"We choose the long and difficult path."

=oOo=

One hand of mine rested on top of my head while the other rested on my hip as I tried to wrap my head around what we were supposed to do. Right before us was a long, ominous drop, the kind of drop that assured you that there wasn't even a sliver of hope you'd survive the fall. Just staring into it was enough for me to lose my edge and hinder my breathing. It was just suffocating, and I knew what suffocating felt like.

There was also the matter of the narrow walkway connecting us to the door on the other side of the ridiculously large room. It was as plain as day that we needed to cross, and though the path was wide enough for one person to cross at a time, it didn't look all that stable. It wasn't old or anything, but there were a lot of ways to make a bridge safer, not that safety was really the Hunter Association's top priority here.

"What're we waiting for?" Leorio whined. "We're wasting valuable time here!"

The older teen had a good point. It had already been more or less eleven hours since we took up this path and if what Lippo said was true – that this path needed a minimum of forty-five hours to complete – then we really needed to get a move on.

"I'll go first!" Gon volunteered and he ran off. Killua followed right behind him, hands perpetually in his pockets in a bored kind of way. Next was Kurapika, then Leorio and finally, me.

All was going fine and dandy until parts of the walkway began to move at various speed and directions. The sudden movement had me losing my balance and I almost fell off. Luckily, I managed to find my center of gravity again and planted my two feet on the section of the bridge I was on. After a few seconds, everything somehow calmed down and I took a good look around. The room was roughly around two hundred meters by a hundred and fifty meters, and the five of us – and parts of the walkway – were scattered all over.

"Is everyone alright?" came Kurapika's voice from my distant left. My eyebrows rose at his question. After we won the round-robin thing and chose to take the long and difficult path, he had kept more to himself than usual. He was the quiet kind of person, but something just felt off about him right now. Shaking my head, I pushed away my concern for him and brought myself back to the present. I patted myself down, checking that everything was in place, before I nodded and looked his way.

"I'm good," I replied.

"Me too," Gon answered.

Leorio grunted, and more or less, we knew he was alright.

"I'm fine," Killua hummed. The kid's voice was closer than the others' and I turned to my right. Unlike the others, Killua was maybe just a little over a dozen feet away.

"So what do we do now?" Leorio asked, irritation evident in his voice.

"We cross, obviously," I stated, crossing my arms.

"But the door's all the way over there," the doctor-to-be argued as he pointed a finger at his right. Of the five of us, Leorio was the farthest and I was the nearest. "And the bridge is in pieces!"

"The parts aren't that far away from each other," Killua began. "It'd be easy to just jump from one platform to another." To prove his point, the white-haired boy leaped and became the one nearest to the door. "See?" Leorio shot him a skeptical look while the kid prepared for another jump, but before Killua could take off, the platforms began to move again.

This time, I was a little bit better at balancing and didn't stumble. After a few seconds of moving, the platforms came to a stop and we found ourselves at different parts of the room again. I was now a few feet farther away from the exit than I initially was, and Killua was closer. Gon was now the farthest and Kurapika was now only a few meters behind me. This was going to be a pain in the ass, I could tell. With these small platforms moving around randomly, getting to the other end of the room was going to be time-consuming.

With the pieces of the bridge still stationary, I took the initiative to move and made the jump. "Just keep heading for the exit…" I murmured to myself. It was as simple as that, but with all the moving, it'd take a while. After all, we chose the long and difficult path. I dared a glance at the ugly fall around us. One wrong move, one mistimed step was all it was gonna take.

It took us some time, but we figured out that every thirty seconds, the platforms moved. Every minute, they changed heights. And every three minutes, one of the platforms crumbled. Killua was the first to cross, followed by me. Leorio soon followed, then Gon. Kurapika had somehow been the unlucky one since all the platforms he landed on either moved back or became lower. Talk about unlucky.

"We're burning daylight here, Blondie," I taunted as we watched him try and cross the room. He'd been stuck for a good eleven minutes, being always moved back, and though it didn't show on his face, I was pretty sure he was getting frustrated. Finally, he reached a block that would get him over to us, but a beep echoed throughout the room and we heard something explode somewhere below us. Twelve minutes. One of the platforms was going to collapse and my eyes grew wide when the block Kurapika was standing on began to shake violently before he could make the jump.

Oh hell no.

"Kurapika!" Gon, Leorio and I cried out in unison. The Kurta managed to get off before the whole thing crumbled, but the rest of the platforms were still moving. Unless he was real lucky, he'd land, or at the very least grab onto one of them. But he wasn't lucky enough and he just missed a block. Cursing, I pulled out my whip and tried to catch him. Thankfully, the end of my weapon wrapped around his right arm and he ended up dangling from it.

Almost immediately, my grip began to slip. The blonde was much heavier than I had expected and Leorio had to take my weapon from me unless I wanted Kurapika to fall to his death. It was a pretty nerve-wracking, one minute wait for the Kurta reach us and when he did, I couldn't help but frown. He looked fine and I was worried over nothing. A sigh of relief left my lips as I pushed back my bangs and let my hand rest on my head for a while.

"Worried, Onee-chan?"

My frown deepened at the tone the kid had used. He had posed a taunt into an innocent question. "Don't play that game, Killua," I huffed, letting go of my hair and crossing my arms. Vaguely, I could feel something warm creep up my face and I immediately knew what it was. Goddamit, I was blushing.

"So you were worried," he smugly and quietly sang as he and I watched the three boys talk. Well, to be more precise, the two of us watched Leorio and Gon ask the Kurta over and over again if he was hurt.

"You weren't?"

"You didn't deny."

"I didn't confirm."

"Doesn't mean you weren't, and knowing you, Onee-chan, you were," he hummed. "And maybe you still are."

"Cheeky brat."

=oOo=

It was a maze.

It was maze of wires.

It was a maze of sharp wires.

It was a deadly maze of sharp wires.

Thirty-nine hours after we started this path and we found ourselves face to face with a hallway filled with those strong, sharp metal filaments. A few minutes ago, we tested just how easily they could slice through something and threw a can of Tonpa's juice Killua still had with him. Simply put, the can was shredded.

An image suddenly flashed before my eyes. Blood. Torn flesh. Bendot.

I shook my head. I couldn't let myself be distracted right now, especially with this kind of maze. I needed to be aware of what was around me if I wanted to get through this shit.

I turned back to the mess of wires and I could see a several spots we could slip through, but if those things were planning on moving the moment we stepped in, then we were done for.

"Ladies first?"

I shot Leorio a look. "Age before beauty," I answered, gesturing for him to go first.

"That means Killua and I'll go first," Gon chimed. Despite having just been chased out of a room by a horde of poisonous snakes and being dropped a good ten feet, he still had some spirit in him. It was amusing really and I could tell Leorio wasn't too pleased with him and the white-haired boy being all too enthusiastic about things.

A frown slowly appeared on my face, however, when Gon took my response a little too seriously. Grunting, I readjusted my ponytail and tied my hair into a secure bun. "Nah," I murmured as I slipped off my bag. "Let me show you how it's done." I wasn't going to let Gon – alright, and Killua – step into something like this first. It was some kind of sisterly instinct I had that I both came to love and hate.

To be honest, I had never done anything like this, but if it was anything like sneaking into the ranch through the barbed wire fences since I was running late, then it should be easy.

"You've never done this before," Kurapika bluntly stated just as I slid my bag through the largest opening first.

"I've had my fair share of sneaking in and out," I replied, my frown growing deeper as I processed the whole course. The hall was – from what I could see – around thirty meters long with numerous wires stretching across it, creating a maze. There were holes that I could easily slip through, but since Kurapika and Leorio were taller and larger than me, I'd have to take the route they could. It was difficult, but not impossible. "You guys have to copy my every move, alright?" The four boys nodded simultaneously and I narrowed my eyes at them. "My every move."

They nodded again and at that, I took a deep breath before slipping through where I had pushed my bag in. I made it a point to always let my stuff go first. I didn't like the idea of having to leave it behind, or it – and along the rest of my things – being sliced up.

A wire was stretched across above my head and I kept myself close to the ground. There was an opening large enough for Leorio to go through to my right, but before I could reach it, there was another wire. Cautiously, I made my way over to the opening, stood up while avoiding the wire that could decapitate me and stepped over the wire blocking the clearing. I easily passed through and again, let my bag go first.

It went on like that for several, long minutes, with the spaces between the wires gradually growing smaller and smaller. The last I had to go through was barely just enough for Leorio to slide through while lying down.

A sigh of relief escaped me as I slid under the last of the wires and got up. I took a deep breath and turned around to look at the maze I had just passed. Thankfully, I had escaped with little to no scratches. I nodded to myself as I placed my hands on my hips. Looked like running late for work had paid off.

"And that's how you do it," I sang. "Your turn."

"I'll go next," Kurapika announced, his voice bouncing back and forth between the hall's walls. It would take a while before all of us would get through, so I decided to plop myself down on the floor and pulled my bag closer to me. I began sifting through my things and I found it amusing that I didn't remember packing half of the things inside.

A headband I didn't like, a pair of socks that weren't really mine, a cracked mirror, some scissors, a black pen and… My eyes grew wide and I could feel heat slowly creep up to my face. How did this get here?! My blushing continued to grow worse when I recalled Kurapika going through my things earlier. If he saw this, if he would tell the boys I had something like this with me right now, it would be the end of me. I'd die of embarrassment.

Dear gods.

Of all the things I had to haul into this Exam, it had to be a photograph. And it wasn't just any photograph. I was the photo. My face continued to heat up as the memory came rushing back to me. Why did Serena even take this picture?! And how in the world did it end up here, of all places and times? I was pretty sure I had buried, hid, burned or cut up every single copy of this photo because for the love of god, almost everyone in the neighborhood had one. Everyone had said it was adorable, too precious.

I glanced at the photo and I immediately regretted doing so. I also regretted posing for that picture.

Bleh.

Adorable my ass.

Irritated that it had somehow resurfaced, I shoved the piece of glossy paper to the very bottom of my bag. Though it was tempting to tear it into pieces, I couldn't really bring myself to do so. Maybe some kind of guilt or regret I never thought I was capable of feeling when it came to that particular picture. Or maybe the fact that Aster took it had me second guessing. Either way, I'd make sure that this time, it wouldn't get reproduced. God forbid anything like Killua or Leorio getting their hands on it would happen.

Again, I went about snooping around my own bag and found my very light and very thin wallet. You'd think that I'd have a lot more money to spend since I had a part-time job and was under the care of a doctor, but the very reason I had a job was because Serena wasn't really rich. She was an average person with average income that valued hard work and its rewards. Besides, I didn't want to take her for granted or anything.

Opening my wallet, I found a few bills and coins. All in all, I had enough for a trip back to Corymb – train and boat ride and all – not including the food I needed to get by the one week trip. But I wouldn't be worrying about that once I passed the Hunter Exam. Transportation would be free after all.

Corymb. Oddly enough, I was feeling kind of homesick. It was such a laidback, out-of-the-way town. Days were as lively as they could in a town where everyone knew everyone, and the nights were just as homey. There would be the occasional news of a brawl down at the local bar, but it wasn't anything too serious, nothing the police couldn't sort out. If someone got hurt, people would bring them to our home, even if it was two in the morning. Serena couldn't really deny them and she'd either wake me or Aster up to help her out.

A sigh escaped my lips as I tossed the dark blue pouch back into my bag. I crossed my arms behind my head and leaned back against the wall. Kurapika was sure taking his damn sweet time. A little longer and I'd start thinking about depressing things. I didn't like depressing things.

And as if right on cue, the Kurta came stumbling out of the maze. He had lost his tabard. I guess he had decided to take it off, unless he wanted to tear the traditional Kurta garb.

"Yo," I chimed, waving a hand at him. In response, he simply nodded his head and settled himself a few feet away from me. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Hey, are you alright?" I found myself asking. "You've been awfully quiet."

Kurapika frowned and looked like he was considering his answer. "You asked me to kill you," he quietly replied.

Oh.

In the background, I could hear Leorio's cursing. From what I could tell, he'd have more scratches than a sofa store filled with cats.

"If I get out of hand," I clarified, though my voice came out weaker than I expected. "There's a big, fat if to that, you know."

The Kurta looked my way and I could tell he didn't appreciate the way I was handling this. He held my gaze for a few moments before he turned away from me. "I… I doubt that I would be able to do such a thing," he admitted. "I won't be able to bring myself to hurt you."

A frown slowly formed on my face, and it wasn't really the angry kind of frown. It was more like the concerned kind of frown. "That's why there's an if. There's a possibility that you'd have to, but there's also the chance that you won't." I pulled my legs closer to my body and wrapped my arms around them. Personally, I also didn't like the idea of Kurapika killing me. There was really just something wrong with that picture. Not only did it not sit right with me, but something cold would wrap around my heart whenever I thought of it. "But… Just do what's right. You're good at that."

"What would it take for you to not stray?" he grimly asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," I answered after a few seconds of thought. "My memories are fuzzy, but I think they'll come back. And when they do, I just hope that I won't change into someone I'm not, or into someone I don't want to be."

Silence fell between the two of us and just when I thought the conversation was over, he spoke up again, his tone determined. "We won't let that happen," he said, eyes glaring at the floor. "I won't let that happen."

My eyebrows pulled together. He was awfully taking things to heart. Kurapika wasn't letting go of this issue, not by a long shot, but he was kinda completely ignoring the possibility that I wasn't a bad guy and that I won't be, ever. It was both kinda depressing and heart-warming to think he'd be so serious about my case when he made it clear that his top priority was taking down the Phantom Troupe. The blonde already had so much going on and the weight he was carrying was only getting heavier.

Then again, I was partly to blame. People said that ignorance was bliss. Looking at Gon, Leorio and Killua, I kinda believed it. They didn't know a thing and they were content, unlike Kurapika here who knew things and took it upon himself to keep me from going bad.

Depressing. The whole thing was absolutely depressing and I couldn't help but feel responsible about it. I couldn't help but pout as the Kurta continued on to brood. Talk about guilt tripping. Sighing, I shuffled over to the blonde and took the spot beside him.

"I trust you, alright?" I began, drawing a curious look from the Kurta while my face began to grow warm again. "And I expect you to trust me." Slowly, I reached out a hand and grabbed his. For a few seconds, I mused at how the colors of our skin didn't differ too much despite all those times I had stayed outdoors and then I lifted his hand and lightly slapped him with it. "So stop worrying and snap out of your brooding," I muttered as I settled back against the wall, arms crossed. "I know what I'm doing and honestly, the whole silent suffering doesn't suit you."

Kurapika stared at me for a while before a faint trace of a smile appeared on his lips. "You're right," I heard him sigh – or maybe even chuckled, couldn't really tell since he was mostly talking to himself. "I don't have to worry about anything."

"Damn right I'm right," I huffed.

=oOo=

"Ouch! What was that for?"

I glared at the Kurta as I put down the hand I had used to smack his head with. "For being an idiot, an ass, a jerk and for pushing me into a shoot. A goddamn shoot," I grunted as we stepped out of the door, dusty and tired. I swore we looked like miners. "For god's sake Kurapika. A little bit of warning next time."

Our last obstacle had been choosing between five large holes on the ground. Lippo had told us that we were free to pick whichever we wanted since all of them led to the goal. The only difference was how we would get there. Of course, we didn't know at first and it was only when we got to the bottom that we realized how our paths differed. Gon was the lucky one since his was a slide drop down. Leorio had to deal with several thorny vines along the way. Killua got wet and said he didn't want to explain. Kurapika had to go through some electric shocks. I had chunks of rocks lining the walls. Sharp rocks, mind you.

I didn't get injured in that wire maze, but this rock tunnel did a good number on me. What's worse was that Kurapika had just pushed me in without a word. In his defense, he said he knew I wouldn't jump in easily.

But that small smile on his face had me doubting his alibi. No, scratch that. It was a smirk. He was smirking and I just had to narrow my eyes at him.

"What's with that look?"

"Kurapika, applicant #404 is the seventeenth to pass. Demina, applicant #406 is the eighteenth to pass. Total time, sixty-five hours and forty-eight minutes."

My frown deepened. "And why do you get to finish first?" I looked behind me just as Gon, Killua and Leorio's name were announced. "And the two of you, Leorio, Killua. Wipe those smug looks on your faces before I remove them for you."

They so had this planned out the moment they saw those holes on the ground.

Killua smiled even wider. "Ne, Onee-chan. I didn't know you could scream that loud." I glared at the boy. I was so going to get even with him one day.

"Alright! We passed!" Gon cheered as he heard his, Killua's and Leorio's name echo throughout the room. I couldn't help but drop my glare at Killua and smile at the boy in green. A ray of sunshine, he really was. Right beside him, Leorio was chuckling and ruffling his hair. Killua soon joined in the laughter, poking fun at the older teen and soon enough, all five of us were laughing.

It didn't take too long before the Examiners announced the end of the Third Phase.