Beta: TaintedLetter

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Nen training and chakra training were done in between matches and whenever Gon and Killua had a moment to spare. The two boys had a true affinity for nen, perfectly transforming their energy to something akin to Wing's. Chakra on the other hand proved exceedingly difficult.

"It's like trying to grab smoke with your bare hands," Killua had complained during one session.

Their very core instincts were telling them to use nen, and keep the ratio entirely in favor of physical. Going against that instinct was proving to be a true challenge for both of them.

But, they were at least able to get a leaf to stick to their forehead for a solid two and a half seconds within the first week of training.

They wouldn't be able to move on past the leaf lesson until they could move the leaf around their body for at least an hour—a feat that sounded like it would take months for the boys to complete.

Still, they were determined and it was hard to deny their enthusiasm to learn.

(Miwa thought they looked especially cute when their eyes lit up at the simple idea of being able to use ninjutsu.)

At the end of the week, the trio had claimed enough consecutive victories to climb up to the 200th floor.

They took the elevator up, Gon excitedly bouncing in place with a big goofy grin on his face. "What's the 200th floor like, you think?"

"Who cares," Killua said, his hands shoved deep into his pocket.

The bell chimed on the elevator and the three of them stepped off. The 200th floor certainly had a luxurious feel to it, with soft red carpeting, golden accented decor, and warm lights hanging above.

It also smelled like cinnamon apples, which Miwa greatly appreciated. The three began to head down the hallway toward the reception and stopped short in a dark hallway.

The reason they had stopped was because of the blatantly thick malicious aura that permeated it.

Is this a challenge? Kurama cooed.

'Certainly feels like it,' Miwa thought, a little annoyed at their arrogance. Whoever was at the end of the hallway certainly had to be stupid, or craving for death. She thought the aura felt a little familiar—so maybe she had run into its owner before?

"Nen?" Gon questioned.

"Gotta be," Killua agreed. "Come on, let's go."

Miwa took the lead, the least unaffected. It was certainly aggravating that someone decided to lust for her blood at the drop of a hat, but that was the best attention she could give it.

Fearful?

Of what?

She couldn't sense anyone in this tower with a core near her own size, let alone big enough to outlast her and Kurama. She certainly hadn't encountered a life-threatening situation since waking up.

Why would she ever be afraid of some random asshole's aura?

She was half tempted to give them a taste of her aura.

'But that might startle Gon and Killua.'

Both boys were still very fresh to nen and chakra, and the intermingling of the energies with intent (bloodlust in this case) was something that took time to overcome.

Considering they were only a week into training they were handling themselves very well. Both boys were cautious—and Miwa thought Killua looked understandably pissed, too—but neither were flinching or cold sweating.

As the three made it halfway down the hallway, one of the arena workers stepped out. The aura coincidentally cut off when she did so, but Miwa could tell that her energy was completely different than the one that was directed at them previously.

"You three must be Gon, Killua, and Miwa?" she inquired, a tired smile on her face. "Please come with me to register for your match on the 200th floor. You must register before midnight, or you'll be disqualified. At the 200th floor, there are over one hundred and seventy contestants, and you will no longer battle for prize money but rather honor—"

She was abruptly cut off by Hisoka approaching from behind her—he moved fast enough that Miwa almost thought he used the shushin technique—effectively scaring the daylight out of the reception.

"O-Oh! P-Pardon me," she said, bowing apologetically as she pretty much turned tail and ran away from Hisoka.

'Don't blame her there,' Miwa thought in distaste.

"H-Hisoka?" Killua stammered out in surprise.

"Ewwwww," Miwa whined. "I don't wanna fight a masochist!"

"What are you doing here?" Gon demanded, taking a step forward and stretching out an arm in a rather adorable attempt to shield Miwa and Killua from him.

Like a tiny puppy yapping at a wolf, Kurama cackled.

"It's not that surprising, is it?" Hisoka drawled out, the red-haired man turning around to smile coyly at the children. "You bought your tickets online, such information can be easily found. I've been waiting for you."

"You're literally stalking us now?" Miwa growled out, her lips pulling back into a silent snarl. She didn't consider Hisoka a dangerous person to face off against, but he could prove to be dangerous to her friends who were still learning the basics of nen and chakra. For someone with as refined a core as Hisoka, he could do some damage against them.

'Might even—'

Want to take his head now, then?

It was tempting.

Miwa's fingers twitched. It would be so easy to take that first step forward and go directly for his throat.

'Wait.'

Miwa was certainly the protective type, and her instincts had a tendency to lean more toward kill first, question later.

From what Gon had explained of his previous interactions with Hisoka, Gon did not view Hisoka as someone he was truly afraid of. Rather, he saw Hisoka as a milestone to overcome.

This arena—this trip—was meant to train and cultivate Killua and Gon's strength. They would be presented with a variety of increasingly powerful foes for them to overcome. If they lingered long enough, they might even have a chance to use their newfound nen in battle (Miwa doubted they would have mastery over chakra any time soon).

Miwa forced herself to relax, even as her eyes glared icily at the disdainful cretin.

If she wanted Gon and Killua to become strong enough to protect themselves she couldn't baby them.

The moment he directed true intent to kill them, however, Miwa would rip his fucking heart out.

She was faster than him, this she knew in her very soul.

No one was faster than her.

Certainly not some arrogant shithead fuck boy who was stalking her friends.

Ooo. So angry. Like a puffed up kitten who was rudely awoken.

'More like a territorial serial killer who's getting taunted by a damn clown.'

True, true. You lack the flair, or creative expression of a serial killer, though.

'Excuse me for being a boring old murderer.'

Not excusable. Do you know what would make me forgive your lack of imagination? How about a—

'Do not say bijū bomb.'

—good old fashion genocide from a big explosion.

Despite her previous irritation, Kurama's nonchalant words made her inwardly smile.

'You always know how to make me happy.'

I know you. The rest is easy.

While Miwa was debating the merits of using Hisoka as a punching bag for her friends, Hisoka had been using that opportunity to slyly taunt Gon and Killua.

Hisoka ended it by saying, "You've already progressed so far in so little time. Are you prepared to fight on this floor?"

"We'll be fine," Killua sharply cut in. "Get out of our way."

"Yeah," Gon echoed. "We gotta register."

Hisoka coyly laughed, waving his hands in a mocking gesture of surrender before turning and heading away. Gon stuck his tongue out at his retreating back while Killua followed suit.

"What a creep," Killua muttered crossly. "Come on, let's register."

The trio of friends made their way down the hall to where another employee was waiting for them at a registration desk. She had a bubbly smile that was absolutely fake as she greeted them, "Welcome to the 200th floor. Please fill out these forms!"

Miwa groaned in annoyance while Killua accepted her's. It barely took the trio for more than a few minutes to fill out the first forms.

The employee asked, "Would you like to register for a match now? This level uses a self-service system by which you're permitted ninety days of preparation. You may choose to fight on any day during that time. Of course, you're free to fight every day, and you can also wait until the very last minute. Once you've participated in a fight you have another ninety days to prepare. However, if you don't fight before those ninety days end you will be disqualified and your name will be struck from all records."

Gon immediately asked, "Does that mean we'll be fighting here multiple times?"

"Yep! You need ten wins to clear this floor. However, if you lose four times before ten wins you'll be disqualified. If you win ten times you have a chance to challenge the Floor Masters! The Floor Masters are the twenty-one strongest fighters here. Each gets one whole floor from 230 to 250. Understand now? If you defeat a Floor Master you can become the new master of that floor. N-Not only that but as a Floor Master you earn the right to participate in the Battle Olympia, the Biennial Festival of Combat."

The employee seemed to be rather distressed that none of the children reacted with the slightest bit of interest to her information splurge.

Killua idly asked, "Is there anything special about the top floor?"

"That's what you want to know? The champion of the Battle Olympia gets to live on the top floor. It's an incredible honor. A penthouse 1,000 meters up, don't you get it now?!"

"But Killua your house is 3,700 meters up, right?" Gon turned to Killua, ignoring the employee.

As if struck by lighting the employee fell to the floor. She struggled to get back up, whimpering, "A-And the companion always receives a prize of—"

"What do you guys want to do?" Killua asked Gon and Miwa. "Now that I know the top floor's secret, I don't care anymore."

"I just want to fight Hisoka," Gon said.

"I just want to kill Hisoka," Miwa said.

Gon elbowed her. "Hey!"

"I won't kill him unless you say I can," Miwa promised. "Or unless he's about to kill you. Then I will absolutely murder him."

"Well," Killua said pensively. "If Gon wants to fight Hisoka he'll need to win a fight first. But you're gonna wait a bit first, right?"

"Nope!" Gon confidently declared. "I have to find out how different these opponents are."

"Finish filling out these forms then," the employee sourly muttered, slamming more papers on her desk.

Gon let out a cheerful affirmation as he began to do exactly that. While he worked three adults approached them from behind.

They all looked like one good fūton attack would blow them into the next city. One of them was in an industrial wheelchair, another on a single pegleg, and the third one reminded Miwa of a snake.

Miwa instantly hated the third one.

Killua dryly addressed them, "Do you need something from us?"

The wheelchair one said, "No, not really."

Snake boy added, "We're simply in line to register for a fight, right?"

For some reason they then proceeded to giggle. Not the cute little giggle children did, but the kind of giggle that a stalker might do when watching the object of their fascination. It was creepy, disgusting, and Miwa looked at them like they were bugs under her shoe.

Killua sighed. "Right. Gon these guys want to fight on the same day you do."

Gon glanced back, looked the giggling adult men up and down, then proceeded to finish filling out his paper. "I'm ready to go whenever."

Gon turned in his paperwork and the employee said, "Gon will be in room 2207, Miwa will be in room 2216, and Killua will be in 2223. We will let you know which day your match is."

With that, the friends headed off to Gon's room first.

"We're allowed to kill our opponents now, right?" Miwa irritably asked when they were out of earshot of those creepers.

'Are all adults in this world creepers?'

Starting to feel like that.

"Yeah," Killua said.

"That's no fun, though," Gon said, unabashed by Miwa's bloodlust. He reached over and tugged on her pigtail. "This is supposed to be fun, Miwa! Is killing fun?"

"Sometimes," Miwa answered with a shrug.

"Hmm." Gon's face twisted up in thought as he considered what to say in response to that. He apparently couldn't think of anything so he shrugged and said, "Okay."

Killua scratched his cheek, watching the exchange with a slight frown. "It's not… normal to kill people, though… right?"

"Define normal," Miwa asked.

"I don't think anyone did it where I grew up," Gon admitted, "and I know some people might get upset about it."

"Wouldn't you?" Killua questioned Gon, staring directly at him.

"Upset seems like a strong word," Gon answered, tilting his head. "Hmm? Maybe… ummm… a little annoyed? If you kill someone, you can't fight 'em again."

"That's the point," Miwa said. "If you let them go, they could come back stronger."

"Yeah, that's what I want." Gon nodded firmly. "To get stronger you have to fight stronger people, right? Hisoka made me realize that when I hunted him in the third phase. He actually helped me out, which is why I really want to beat him!"

"Are you a masochist?" Miwa deadpanned.

"Huh?" Gon blinked. "What's that?"

Killua loudly sighed. "Neither of you are anywhere close to normal, why did I even ask?"

"I think I'm pretty normal," Miwa defended herself. "If someone is a threat, you take them out."

"But if you leave them alone they could become a super threat and then you could get a super battle," Gon argued.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid."

"That's exactly what I want."

The two friends stared intently at each other for several seconds, then both shrugged.

"I respect your masochism," Miwa said cheekily.

"I respect your dullness," Gon returned cheerfully.

"I'm going to bed," Killua sighed, 100% done with that conversation.

(≧ڡ≦*)

The morality of Gon is surprisingly the darkest out of all the shounen heroes I've encountered. As described by Aleczandxr & NewWorldReview he's a rather selfish hero. Regardless of your background, morality, etc how Gon views you is entirely dependent on how long he's exposed to you, and how helpful you are to him. There's some talk about "doing the right thing" but his actions loudly convey his true thoughts.

Note (please read): All these chapters were things I had written last year. I had planned to have more time in the spring to finish the story completely so I wouldn't feel rushed to get chapters out. Unfortunately, my health took a hit in December and I had to undergo minor surgery in February. The recovery period has been rough as I've had repeated allergic reactions to nearly all my medications and was unable to keep fluids/food down for a prolonged period of time. Today was the first day I really felt like I was able to comfortably go about my day without pain or distress.

Because of this unfortunate event, I have not been able to write much since December. I'm terribly sorry everyone, but I'm going to have to temporarily put this story on hold until I can update my other stories (Sakura / Reverse Harem is literally one update away from complete so I very much want to finish that). I hope you all can be patient for a month, and I hope to see you guys beginning of April.

Answer: Wind manipulation so I can fly and suffocate people. Pls.

Question: If you were a Shounen protagonist what would be your plot power? Like Therapy-no-jutsu from Naruto, the power of friendship from every anime ever, overkill everything like Overlord, etc?

Reviews are love!