Title: Hunting Destiny (狩猟天命)
Author: jankenguu
Rating: T
Pairing: Gon Freecs & Killua Zoldyck
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter nor the characters. Everything own to Togashi-sensei, Nippon Animation and Madhouse!
NOTE: Shounen-ai/BL/boy x boy

CHAPTER THREE: WHEN DESTINY EXPANDS

I have the worst luck in the world. Of all the times Netero-san could call, why now?

The next moment, I took a glimpse around my surroundings, Killua wasn't there anymore. Not a single clue was left behind regarding his whereabouts. Seriously, he was the epitome of a mystery. Then again, he could possibly be part of the Zoldyck family, a family full of professionals in the field of assassination. Born with such talent, he could blend in the surroundings easily. Even without using Zetsu, his concealment of presence was outstanding.

Was he seriously going to wander aimlessly around the airship without me?

Falling into a daze, I held the vibrating cell phone in my hands. Time slowed down as I happened to realize something.

I knew nothing about Killua.

We've known each for a couple of hours, albeit it felt like forever. So far in the list of things I knew about him, it included his name and his reason for taking the exam. That's it. And to think his name happened to be the exactly the same as my fiancée's.

I sighed. I'm hopeless. I didn't even bother asking him questions that kept running laps inside my head the moment I met him directly. Was it because we were having so much fun nothing else mattered? I was blinded by my emotions, thought I knew what was what. But I was clearly in the wrong.

I fell hard for him the moment I knew he was Killua. I didn't even know if he was the person I was supposed to love with all my heart. Still, I began to assume a lot of things. In all honesty, this wasn't good for the brain and heart at all, unless you were strong-willed and determined enough to find who your red string of fate was tied to.

Damn, for a moment there, I almost forgot my purpose. I was a secret examiner. Crossing paths with Killua was entirely coincidental, hence why I wasn't prepared emotionally. Three examiners were in my list with potential, including Killua. I needed to be concise with this call as much as possible.

Or else I would lose Killua for good.

Surprisingly, time flowed normally again the moment I answered Netero-san's call.

"Hello, Netero-san!" I greeted. I almost bowed out of impulse, even though there was no one around. I scratched my nape. It seemed I was too used to bowing to my superiors.

"It's good to see you alive and bouncing around with energy as usual, Gon," he told me as a chuckle slipped out from his lips. A beat of sweat trailed down from my forehead. Alive, huh? Did he call me just to check if I was still alive? I don't know if I should be mad or not… Right now, I was feeling a lot of mixed emotions, mostly because of Killua.

"Alive? Really now, Netero-san," I chuckled. I felt restless for I wanted to find Killua badly. It felt like my life depended on it. Hurry up, Netero-san! Or did you want me to announce it already? Was this conversation's purpose to test my initiative? All I need was sign.

"I was just checkin' up on you. I wish you the best of luck. And have fun in the exam!" I heard him say over the phone before-

Beep… beep… beep…

-hanging up. The phone was still up my ear, while my mouth dropped open. I was flabbergasted.

Best of luck…? Have fun…? That was it? That was what he called me for? Was he out of his damn mind?!

Without a moment's hesitation, I made a run for it. I looked around for Killua frantically. I slowed down when I eyed a couple of candidates roaming around the airship. I wanted to ask if they knew where Killua was, but it looked like they didn't even know me. They gave me jeering stares, as if they were saying my ass was going to get canned soon for I looked like I didn't have much experience and for I was a 'kid' for them. Those lowlifes were the least of my worries.

I frowned as I continued my search. If only Kurapika was here. Together with him, we would have looked for Killua together. I let out a sigh in between my wheezy gasps from striding around in this huge airship. Now I miss Kurapika just as much. Where were your friends when you needed them the most?

I swore to myself I've looked almost everywhere for Killua. I guess I should knock at each bunk room and check if Killua was inside one of them. Darn it, I would make a fool of myself doing it! But if it was Killua, I could do just that… People did crazy things when in love, right?

If Killua was the epitome of a mystery, I was the epitome of crazy.

I took a break and wiped the sweat off my forehead with my arm. I was beside the door of the men's comfort room. I stared at the door for a moment and rolled my eyes afterwards as I let out a sarcastic laugh. There was no way Killua was inside.

My eyes then blinked a few times when the door was pushed open. And I immediately take back what I just said. Killua happened to be the guy inside the comfort room.

He raised another eyebrow at me. With all these weird accusing stares from him, I felt like some sort of criminal. Just what crime have I committed against him? Could have I possibly… stolen his heart? Okay, enough lame jokes, time to get serious.

"What are you doing?" Killua asked. He didn't even look relieved when he saw me. Was he that bitter towards our conversation earlier? It wasn't my fault I happened to look deceivable and deceiving. He did mean his words that way, right?

I narrowed my eyes. "Looking for you?" I said in the same tone as his in the form of a question. He looked taken aback, but the guy recovered quickly. What was with him and his hesitation of expression emotions, huh?

…Oh yeah, maybe it was due to being part of a family full of professional assassins. How convenient.

Killua looked adamant. "And why did you do that?" Ugh, why was he asking all these questions?! Besides, the answer was as clear as day. Was this part of his evil scheme against me? Answering questions were never my speciality from the start. If this kept up, my brain would turn into a pile of goo. Sorry if the image was too graphic for you, innocent readers.

"Because…" I gritted my teeth. I have a feeling he was really trying to piss me off without looking too obvious somehow. If he wanted an answer, I would give him the most honest answer, whether he wanted to hear it or not. "…Because you left without a word." For like, two times in a row. "Can't you at least try and wait for me?"

I braced myself; for I had a feeling he would ask a snarky, 'Why would I do that?' next. Control your temper, Gon. This wasn't the best time to throw impulsive temper tantrums at a guy who was possibly your fiancé, but even so, you still fell in love with him anyway. And this, everybody, was my super exciting Hunter life.

He gave me this blank stare before nodding. "Okay."

My jaw dropped. Okay? After all the effort I went through looking for him, I just get an 'okay'? I tensed, clenching my fists. As soon as his aloof gaze met mine, I was almost at a loss for words since this was the first time we actually had eye contact for the longest time, but it didn't stop me from speaking out my mind. "…Is this how you treat your friends?"

Killua chuckled bitterly while he fixed his ponytail. He walked towards the wide panels of windows to probably stare at the marvellous view below us. I could only see his back as he talked. "I don't have friends," he confessed. My eyes widened. "I've never had friends, and never will." Another chuckle. "Not in this lifetime at least."

What the? This was so unfair! I was supposed to make him feel bad for making me go all this way to look for him, but he dropped the bomb on me instead. "You're wrong," I contradicted.

I saw him turn his head around with a slightly surprised looked across his features. Finally, I observed a normal reaction from him for once. He was waiting for me to say something. I could feel it. I confidently wore a grin and gave him a big thumbs-up.

"-Because you already have me as a friend," I proudly declared. Impulsiveness prevailed all.

His eyes widened before turning his head to look back at the scenery again. "Idiot," I heard him mumble. Was it me or were his ears red? Was he allergic to 'friendship'?

And that was why I mentally sighed. I didn't actually see him as a friend.

I loved him.

How long did I have to wait until I pour out all these sappy and cheesy feelings I have for a guy like him? Kami-sama, what have I done to deserve this kind of cruel punishment?

"Oi, is that where we're landing?" Killua mused. I proceeded to look outside through the huge panels of windows as well to check out if we were really near our destination. I peered and stretched out my neck. I moved my body to the side, our arms brushing against one another. It caused our eyes to automatically meet.

We weren't used to body contact at all.

It felt like forever, but I managed to stray away from his gaze—and finally, the place he was talking about came into view. Whoa, how was he able to see it miles away? It was still far as heck. It could take the airship maybe until tomorrow to land… if that was the place we were assigned to in our second phase. "Your vision is sharp," I commented, smiling. "That's so cool!"

The sun was setting over the horizon. Today had been quite a long day for a first phrase. Tomorrow was definitely another day for another phase, and so on and so forth. I could estimate the whole exam to be finished in a week, more or less.

He scratched his nape, abashed. Wow, so he could be bashful too? "Not really. It's just thanks to my training. I've managed to survive up to this very day because of it." Or maybe he was too modest and humble, but that didn't matter to me anymore. I felt some invisible force shove me the moment I heard him say 'training'.

Training? Like, assassin training?

Crap, he really might be the real thing.

And now, I fell in love with him even more. Double crap.

I noticed Killua make a face at me. Ah, I must have spaced out! Darn it, these feelings were overwhelming me overall. It was scary. Priorities, Gon. You still have the task to observe all the potential candidates in the exam. But how could I when Killua was always distracting me? Wait, not the blame game again. I was letting myself be distracted. But who wouldn't be overjoyed finally meeting the one they have been engaged to all these years?

We heard something ring before a voice spoke through the loud speakers of the vehicle we were in. "Good evening, candidates. To those who want to rest or sleep, there are vacant rooms more than enough for all of you to occupy for we will arrive in our destination by eight in the morning sharp. Just get your room keys from Beans-san. He is waiting for all of you in the main office. One room is good for two persons."

Eight in the morning, huh? It was eight hours away. I wouldn't mind a healthy eight-hour sleep. "You want to stay in a room with me?" I offered while I wore a casual smile across my face. The next moment, I tilted my head, bemused. If my eyes weren't deceiving me, Killua's face was beet red like a tomato. Eh? Did I say something wrong?

He narrowed his cat-like eyes on me before averting his gaze away from mine. I swore I might have said something wrong but he wasn't saying anything about it. "Idiot pervert," he mumbled. First, I was called an idiot earlier, and now, a pervert? I get the idiot part, but pervert? What?

"…What are we standing here for?" Killua said. Strange, he was talking a little faster than usual now. It was as if he saw a ghost behind me. And as I looked behind me, there wasn't any ghost, just me. Ha! Killua was getting nervous because of me? Pinch me, I must be dreaming. Do take note of the sarcasm in the previous statement just now. Killua being nervous because of me was impossible. No way. It would never happen in a million years. Ever. Period. It seemed I made my point quite clear.

I nodded. "Right, right. Let's go!"

I led the way for the both of us as we looked for Beans-san. As we walked a couple of feet away from where we coincidentally met up, the office was right around the corner when we saw people falling and fighting in line as they received their respective keys from Beans-san. When we fell in line, Killua was silent the whole time. Being Mr. Mystery again, huh? I mentally sighed. I didn't know if getting used to his enigmatic personality was good or not.

Finally, it was our turn. As we walked inside the office and approached Beans-san, his eyes perked up and smiled widely. He was obviously delighted to see me in tip-top shape after the first exam. Oh wait, my forehead still had Killua's ripped sleeve wrapped around it, right? He would most likely assume it was a new accessory of mine.

"Ah-" Beans-san paused as my heart raced. I think he was about to utter my real name but hesitated. Good job, Beans-san. My cover would have been blown in the wrong place and time. Not to mention it would all be revealed before Killua's very own eyes. "Room for two?" He did the v-sign, but he apparently meant 'two'.

I bobbed my head. "Uh-huh." As soon as I got and thanked Beans-san for giving the key for our room, I noticed him sneaking a glance at Killua. Eh? Did he notice the potential in Killua too? My decision skills must be spot-on then!

When I turned around, Killua was nowhere in sight again. The heck? I told him to wait for me earlier, and yet he still ditched me again. Did he not listen to what I said? I sighed and exited the office. I was going to look for him for the umpteenth when I unexpectedly saw him waiting by the door, his arms folded against his chest.

So… he did listen. Ugh, I think it would have been better if Killua didn't listen to me earlier. I was falling in love with him more with every action he did. Was this a curse? Did he have some kind of Nen ability to make me fall in desperately in love with him more and more?

As soon as we started walking, Killua placed his arms on his back. "What's our room number?" he asked. Rooms were assigned by numbers, just so you know. Killua's voice was back to normal now. I still didn't understand the reason why he talked quickly earlier. Perhaps there were some things best left unsaid?

I held our room key and looked at its number. "8248," I replied. I blinked twice. "Weird. It's a huge number." But we were now down to half of the number of candidates that joined the exam. Maybe they should have offered rooms for each one instead.

I also wondered how difficult the next phase was going to be. I sure hope it wasn't a paper test or I was going to fail miserably.

"An airship carries a lot of people," he explained as a matter-of-factly. "It's natural they offer rooms equivalent to the number of passengers." Killua knew his stuff. I had this feeling he was smarter than me… or maybe this was common sense or knowledge that I didn't know about. Don't tell me I lack common sense?!

No, I must not let Killua win the battle of wits! "Um—" I couldn't have been more articulate. "I'm sure they've locked all the other rooms because there are only a few of us left." Oh, whatever. I would just 'go with the flow' in the conversation like I always did. Logic wasn't my style. I wasn't an argumentative type unlike him. "They're probably offering rooms for two because it will be convenient to the next group of people who are going to use it since cleaning the rooms will be a lot faster and convenient."

A moment of silence. Ugh, I hate these awkward silences. What I said hopefully made sense, even though most of it was random babbling and nonsense.

Killua still remained as nonchalant as ever. "Now you're even noticing the petty details of things?" He shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe the numbering of the rooms is random to make fun of us passengers." Eh? That was supposed to be my explanation because 8248 was really huge for a room number. He looked like he wasn't even trying to think anymore. Was he bored already? Was peace and quiet his source of boredom? Or he was tired per chance?

We were looking for our room when I heard him sigh. Killua sighing? He must be really bored. I'm sorry if I'm that boring. "Geez, I sure would love to eat a choco robot right now," he mumbled. A choco robot? I finally understood why he was looking so bored. Good thing it wasn't because of me. Who knew someone like Killua had a sweet tooth?

The airship was above terrain that I was clearly unaware of. There was no sign of civilization whatsoever. We were probably a thousand miles from the last city. I didn't have any choco robots with me so he was going to be remain choco robot-less most likely until the exam was over. His plight was reasonable though. I wouldn't mind a sweet treat right now too.

"Hmmm… maybe we can buy tons of choco robots when we finish the exam," I suggested. "It will be a great reward for all our effort and hard work." We could try and reach the last floor of Heaven's Arena in the process too. It was like a win-win.

Killua crossed his arms and huffed. I merely suggested it. He didn't need to look like he was being forced to do what I say. "Okay. But you better make sure you finish the exam."

Hey, I didn't need any reminders! "That's my line!" I objected. I was more than confident and sure I wasn't going to fail the exam. I wasn't even thinking of failing even though I already passed the exam a few years back. Failing this exam was failure of being a Hunter.

A chuckle slipped out from his lips. "I'm going to buy myself a million choco robots," he uttered wistfully. He narrowed his eyes at me the next moment. Was he serious about that? "And I'm not sharing." Wow, he was serious.

I folded my arms against my chest, raising an eyebrow while wearing a lopsided grin. "You like choco robots that much, huh?"

He bobbed his head. So, it seemed he wasn't afraid to admit his love for the sweet treat. "I like 'em so much I spent two hundred million jenny for it," he briefly explained. "I was just a kid back then…" He tapped his finger on his chin. I couldn't believe he could talk about it so lightly and casually.

My mouth was in the shape of an O, being downright shocked that I was. All that money just for choco robots? That was way too extreme! My shoulders hunched as I stared at Killua in disbelief. "How were you able to get all that money?" I inquired. Surely, two hundred million jenny wasn't his allowance. If he had that much money on a regular basis, then why try and become a Hunter in the first place?

And I think I made myself blush just now. I recalled Killua's reason for taking up the exam: he wanted to meet someone important to him. Deep inside, I wished he was talking about me. Was he going to sweep me off my feet and we would live our happily ever after as husbands? Haha! I mentally sighed for the umpteenth time.

"My old man made me fight in this arena where I got money as a prize once I reached the 150th floor or something." Killua scratched his temple, looking confused. "He told me to go to the 200th floor and come back." Whoa, so he has been in Heaven's Arena before? I'm sure he wasn't going to mind going back there one more time. He did want to have fun, right? "I can't remember much since I was six years old back then."

I gazed at him in awe. I felt like my eyes were literally sparkling from Killua's radiating awesomeness. "Six years old?! You're so amazing, Killua," I remarked, chuckling.

"Cut that out. It's embarrassing." He puckered his lips and avoided eye contact with me. Wow, Killua was too modest for his own good. I presumed he wasn't used to receiving compliments. Ha! Whether he liked it or not, I was going give him compliments from now on because he totally deserved them!

We were already walking down the hallway with all these numbered rooms. I peered at each room door and it seemed like we were near our destination. We were so busy walking and chatting all this time we didn't even bother to look at the numbers of other rooms for we knew they were small numbers.

Killua blinked twice before pointing his finger. "This must be it." He stopped by the door and looked at its room number. We finally made it. And once he unlocked it with our room key, I barged in and swooned once my face hit a pillow. And before I knew it, my drowsiness kicked in, making me drift into sleep almost immediately.

Killua let a sigh escape his lips as he closed the doors gently behind him. He gazed at Gon before turning off the lights and walking towards his own bed. He sat down at the edge of the bed instead of lying down. He clasped his hands, his eyebrows furrowed. He felt annoyed, irritated; just about any other synonymous words in a thesaurus would describe his feelings towards everything at that very moment.

He shouldn't feel that way though. He didn't want to feel that way. But he just was.

A sigh escaped from his lips the second time. He didn't feel like sleeping, even though he was tired. He looked at Gon who was sound asleep. His eyes looked strained, the very same look Gon noticed before they began running in the first phase of their exam.

"Idiot…" he mumbled in the quietest voice, albeit he himself could only hear it in the room.

My body had its own biological clock so it forced me to wake up even though I wanted to sleep more. How long was I out? When I gazed out the window, the sun was already up. The airship was still moving, so I guess I only slept for a few hours. I felt something was missing. Wait, someone was missing! I moved my head frantically, but there was no sign of Killua. Why did he have to make me feel worried first thing in the morning?

I heard the door click open and my head quickly snapped to the location of the door.

"Yo," greeted Killua with a wave of a hand. I narrowed my eyes at him. He narrowed his eyes back at me. We were getting to know each other pretty well. "What? I just got these spider eggs for us as breakfast or something..." He scratched his cheek as he handed me one. "They were giving these out for free for a limited time." He raised an eyebrow. "You sure are a deep sleeper. You didn't even hear the announcement for it."

I shrugged. "I guess I felt so reassured that I slept in peace." It was true. I could remain awake for days if I needed to, but that had its consequences to my body. Back when I was in Whale Island, I felt like I was in Nirvana, unless I was called in for a mission. I looked at the so-called spider egg Killua gave me before I took a bite. My eyes widened. It tasted so delicious! It was just an egg though. No special spices whatsoever. It was boiled just like any other egg. How could something taste this good? I finished the whole egg after a couple more bites. I was craving for more, but Killua did say it was only offered for a limited time only. Darn. I should have hoarded those eggs on my own. Maybe I could look for the source of the eggs sometime.

"Uh-huh. Sure," Killua muttered as he finished eating his own spider egg. Maybe I needed a big meal after this exam was over. I wouldn't mind buying a million choco robots just to satisfy my appetite.

"Did you get a good night's sleep too, Killua?" I asked. He didn't look all that different, but somehow he was a lot more restless? Or maybe it was all my imagination?

He looked like he was spacing out, so I had to call his attention for the second time.

"Killua?"

Blinking twice, he scratched his nape. He definitely didn't get some sleep last night. "Yeah… I guess…" He might have even not listened to my question. Very suspicious. What did he exactly do last night? Maybe he wasn't much of a sleeper in the first place. How would I know? I barely knew him! And how would I be able to know? By asking, of course.

"You didn't get any sleep at all last night, did you?" I inquired, my face deadpan. He didn't need to lie to me. The bags under his eyes gave everything away.

"A little," he replied. He folded his arms against his chest, his eyes slanting. "How did it become any of your business anyway?" Oh wow, I was just asking. I didn't need your attitude, Killua.

I rolled my eyes at his snarky comment. "Why? Is it so wrong to ask?" I snapped back. I didn't expect this morning to be irritating already. But my feelings for him were still strong, don't get me wrong. I just needed to get used to this personality of his perhaps, is all. But for now, I was irked as heck. Maybe because it was early in the morning?

I heard him click his tongue. And just when he opened his mouth to most likely retort, we heard the very same ring we heard last night, so much for hearing Killua's comeback. We would save this argument for later. We were glaring at each other as we listened to the announcement in silence. "Good morning, candidates. We're preparing to land for the location of the second phase! I wish you all the best of luck."

When it rang again, silence enveloped between me and Killua. I didn't really feel like talking right now. My heart was heavy. Maybe I should apologize? But ugh, he was the one who started this.

"Are you planning to stay in bed all day? Let's go," Killua uttered, exiting the room. I noticed the same strain in his eyes he had before in the first phase. What was up with that?

I puffed out my cheeks. "Of course not." I marched out of the room after him. He was going to treat our argument just now like it was nothing? Did he not know how those kinds of conversations worked? Or did he just not want to further argue with me? I sighed. It was difficult to get to know someone if that someone wasn't even willing to tell things about himself unless I asked him to. I only knew so little about him. As little as a… speck of dust! In other words, I was just as hopeless as ever.

We walked side by side in complete silence. Urgh, I usually knew how to break the ice in most situations, but why did I feel so tense around Killua? I don't get it. Heck, maybe I don't even want to get it.

We alighted from the airship. When everyone left the airship, the airship flew away into the distance leaving us alone by this huge tower. This wasn't Trick Tower though. If it was, we should be on the top of the tower right now trying to looking for entrances.

I observed our surroundings like I would always do in an unfamiliar area. It seemed the island was surrounded with water. There was no other island close, meaning there was no escape. I noticed a speaker on top right of four open paths to choose from. Killua noticed as soon as it caught my eye. Okay, what now? Should we wait for instructions? We could just enter through the doors, right?

Riiiing!

Wrong. It was ringing in my ears so loudly that I had to cover my ears. The rest did the same. When the ringing fainted, a voice was heard through the speaker. I was guessing it was the examiner? I had a feeling that the speaker wasn't used for a long time. "Ehem… Mike test…" the voice spoke. "Oh, good, it works. Anyway, welcome candidates to your second phase! I applaud all of you for passing the test of endurance and strength! But behold before you, a test of instinct. I ought to wish you all truly the best of luck. Or more like, break a leg! By the way, there's a time limit of two hours! You better get moving."

Instinct, huh? It sounded like my kind of test. Whispers were heard across the crowd. A hunter needed to rely on his instincts in do-or-die situations. This was the perfect test, even though the concept was so simple. How cunning.

People exchanged glances before entering different doors one by one. My eyes looked at each door one by one. There were numbers engraved above them, just numbers one to four. Killua dug his hands into his pockets, watching people enter each path one by one. He wasn't thinking of moving anytime soon. Was he thinking? Or just lazy?

"Uhhh…" I narrowed my eyes, rubbing my chin. This test was going to prove pretty challenging for someone like me. I wonder how Killua was going to figure things out. After all, I was only here to look out for candidates with most potential. I glanced at Killua, raising an eyebrow at him. "What are you standing there for?"

He shrugged. Ugh, was he still mad at me?

If he wasn't going to move, I think it was best if I initiated action! I was itching to get inside. Besides, there was a time limit. "Let's go to number one—"

"Hold it!"

My eye twitched. "Eh?" Just when I took initiative, you had to go and stop me now? Was this your way of getting revenge on me? This might be… a matter of pride, huh? Darn it, it was all because I didn't know a single thing about him!

He smiled, no… smirked? "…Don't you want us to be alone?" I stared intently at Killua. Now what did he mean by that? Judging from the way he smirked, he could be teasing me in a way I didn't really understand. He looked at me in disbelief before sighing. Huh? What was that for?

But before I knew it, we were alone together here outside, and time was still moving. Ah! How many minutes have passed already? We were wasting more than enough time here already. I shrugged his previous statement off and focused on the priority at hand. "If you're so smart, what door will you choose then?" Oops, not being very nice, but he wasn't being very nice to me either. I noticed we were arguing often ever since yesterday. Must be because of our differences?

His eyes glazed over at door number two. "The announcer said to follow your instinct, right?" It seemed he didn't mind my rather rude language. Ha. I guess he was used to it. Wait, I wasn't supposed to make fun of it. Ugh, I'm a horrible person. I was supposed to love him, right? I wasn't doing a very good job at it.

I bobbed my head. No argument there. "Is that the only reason why you chose door number two?" Knowing him, maybe he wasn't the type to only rely on instinct alone.

"Not really," he said with a shrug. "Choosing number one is too suspicious. Three and four aren't good choices either. The only valid choice in the matter is two." He shot a glance at me as I managed to make eye contact with him again. Uuugh, no, heart! Not now! "Did you persuade other people subconsciously to head to door number one by shouting that you'd go there like that?" He smiled. "It's a pretty intelligent move, if you ask me. The more people eliminated; the better."

Cold sweat dropped from my forehead. "Actually, I—"

Killua's shoulders slumped. I swore he lost his faith in me just now. Well, sorry. I couldn't be smart and strong at the same time. "I guess we should enter door number two together," he said as if he was being forced to.

I rolled my eyes as I puckered my lips. "Fine. I'm just going to be by your side because I trust you." I noticed his eyes widen quickly before he averted his gaze from mine. Huh? Was there something wrong with what I said? Killua was too unpredictable. I didn't know if he was embarrassed, disgusted—

And once we entered door number two, we walked and walked until we couldn't see the exit. Walking in a cramped path without any windows and just torches lighting up the path was a claustrophobic's worst nightmare. After what felt like forever, we finally reached another room… with four doors to choose from again?! Were we lost? I looked back, but there was nothing to go back to. We were too far gone inside the tower. No, Gon, panicking was the last thing you would want to do. Relax and stay calm. At least I was with Killua. Yeah, that sounded reassuring enough. I did trust Killua, after all.

There was a podium-like platform before the four doors aside from a clock that showed us our time limit. It must be holding the clue to the door that would lead us to the right path. I approached it, Killua walking right behind me. We saw the inscription written on the flat surface of the podium.

We can't live without it.

Huh… So that was the clue, but what about it? How was it related to the doors before us? "Do you have any clue to what this possibly means, Killua?"

Killua leaned his back against the wall and folded his arms against his chest. "I'm not sure…" This time, he sounded like he did mean it. If we didn't choose the right door, something bad would happen to us or worst scenario… death. I gulped. This was the simplest test aside from the one testing endurance.

I paced around the room, the very phrase running laps in my mind. Where were the others anyway? Have they picked the right door? Or maybe they chose the wrong one and it led to their demise? Oh man…

Wait a second… This wasn't merely a phrase. It must be… a… "Killua!"

"Hm?" It seemed he was doing thinking of his own while listening to me at the same time. Was he multi-tasking? His mind worked in mysterious ways.

"The phrase… it's a riddle!" I exclaimed.

"…I know," he said. If you knew, you should have said so in the first place! Or maybe… it was obvious in the first place? "The answer is probably related to those doors… or maybe…" His eyes widened, as if he had an epiphany. "The numbers!"

I snapped my finger. "That's it!" That was a fast analysis. We were going to nail this for sure! One problem down and the most important problem to go: and that was the answer itself. We both focused our gazes on the numbers of the doors. One, two, three and four… I wonder what the lucky number was.

"We can't live without it…" Killua mumbled, looking more and more frustrated by the second. "Damn it, how is the answer related to a number?"

I couldn't think of a possibly either. Maybe the answer wasn't related to the numbers of the doors, after all? "I can't live without one… I can't live without two…. I can't live without three… I can't live without four…" I cited. My instinct told me the answer was definitely a number, but it couldn't tell me what the exact answer was. I repeated the citation all over again, just so I could get a significant clue about it.

We were thinking for what felt like hours since we were all alone in the room. This was the epitome of a mind game. It was killing my brain slowly. I rubbed my temples. Not a single essential idea entered my mind. Was solving the riddle next to impossible? We were already given the choices though. All we had to do was to choose the right answer.

What was it then?

One… Two… Three… Four… How could I possibly live without one? Or two? Or three? Or four for that matter? They were just numbers. Ah! Maybe… they weren't supposed to be numbers in the first place!

"Killua…" I swear if he knew the very solution to the riddle I— He just snapped his head up, ready to listen to any suggestion I was going to speak out. "What if… what if the numbers aren't really supposed to be numbers in the first place?"

Killua's face brightened. "That's the key to the whole riddle." He snickered. "…Though I was honestly just waiting for you to say it."

Eh?! He knew it all along?! I then felt my cheeks grow warm, mostly due to embarrassment. Why would he do such a thing? Was it because solely for his own entertainment? I didn't know he was a sadist too! "You're so mean, Killua!" I frowned. "If you told the key sooner, we wouldn't have wasted all this time loitering around this room."

"Chill out, man. Geez." He raised an eyebrow. "You do know only a few minutes have passed?" When I looked at the timer, the remaining time we had left was one and half an hour. All the walking from the entrance did consume some of our time. "Anyway, the answer's three." He smiled.

I smiled back widely; it was pretty much the equivalent of a thumbs-up. "It's because we can't live without trees!"

"Exactly," he chortled. "If the remaining three paths are riddles too, then the whole thing will be a piece of cake." I wouldn't mind a test being a piece of cake, as long as it would get us out of here. I would rather fight a million bears in a large forest than be stuck in here. This was a place I wouldn't want to stay for too long.

"Let's just hope they are." As we proceeded to door number two, it led us to the exact room. The only difference was the clue. We took our time answering all the clues one room after another since the time limit wouldn't worry us that much. They were just riddles.

It is also.

Killua rolled his eyes. "Two." Also was a word related to 'too', which sounded the same as 'two'.

Before ever.

"Four." Well, 'for' (which sounded exactly like 'four') was a word before, 'ever' and it spelled the word, 'forever'!

A past event.

"One!" Killua explained that win's past tense was 'won', so it was truly deemed as a 'past event'.

Killua and I whistled when we finally reached the exit, or should I say finish line. We only had a few seconds left to spare since we didn't want to pressure ourselves and all that. Besides, we didn't want to meet up with candidates that could get hints from us. We merely insisted that they go first before us.

I was utterly surprised when there were only a few of us left. I never knew this test was that difficult. Were the riddles too difficult for them they had to resort to guessing?

"Time's up!" We heard from the voice on the speaker in the room. "Congratulations to the candidates who passed the second phase! Some of you might think it was a simple test, think again! The four doors have different paths. In the entrance, door number one would have led you to the exit. You can never go back to the entrance ever again! Meaning the exam's over for you. Door number two is full of riddles. But once you understand the key to all riddles, it is definitely the easiest route! But as people entered the wrong doors, they either had to fall to bottomless pits or fight monsters that are out of this world." A snicker was heard. "Door number three is somewhat an endless maze! But it has too many dead ends it will take forever to finish it. And lastly, door number four is simply full of monsters you have to kill in order to survive. Majority of the passers of the phase entered through door number two. Simply a wonderful choice! It's good you relied on your instinct in this one."

Killua and I grinned and high-fived each other. With this number of passers (exactly us four, including me, Killua, the magician or clown or ummm, yeah and the pin-faced stranger), we would definitely skip to the final phase!

I felt a shiver down my spine all of a sudden. I got a feeling that someone was watching me… and as I peered over at the other remaining candidates aside from us, I saw the clown guy smirking at me. I even saw him licking his lips. Was I food to him? I shouldn't have seen and thought that.

"Hm, so he's here," the man muttered quietly to himself as he looked over at a certain pair. "So maybe there is such a thing called fate… or maybe this is all an elaborate scheme?"

After all, hunters work that way. It's how selfish they are.

A/N: Finally, after months of waiting (again), I finally finished the third chapter! I'm glad I managed to fill in all the parts I want to put in the whole chapter! I seriously thought I was only able to write until the part about Killua's rarely shown POV (hint hint it's very important). What do you guys think of the second phase? I try to make it Togashi-esque, but in the end… ugh, I failed. I hope you still liked it though! I tried my very best just to get an update, because I appreciate how you all think my characterization is spot-on? Yeah, best praise ever. I COULD CRY. I'll make it fast paced this time and we'll go straight to the final phase, where things will get pretty dramatic, I assure you. –snicker- I have it all planned out, the main problem is- inspiration, motivation and TIME. Especially time. I've projects to do and I don't think I won't be able to get a update until March or the end of February YAARGGGHH

Meanwhile, a shoutout to Hallie-chi because she's such a lovely person I met in Tumblr (and she's literally the Killua to my Gon :DD) and I love her to pieces asjdhkasd