Kuondo opened his heavy eyelids, his head throbbing in his ears. He put a hand to it, but even slightly brushing his fingertips against it brought a sharp pain jolting through his head.

What he could tell, though, was that his head was wrapped in a bandage. He shifted into a sitting position, wincing.

"See, I told you guys!" Pietro said, putting a hand on Kuondo's shoulder. "He's woken up, and we still have time left!"

"What happened…? Where…?" Tetsuro was gone. Illuko was sitting next to Pietro, looking him over. However, Pirro was sitting two trees over, his head resting on his knees.

"Well, as for the what, that Bone-Crusher guy rammed your head into that tree over there. Luckily for you, though, it's only a minor concussion. As for the where, well, he…" Pietro paused for a moment, casting a worried glance at Pirro. "When you blacked out, Pirro kind of… flipped out."

- Three Hours Earlier -

"Kuondo!" The boys raced over to where Kuondo lay under the tree. The tree's bark glistened from the drops of blood. Pietro knelt down to examine his fallen friend. A look of relief washed over him. "It's ok, he'll live. It's only a minor concussion."

Illuko looked relieved, too, but Pirro still knelt over Kuondo, and it looked like he was shaking. Shaking with rage.

"How dare you…" Pirro said in a low voice, standing up, his blonde bangs covering his eyes. Then, he whirled around. "Who do you think you are?!" he demanded, his eyes blazing a bright red. Brighter than Pietro and Illuko had ever seen.

However, Tetsuro was unphased. "Ah, I thought that ridiculous robe looked familiar. You're of the Kurta Clan, aren't you? And what a fine pair of Scarlet Eyes. After I kill you, I think I'll take those with me. It'll make a fine addition to all the valuables I have stolen over the years."

Without warning, Pirro charged, going so fast his feet barely skimmed the wet grass below him. He rammed his head into the side of Tetsuro's head, knocking Tetsuro senseless for a couple seconds, but when he whirled around to counter, Pirro disappeared, then reappeared, this time below Tetsuro, knocking his legs out from under him.

Pietro and Illuko stared in shock. They had never seen Pirro fight this way before.

On Tetsuro's way down, Pirro finished his attack with a hard punch to the face, driving Tetsuro to the ground twice as fast. As he struggled to stand, Pirro picked up his bokken, slipping one of the wooden covers off to reveal the steel sword underneath. Quick as a flash, he held the tip to Tetsuro's neck.

"Yes, I am of the Kurta Clan. Consider this showing you what a member is capable of. If this had been my Dad, you would've been dead right now. Now, take this to heart and never touch my friends again, or I will kill you not with this sword," He pricked Tetsuro's skin for emphasis. "But with my bare hands. Now, go."

Tetsuro slowly got to his feet, backing away with slaughter in his eyes. But even he knew better than to challenge Pirro again at this moment. Finally, disappeared into the mist.

Pirro turned to his friends, the scarlet fading from his eyes. "Hey…" he said quietly, wobbling slightly from fatigue. "Is… Kuondo okay?"

Pietro nodded reassuringly. "Yep, he'll be awake in a couple hours."

Pirro gave a weak smile. "That's good… if he isn't awake by the time the exam ends, give him a good… punch for me…" And with that, he passed out, exhausted from the use of the Scarlet Eyes.

"And that's basically the long and short of it." Pietro said.

Kuondo looked at Pirro with concern. Putting a hand to his throbbing head, he struggled to his feet, going over to Pirro and sitting down next to him. "Hey… you okay?"

Pirro nodded sadly. Kuondo put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Pirro?"

Pirro looked at him, his aquamarine eyes filled with emotion. "When Tetsuro hit you, I just got so angry. My vision turned completely red, and I had no control over my actions. And… I was gonna kill that guy…" Pirro looked away again.

"But you didn't, did you?" Kuondo said, though it wasn't helping much.

Pirro sighed. "Do you remember that time, when we were little? We were at Whale Island in the summer, and we were catching bugs. We caught a spider and we showed my Dad… do you remember that look he got?"

Kuondo nodded. Kurapika's eyes had turned red for a moment, but he quickly brushed it off and acknowledged our bug-catching skills, but he didn't look at them.

Pirro trembled a bit. "I was so angry at Tetsuro, I didn't care who I hurt who got in my way…" Tears welled up in his eyes. "I hated that feeling. I don't want to end up hurting my friends…!"

Startled, Kuondo turned towards Pirro, who had his face in his hands, still trembling. "O-Oh my gosh! Pirro, no, don't cry! It's okay, I think you did the right thing. I wish I had been awake to see you give that guy a beatdown!"

Pirro looked at him, wiping his eyes. "You mean it?"

Kuondo nodded. "Yeah, of course!"

Pirro smiled slightly. "Well, then, we have 5 or 6 hours left, so we should get going, if your head's better."

Kuondo smiled back. "That's the spirit!" He said, standing up.

"Come on, guys, the Exam's waiting on us!"

And so, once again, they were off.