reason why he wasn't fighting me though, I feel that it's a bit different... We could think of it as sparring!
"Hey Kurapika, what if we think of this as sparring, and whoever 'dies' three times will be the winner?"
"Hmm..." He thought, tapping his chin and looking up, "I suppose I would be alright with that, but what is the definition of 'die'?"
"Getting hit in a vital spot, I suppose."
"Alright, then let's start this."
He took a step towards me, and then brought his hand forward in somewhat of a fighting stance. I still stood there.
Kurapika deadpanned,
"Are you still not moving?" He sweatdropped.
"I, uh- I don't know any fighting stances, sorry. I kinda just fight when I need to?" I shrugged, and kinda felt bad. I felt that I was somewhat letting down his expectations of me.
"Ah."
It was quiet in the room for a bit, and I realized that he was just going to continue to stand there, and was prepared to do so for the rest of the day if he had to.
"I guess I'll have to make the first move".
I walked forward, and once again he gave a confused look but quickly became serious.
I stood up to him, continuing to get closer, until we were barely a foot apart.
He seemed rather flustered, and I took this opportunity to ever so quickly squat down, and place my left hand on the floor to keep my balance while my right let knocked him down.
His entire body fell, and he landed swiftly on his back.
"Woah, that was badass" Killua seemed to take interest in the fight once again, and Leorio scolded him about cursing.
I giggled, and it caused me to loose attention on the fight ahead of me, and I felt a hard pressure around the side of my abdomen, disorienting me. I stumbled and coughed, but soon regained my composure.
In front of me once more, Kurapika frowned,
"I'm sorry Y/N.."
"Why?" I asked completely unsure of what his response would be, but I figured it out when a swift hand came up to the front of my face. See, I didn't exactly enjoy the feeling of being dizzy, so my old instincts came in and I accidentally hit him a bit too hard in the stomach.
He hurled over, holding his stomach and started wheezing.
I wanted to get this over with quickly, as I now had '2 points' under our new scoring system, and so I ran up behind him, with it probably seeming as if I teleported to the average onlooker, and pushed him to the ground as gently as I could.
He somewhat smiled with me once he got up, still holding his stomach;
"Well it seems that you've earned this win Y/N."
"I'm sorry Kurapika, I didn't mean to be so rough."
His cheeks tinged a sort of pink, and he looked away.
"I forfeit this match."
——————
Plenty of other rounds came and went, with most of the matches being rather uneventful, but then why did a sense of concern surround me when I heard 'Gittarackur' and Killua would be matched...
"It's been a while, Kil". He took out all of the pins in his neck, and then let out a bit of bloodlust.
"Big brother!"
"I heard you stabbed mom and Milluki"
"Guess so."
"Mom couldn't stop crying"
"Well who would blame her??" Leorio yelled, "Anybody'd cry if their kid did that—"
"She was just so happy." Leorio fell on the floor, and I just looked at him like he was slightly odd. Wait so that means that Illumi's mother ended up having a large family after all... But why would Killua stab her, she was so sweet...
"She was delighted to see that her son had finally grown up, but she's concerned about you being being out on your own, and she asked me to check up on you when I got the chance. Lucky me, huh? I had absolutely no idea that you wanted to be a hunter. As for me, I'm here to get a license for a job that's coming up."
"I dont... actually want to become a hunter, I just felt like taking the exam."
"I see, well that's a relief, in that case I have some advice for you, you're not cut out to be a hunter. You were born for one purpose. To be an assassin. You're a puppet of darkness, there is nothing you desire, nor is there anything you wish for. As one who lives in the shadows, the only pleasure that you're capable of is causing death. Because, that's how dad and I raised you. What do you imagine that you would accomplish by becoming a hunter?"
Illumi monologued. Through this, I couldn't really believe what I was hearing coming out of him. Was I not someone who was close to him, he was an assassin as well. Were all of the moments that we shared through childhood a lie? But more then anything, I felt that what Killua was going through was terrible. No matter the outcome of what was to happen, I would comfort him, tell him that he was a human. None of us were tools for anyone to use.
"It's true, I don't really want to be a hunter, but everyone wants something. Even me!"
"You dont—"
"Wrong! There is something that I want" Killua huffed. He was very much getting riled up through this encounter.
"Enlighten me, what is it that you want? What's the matter, there really isn't anything is there?"
"There is! ... I want to be friends with Gon. I'm really sick of killing people, I just want to have fun with Gon."
"Impossible. You are incapable of friendship. The only thing that you can do is discern wether or not you can kill them. Gon is such a radiant person that you don't know how to classify him, you don't actually desire his friendship. If you stayed with him, one day you'll end up wanting to kill him. You'll wonder if you can, and you'll want to find out, because you are by nature, a murderer."
The tension started to build up when Leorio started intervening and yelling that Gon and him were already friends.
Illumi followed this up with mentioning that he needed to kill Gon, and Killua tensed.
I walked to the door that he was heading to, and Illumi looked confused.
"You are forgetting something very vital, Illumi." To say that he was taken aback by this sudden intervention with me would be an understatement.
"What ever do you mean? You do know that you cannot intervene in this, don't you?"
"I already have my hunter's license Illumi. I am not considered to be part of these rules anymore." He squinted his eyes, and seemed frustrated but I felt that he would still not lay a hand on me.
"You're not going to kill a child. Thats below anyone in your family, even if you are assassins. I know that you have basic morals."
"Are you saying that you remember now? You remember that you ran away from us? That you abandoned the family that loved you dearly, showering you with affection and gifts?"
"Illumi, I never ran away. Did anyone ever notice that the picnic basket was missing?"
"...Yes"
"That's because I was collecting flowers outside of the walls, and then I was abducted. I don't remember much after that, but they tried to sell me on the black market Illumi". His face softened, and he didn't seem angry anymore, his aura became more restless then anything, and he exhaled and continued to re-focus his attention to the match.
"Remember the lesson that I drilled into you? Never go up against a superior opponent. Don't move. Move one more inch, and I'll assume that the fight has begun. The same goes for if our bodies come in contact with eachother, the fight starts. There is only one way to stop me, and you know it."
The room fell silent, and everyone watched on high alert.
Killua's head fell down, and he faced the floor,
"You win Illumi. I admit defeat."
——————
I turned to Hisoka and tuned out the other applicants, now hunters who were arguing back and forth about all of the things that were suspicious during the last phase of the exam. During this, he laid out a stack of cars so that we could play solitaire together.
"Look, The Ace of hearts!"
"It looks like you already know how to play, Y/N." I thought for a moment,
"Yeah, I'm not really sure how I know, but I feel like I've played this with someone before..."
Hisoka giggled upon hearing this, and he started placing down cards with me, getting to the end of the drawing pile smoothly and quickly.
Gon came into the room, and started yelling at Illumi. I had already went through being upset with him once, and although I was still angry at him, I didn't want to deal with another argument today...they were draining.
I put my head on the table, and looked over to Hisoka while covering my ears. He hummed, almost sensing that I was stressed. He drew circled on my spine with one of his fingers, and then continued to braid my hair.
"Why do you always braid my hair?" He responded to me, but for some reason I couldn't hear him. Then I felt two hands gently place themselves around my wrists and peel them off my ears.
Oh.
He giggled, and then responded again, this time I was able to hear him completely.
"Because, my dear Y/N~ that's what we did when we were children. Remember braiding eachothers hair whenever we ran away from those terrible men? It was calming, and I enjoy playing with yours anyways~."
"When we were kids..?" I sat there confused, but everyone was leaving the room already, and so I left the conversation at that.
"So where are you going now everyone?" I asked the younger group of boys.
"We're going to Kukuroo mountain, to bring Killua back."
"Oh. You're going to his house?"
"Yeah."
"You know that's pretty dangerous right?"
"Yeah."
Gon replied confidently each time, but it was plain to see that he was terrified on the inside.
"I believe in you, and maybe I'll see you there~" I winked at the the group, turned away and waved.
How long had it been since I had been to Kukuroo Mountain...
My front crashed rather square with Illumi, but he stood there without budging.
"Ah Y/N. Would you like to come back with me? I just called mother, and she knows what you told me. It seems that she most definitely missed you."
"Um... You know that Gon's going to go get Killua right?"
"Yes."
"And you're okay with it?"
"It's not my worry anymore, I'm sure that father will deal with it as he sees fit."
"Ah."
A notification popped up on Illumi's phone, and then another, and then ten more. He looked over to me,
"Mother said that we need to hurry there, and even said that Grandfather and Father will be there to meet with you as well."
"Huh—?"
And just like that, Illumi picked me up with his good hand carrying me bridal style, (after Gon broke the other), and walked us to a place where we could call an Uber...