Chapter 6: At the Tip of His Fingers, Awaits Death

Half an hour later, the three young competitors finally named the last remaining clan member. An ogre who looked to his teens, his form surrounds in a light that flashed from the ritual one last time, and what came was another successful transformation. The teen ogre changed into a much older, much muscular figure in red silk under tough scale-like armor, barefooted and steel braces over his calves and biceps. Such a drastic change that continues to take Emma by surprise no matter how constant she has seen this evolution.

The ogre camp had expanded not in increasing numbers but in increasing physique and changed species. A crowd of evolved ogres - now called Kijin - with more human features and unrestrained smiles as they chatted amongst themselves, a celebratory clank between wooden sake cups that dripped delicious fruit-flavored liquor. Emma and Gon immediately began to parch for anything to soothe their dried throats that were used consistently with every name given to each of the surviving clan members. They were both grateful and eager when Killua came back with three small canteens filled with water, and happily drank away their sore throats in delight.

"I cannot thank you and your friends enough, Emma," the kijin chief Connor said. The children competitors sat in front of him as the kijins celebrated all around them. It was an appalling sight for Emma to speak with what was no older than her a while ago, now as if she was speaking to the previous chief, and felt a close need to apologize.

"I'm sure my father would be at better peace to know that our clan will prosper beyond our losses," the chief added as if to ease the sorrow in Emma's heart he could see as clear as day, his Perception skills truly honed. "You have earned the Kijins loyalty. From now on, whatever you need of us, we shall answer."

"That's really kind of you," Emma thanked him, "But you should focus on rebuilding your village, you don't need to worry about us."

"I understand though that you are still in need of gold stars, yes?"

The children nodded. "Just two more stars, maybe more just to be on the safe side," Killua told.

"If it were monsters in this forest, we would have given the best available spots we know. But as I told before, there are not as many wild monsters roaming in the jungle, likely the remaining ones are in hiding or have left the forest entirely. Unfortunately, we know nothing of other plains and monsters outside this territory. We've heard rumors but nothing certain and beyond small things. However..."

He rested his arm over his raised knee, the flat of his foot pressed against the ground, "There is one place that I am sure all monsters have heard. It is a place where wild creatures reign entirely, endless of them, and it is known only amongst us Monster clans, you will not find this info from any human village. It's existence and location is hidden from human knowledge. Our oldest of old stories even tells us that that's where our ancestors - the first ogres, originated from before we migrated into this forest."

Leaning forward slightly, the ogre chief uttered the name of this mythical place: "Beast Valley. It is a canyon where all monsters in this world are born from."

This preliminary really loves hamming lore just so this event would feel more immersive, Killua thought sarcastically. Emma and Gon, however, were incredibly taken by the ogre chief's story, listening closely with every intent.

"Even the best of human adventurers do not know this place," kijin chief Connor added before a thought came to him, "although, I have heard some stories of being found by the brightest of humans. But even if they do manage to find it and enter, rarely do any visitor leave that place, and never seen again. Wild monsters not only roams, but traps naturally implanted by nature itself, flowers and naturally grown food laced with poison, even the air if you chose the wrong path, will be sucked from you entirely, or crush you with its intense pressure."

Terrible ordeal, in general, is what awaits at this hidden location. Emma remained brave as she hears the dangerous descriptions.

"I'm sorry to say that I do not know what exactly lies within Beast Valley. I've never personally seen it, neither did my father. Only our great ancestors have witnessed it, had lived in it, and passed on information of what was seen. That was a long time ago, I don't know how much has changed since then. Even for us Monsters, it is a legend. We know of its whereabouts, but not its access, it is up to you seek its entrance."

His face grew grim, "While I have not seen Beast Valley, it is surely a dangerous place, but if you wish to hunt wild monsters, then that place will most certainly provide you of more than some. However, there is a chance you could still find other wild monsters in other areas you will find easier to adjust and understand its terrain beforehand by nearby human villages, but with the time that you have, and if the other areas are also vacant of most monsters, if you wish to hurry and accomplish your goal, then this is the place."

His eyes narrowed, "Do you intend to travel there?"

The three young competitors sent looks of consideration to each other. Emma was determined to go, but she wanted to hear the thoughts of the boys with her.

"What do you think?" Gon asked Killua.

The other boy shrugged and looked at Emma, "If you're serious about helping us this far, then we might be able to find this place with your tracker."

"You still have the gift dad gave you?" A hint of his child-self slipping through at the mention of his father. Emma nodded at the kijin chief. She reached in her vest pockets and revealed the red and black device.

The kijin chief smiled at the item, now a memento this child will carry throughout her journey. "Yes, with that on you, you will most certainly find Beast Valley. Even in the midst of unfamiliar territory, without a doubt that device will guide you and help you avoid carelessly crossing dangerous, unknown creatures and deadly traps."

Emma held the tracker tenderly with both hands, she prayed in gratitude to the previous chief.

"Then we shall prepare you enough supplies to sustain you for the rest of your travel. Please, anything you need, and we shall give, even our men if you require them."

"We'll be fine on our own," Gon reassured the kijin. "Like Emma said, you need to focus on your village. We'll definitely find Beast Valley and get our stars!"

Emma nodded assertively to Gon's words. "You don't need to feel like you owe us anything," She said. "Your clan should stick together and heal. We'll handle everything on our own."

A trusting quality in her eyes that while the kijin chief wanted to press further, her unwavering words and point to his new duty as kijin chief had him stayed. He nodded in understanding, "Then I will pray for your triumph in your journey, my friends."

They began putting together their much need supplies. According to the kijin chief, it will take the children a day to reach Beast Valley, so they were given more than enough food and water to last them longer than that. Even when they do reach Beast Valley, it would be considered too reckless to eat unknown natural produce grown in that place that could be potentially lethal at a single bite. Gon did not worry as his nose could pick up such poisonous toxins with his impressive sniff and Killua being immune to poison. Together, they will look out for Emma while Emma continues her role as their leading guide.

It was somewhat difficult to supply themselves, not that the kijins were not so generous, but because of the children's kind action, they were overwhelming the children with gifts and even prized possessions that frankly treat them more like gods than honored guests, neither Emma or Killua found this flattering. Emma was baffled by all the gifts and food that were simply too much for all three of them to carry, even though for Gon and Killua they were strong enough to carry the heavy weight just fine, it was just a matter of practicality. She and Gon had to politely decline the excessive giving frequently.

"The area where you may find Beast Valley is here, far west-north from this village and to this mountain," kijin chief Connor points to the drawn map on a sandy-colored paper, a general description of the hidden destination. "You will likely not spot it at first glance, you will have to investigate the area thoroughly. What I remember the old stories of our ancestors was that there was a cave around here, with small golden rocks - that is the entrance. On the other hand, If your friend there truly has a remarkable sense of smell, then at the entrance, there will be a distinguishing sweet scent that legend says the richest of flowers and fruits carry in Beast Valley, but only that with a strong nose can catch it. It will be a deep cavern, so once you find the cave, it will take a while before you will reach the underground valley."

Nodding along with every given information, Emma memorizes the map at once with a single look over it.

"There is something else I wish to give you."

Looking back up, she sees kijin cheif Connor hand her a dark velvet bag that was about the size of her hand, "I've wanted to give you this for that boar hide you gave to me. I'm ashamed to say that I lost it when our village was destroyed. This bag is filled with over a dozen enchanted arrows that can produce destructive magical effects to whatever target you fire these arrows at."

Emma accepted the bag, unexpecting such a gesture. "Your boar hide... Or right!"

Quickly, she rummaged through her backpack, and pulls out a blackened, fuzzy short cloak that the kijin chief instantly recognized. "I thought it looked familiar," she said, "I don't know if I could fix it though..."

The kijin chief gently takes back the destroyed boar hide, "You've actually found it. Well, destroyed or not, its value remains."

He tied the hide around as his own special neckerchief. While certainly an ugly apparel, the kijin wearing it somehow made it graceful and empowering, "A shame that it's far too ruined to share a piece of it to your friends, but I shall treasure it always."

Emma nodded, "Thank you for the arrows. I know they'll help me a lot when we reach Beast Valley." She inserts the velvet bag of enchanted arrows inside her backpack.

"There is one more thing."

The kijin added. From the side of his trousers, he pulls out and shows three more gifts that were held in between his thumb and fingers of a single hand, "These will surely help you on your journey."

Handing her the items, Emma takes hold of them and examines them closely. They were flat, thin, rectangular shape things, gold and brown spiraling into the dark depths of black at the cover backs of all three. For its front, there were each different picture, with each a section of small information. "Cards?"

Killua and Gon had finished packing up the necessary stuff, they returned to Emma as she was in resuming discussion with the ogre, and saw the cards in her hands.

Killua's looked on with widened eyes, "Are those-?"

"Support Cards," kijin chief Connar revealed. "They're magical cards that can grant you an advantage. These Support Cards vary from several abilities beyond these three. There are numerous of them out in the world, and you may find them throughout your participation in this competition. Support Cards can range from healing, strength enhancement, summoning, traps, and many more."

"Are these what you and Gon talked about?" Emma asked Killua. The assassin nodded as Gon looked at the cards with Emma.

"Yeah, those are the ones. Me and Gon actually used our first card the day before we met you."

"Ah. So you are already of these cards," the kijin chief asked them. Again, Killua confirmed.

"Yeah, you can say we've used cards like these before. It was a different style, but it looks like they follow the same general rules and uses."

"Then with these cards, they may help immensely you against any unknown monsters you may find yourself against once you find and enter Beast Valley," a sheepish look draw the kijin chief. "It's not exactly our best cards though. It was all we managed to salvage when our village was destroyed. But I have faith you three are clever enough to know how to use these cards effectively."

Emma reads the description of each Support Cards closely. The first card.

Support Card: Tangled Webs.

Card Type: Trap.

Description: A trap card that, when activated, will capture any target in a sticky substance that will tangle and halt the target's movements. To plant trap card, face the card down on any surface, when target crosses its range, it will activate and capture the target. Remove card to safely remove trap. Can be removed by anyone if spotted. Can be activated immediately upon throwing and calling its name, which can only be activated by the last holder of the card.

The second card.

Support Card: Instant Travel.

Card Type: Mobility.

Description: Can have the holder of the card and all who accompanies the card holder within a ten-meter radius travel to any destination upon the card holder's request. General location request is accepted, however, an exact description will have this card transport you to the precise destination.

And the third card.

Support Card: Mystery Box.

Card Type: Unknown.

Description: A card that can become any Support Card at random. Upon activation, it will randomly select a Support Card of any type and awaits to be used. The card holder has no control over what card can be brought forward. Can only be randomized once.

Emma was honestly amazed that such incredible cards could exist. The Instant Travel card sounds especially useful in case either her or her new friends are in too much peril where they may need an easy way of escape. She will have to make sure to be close to them always.

"Thank you, Connor," Emma kindly said to the kijin chief. "I don't know how I can repay you for giving me so much..."

A gentle hold and ruffle of her orange hair. The tickling of her bangs that Emma closed her eyes. "This is my repayment to you," the kijin chief said to her. "You've done more than any human or monster could for us."

He smiled warmly, "I'm glad to have met you, Emma. Go. Win this preliminary. I pray that you and your friends will achieve many things in this competition. If not all things. All of us will be rooting for you."

Emma glowed with an orange-cheek happiness, meshed with a sadness that shimmered in her eyes. She nodded under his hand and went up to him. They hugged, a hug that will be their last, for after this, they will never see each other again.

One final parting words between the young competitors and the Kijin Clan, the Kijin cheered after the leaving children, wishing them luck and blessing them with favorable outcomes and fortune. The children bid them all goodbyes, with Emma taking much longer, naturally of course. She lovingly said her own hopeful words of encouragement for the kijin's new life, and quickly joins Gon and Killua who patiently waited for her until she was satisfied. She would have loved to stay with the kijin clan a little longer, but she knew that they had to move on now.

Only three days remain until the end of the preliminary.

Their next destination was set, and so they were off to find the birthplace of all monsters: Beast Valley.

/.\

They traveled for a while. The kijin clan's camp far behind them. They were heading for the edge of the forest, to exit and enter new plains to cross for their headed location. Emma once again takes lead, following the map of her Monster Tracker, remembering the advice of kijin chief Connor to take north until they see a clearing.

"Are you alright, Emma?"

She looked at Gon who offered a worried expression. She nodded eagerly to reassure, "Yeah! I'm fine."

"You were really close with that clan, huh?"

She pondered for a moment, "They're my friends, yeah, but... it's more than that. I've only known them for a little while. They were skeptical of me at first, Connor was the first one to welcome and trust me. Once we all got to know each other, they were really nice. They treated me so kindly."

She melancholy explains her feelings further, "For as long as I can remember, ever since I was born, I've only ever been around my family. There was only once when I was by myself, but it wasn't for long. Before I met you guys and the ogres, when I entered this competition, it was the second time that I was by myself again, for a whole day. It was... lonely. It was kind of scary, but it was mostly really lonely. Meeting the ogres helped me deal with this feeling a little easier, and meeting you guys made it a lot better too."

Gon said nothing. Looking down to his walking feet. Killua was equally quiet, an unadmitted feeling of empathy that he related with Emma.

"... I know what you mean," Killua said. "Before I met Gon, the only people I ever talked to was my family and our butlers. The butlers were there to work and guard our house, they look after us when our parents weren't available, but they're just there to work. I'm pretty sure my obsessive mother ordered anyone of the butlers who got close to me to keep it professional. I wasn't really allowed to have friends."

"But you had your family..." Emma pointed out softly.

Killua smiled, it wasn't supposed to look like a sad smile, but Emma saw it as one. "They're not like yours, Emma. My family is related by blood, but we're not normal people. Sometimes, especially with my other siblings, we would torture and threaten to kill each other like it was a casual Tuesday for all of us."

He saw the increasing shock in Emma's eyes and her parted mouth of disbelief. He instantly reared into a lighter tone, though it was only for a brief moment, "I guess the only family member I'm really close to is my granddad. Other than him there's dad, and... there's our oldest brother, but believe me, it's not the kind of family love you probably only ever knew."

Gon frowned deeply at a hated memory Emma was surprised to see on him, she remained listening to Killua when he resumed.

"We're a family of assassins. Everything we do, we have to do it without any attachment to anything alive. Even among my own relatives in our big house full of butlers we talk to every day, it was always cold."

It was always lonely.

Emma was distraught as she hears Killua's family life. To be in that big house with nothing but people and his own family and other siblings, it sounds like any other home lived by a big family, but what usually consists of a happy loving family, Killua's family seemed so nightmarish. Threaten and kill each other? What siblings would do that? No, rather, what parents would forbid their child from knowing the preciousness of life? Of having friends? Of, of knowing love and appreciation to each other as family?

The more she thought of how Killua's life has been lived, the more she understood why he decided to one day leave it all behind, and the more angry she began to feel towards that way of life he was born into and raised without leaving him the choice to live otherwise.

"Do you... do you and your siblings really threaten each other like that? That's... so wrong."

At first, Killua had thought to shrug, but he paused. He stopped, actually, from walking altogether, causing Emma and Gon to stop with him.

"Well..." He began, looking at the sky that was beginning to cloud a dark gray. Rain was coming. "...There was... one other sibling I have."

A sibling that did not threaten to kill? That's good! So thought Emma. "Who were they?"

A solemn reveal in his aquatic eyes. A faint memory that was now resurfacing as clear as day, that had been nailed down and locked away when that needle was inside his brain. He felt guilt to forget her face, her entire existence. He felt guilt.

But he finally remembered, and that was all that mattered. One day. He will see her again, even if his entire family will step in to stop him.

A sudden loud beep emitted from Emma's tracker, derailing the children's attention. "A monster?" Gon asked.

Emma quickly checked her tracker, nodding, "It's up ahead." She looked at them in questioning, Gon and Killua regarded each other.

"If it's a monster, then we have to take it while we still can," Killua said. Gon nodded.

"It'll be risky without knowing what it might be beforehand, but if your tracker could tell us more about the monster and how we can defeat it, then we'll do just that."

Emma agreed, "Then let's do it. We just need to get a piece of it, I can quickly scan it with the tracker, and then we'll regroup and make a plan."

"That sounds good," Gon said. "Alright. Killua and I will take the lead, Emma, look after us from afar."

Emma gets a hold of her rifle, "Okay."

"Let's go," Killua ushered. With that, the children hurried forth. They reached a small uphill of a sort and all three dropped to a crawl and moved towards the bushes. Quietly pushing through and aside for a view, they spotted their monster.

"Wha-?!" Emma covered her mouth instantly. Gon lets out a quiet, surprised gasp.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Killua muttered under his breath.

From below the hill, it was a clearing of the forest. A flat, rockland that reached across the area by about forty or fifty so feet. Upon the rocky land, two figures stood far from each other.

"-Got to be tough if you're able to hold that many stars on you."

One was unmistakable.

What stood there was the unforgettable person from two days ago. The silver-haired young man with that taunting visage still wielding. He faces another competitor several feet away.

A man of muscles, much broader than the silver-haired opponent. A dark blue vest with the chest exposed, his small circular wounds - almost like they were pierced by gunshots, but were too broad to be of any bullet, about a tip of a finger size?, marked on his skin that seemed to have healed long ago. Armor over his shoulders, and dark blue pants. His hair was short, dark brown, and somewhat spiky.

His face was broad with bushy brows that furrowed into a frown. His eyes were narrowed and hardened, years of enduring pain and sadness, and yet, a radiant air fell upon him, a righteousness as powerful as the man himself bestow with his body alone.

On his vest there stuck a patch at the left side of his chest, seven gold stars glimmering under the dark cloudy sky filled with rain that was ready to fall.

"You're not fooling anyone either," Garou declared. "A guy with your looks, a blind man could tell a mile away that you have your share of fighting more than a few times."

The brown haired man said nothing, staring at the younger male.

"What? Got your tongue stuck behind your teeth? Or... maybe you know what I'm trying to lead up here."

He gets into a stance, arms lowered by as his fingers closed together, "In this competition, there'll be plenty of people who want to see what kind of strength everyone here has. Hold it against me or don't, I don't care. You should have expected an ambush like this, especially with that many stars you're showing off. You only have yourself to blame for your carelessness"

Is he going to steal that man's stars? Emma thought with unease. What should we do?

"...I see," at last, the other man spoke. This man, though the children or Garou did not know yet, his name was Kenshiro.

His voice was low, and resonating with the quiet rumble in the sky, a flash of lightning flickered in the clouds. "You must be one of these competitors who's been terrorizing others... I should ask for your name, but scums who prey on others shouldn't deserve to be remembered."

"Oho!" A light laugh from the dark hunter, his expression exaggerated in mock offense, "Well aren't you harsh? Alright. How about this? Whoever wins gets to keep those stars you have on you. Oh wait, let me clarify."

A gnarling face as the corner of Garou's mouth reached his cheek, the whiteness of his teeth like sharp fangs of a vicious beast, "Who ever stays alive gets to have whatever's left on the other person."

"Men like you are foolish. Come if you dare," the other man pointed at the silver-haired fighter, his frown deepening, "You'll realize that you have already lost."

A "tsk!" from Garou, his grin breaking by a slight millimeter, an actual, legitimate offense to the cool remark, "Calling me foolish? And you think you can decide who won already, eh? Let's see you back that up."

He dashed forward. Emma gasped behind her inhaled breath. Gon and Killua remained silent, cautiously observing.

The man had his fingers still raised, to Garou, this was not unnoticed. A strange way of holding one's hand that should be clenched into a fist, but the Hero hunter knew instinctively that this was some form of technique that awaits for the Hero Hunter.

We'll see if he'll land a hard enough blow to faze me, as if Garou will allow the man that opportunity.

He leaped to the side, his dark form like haze, yet Kenshiro's eyes follow him. Good reaction, Garou noted. Lets see if he can keep up!

He continued to leap around him, sizing the reaction speed of Kenshiro as his fleeting form bounces around the man like a hoping, dashing shadow. Even behind him, Kenshiro did not lose track of Garou, he did not move his head, as if he has perfectly tracked his opponent in his mind. His hand was still raised with his finger pointed.

The Hero Hunter went for him then, right for the side shoulder on Kenshiro's right, his black slippered foot shot forth. Kenshiro raised his arm for Garou, to deflect, or to punch?

No. He extended his fingers for him.

But to Kenshiro's surprise, Garou's foot grazed the side of his fingers and arm, a grasp to his wrist as Garou came completely. A feint! Garou only acted to attack his shoulder!

Gripping Kenshiro's wrist that would surely bring intense pain as if to tear, Garou spun himself around the other man's arm and threw his other foot to Kenshiro's face. A hand shot up and blocked his foot, but with resuming grip to his arm, Garou spun himself over the arm he had a tight hold to and shot his other foot. A hit to the forehead, Garou pushes himself off from the man's arm and went forward.

A series of punches that looked to twirl his fingers, Garou landed quick assaults as Kenshiro braced the attacks with his arms crossed. Garou belittled the man in his thought, the way Kenshiro was blocking was amateurish, unbold even.

Was this man really a fighter? Obviously, he was, but Garou wants to see it for himself.

"What's wrong?" Garou continued his assault of fast kicks and fists. The man was silent. "Is this really the best you can do?"

Kenshiro shot forward another pointed hand, an unimpressed scoff behind Garou's clenched teeth, he ducked the attack by leaning back, grabbed the man's arm again and shot up a kick to his chest.

The patch and its stars was knocked off, Garou ducked under the arm he grabbed and slammed his fang-like hand to Kenshiro's side once more, pushing himself and the man away from each other by several feet.

The body of the dark blue wearer was scuffed with Garou's brutal beating, yet his face showed no suffering or even irritation for his lack of inflicting hits that could hardly be called punches. Garou stepped back, a loss of interest in his opponent, he raised his hand up.

The seven-star patch landed in his palm. Bringing it down, Garou eyed it closely, "Are these stars really something you earned yourself? With that kind of lame defense you have?"

Kenshiro touched the side that had been hit by Garou, a minor impression upon him that left him eying the place for a moment.

"I fought kids that put up a better fight than you. I'm not even kidding!" A snarling grimace, Garou waved the patch in his hand in taunt. "Well? I got your stars. You got something to say about that or you want to keep acting cool?"

"...Ten times."

A silver brow raised in befuddled.

Kenshiro raises an index finger at Garou once more, "I have touched you ten times."

In the midst of Garou's assault, what seemed to be devastating hits, Kenshiro had been quietly, and precisely, pressing the tip of his fingers against spots on the leg, the arm, the shoulder, places where while Garou was distracted trying to instigate a decent reactive defense to his attacks, he had been placing "bombs" with the stone cold skills of a true assassin.

A raised index finger, Kenshiro picks up his middle and ring finger. "Three..."

Garou blinked, completely lost.

"Two."

Emma, Gon, and Killua watched with frowning bewilderment.

"One."

Kenshiro puts down the last finger, "Zero."

Suddenly, an instant prod from Garou's joints and muscles. An instant prod that turned to a sharp poke. An instant sharp poke that transformed into the shredding of his flesh and splattered blood that blew and coated his entire body with a sickening sound. They were opened as if by blades, they were opened as if by explosives.

"...Huh?"

Garou looked down at his instantaneously bloodied body. "Huh?"

Emma gagged behind her covered mouth. Gon and Killua's jaw dropped.

"Wha... What did you..." The Hero Hunter fell to his knees. A loss of the support in his legs. The patch with its seven stars fell from his loosened grip.

"I had touched the pressure points in your limbs and other joints," Kenshiro revealed. "You will not be walking any time soon. This assassin technique can penetrate even the sturdiest of armors, causing the human body to react violently, and self destruct. This is the power of the Hokuto Shin Ken; the most powerful and invincible technique in my world."

A bloody burst from Garou's mouth, he spat out chunks of his blood. It was like his insides swallowed hundreds of razor blades that were ignited by dynamites. He listened to the explanation of what his body had just endured. You're kidding me... This sort of technique exists?!

To defeat an opponent just by touching him? No wonder that man didn't try to pull back his fist to launch a punch. He didn't have to. Even worse, he had been pegging Garou as an unknowing "fool". Damn it! I was reckless!

He heard approaching footsteps.

"I've only used a small percentage of my ability. Have I pushed any further, you wouldn't even been able to talk. You will take this time to think over all of your wrong doings."

Rain drips down from the sky, a beginning few taps that soon became a downpour of endless drops, dowsing both figures and cleaning away some of Garou's blood.

"If you think what was done to your body was appalling," the dangerous man said, a dark gloom in his merciless eyes, "Then what do you believe will happen if something like the head was touched?"

Panic raced through Garou's systems. His beating heart that hurt against his ribcage repeatedly. He forces himself to stand and resume their bout. Deal with it. Deal with it. Just deal with-

Another devastating shred of his blood from his legs, his knee caps imploded and he was forced back down, this time to his entire front body against the ground, barely catching himself by his arms.

"It is useless to stand or run away. While you had tossed your kicks, I had touched the pressure points of your knees."

This fight was decided from the start.

The words of this man had rung true. Garou had already lost the moment he decided to challenge the man.

From fight to flight, he tried to crawl away. Screw how this looks on the outside. He doesn't care if it makes him look pathetic, as long as he can get away, take time to recoup himself-

The joints of his elbows imploded, another splatter of his blood. Yeah, I should have figured. He thought blatantly.

The footsteps stopped near his form, the hand with its deadly fingers picking up the seven-star patch in retrieval. Garou looked up.

"...Looking at you this close. You're actually young."

The two fingers were held over the bloodied dark hunter, the eyes of the older man seem to have unchanged, and yet, there was a slight, release of his intensity that Garou thought to be judgmental, a softening pressure from his deriving hate against the wickedness that Garou introduced himself as. A subtle hint of confusion from his thick, furrowed brows.

"Your fighting is impressive. Whoever taught you those moves has done well to implement them into your being. That is a sign of a master who has loved his student dearly. So tell me."

His fingers grew closer to Garou's forehead, an inch close to his sweating and bleeding skin.

"Does your master know of your behavior? If he does, how proud is he of you now?"

Think. Think. Think. What can he do? If Garou moves, he'll be caught. If he is touched, he's dead. What can he do? What the hell can he do?!

Distracting himself with these desperate thoughts, Garou avoided confronting the question as he tries to search for a way of escape, forcing himself on his knees, blood spurting from his open wounds.

Dammit! He cursed, I didn't even last the first five minutes against this guy! What kind of technique makes people's bodies explode anyway?! Assassin technique my ass! I didn't even notice his touch sure but what came after it ain't quiet at all! Freakin bastard even gloating his technique. The hell kind of an assassin does that-?! Oh shit, he's gonna kill me. Oh shit! Oh shit!

A technique that is this detrimental to shake the entire martial arts community in Garou's world, cannot be exposed if the person was already dead.

A centimeter from touch, movements stilled as a statue even as the cold touch of the rain poured over the Kenshiro's skin to the tip of his fingers, it dripped to Garou's forehead that he damnably flinched at it.

"You would boast taking my life, but you can't fool me. Those eyes of yours."

Wild. Driven. Challenging. That was what showed before, yet at the same time, they were Demanding. Desperate.

Isolated.

Rain fell as thin, crooked streams over Kenshiro's impassive face, the eyes of this assassin reflected from the raindrops, "You don't have the eyes of a true killer."

Cold. Yet gentle. Hard. Yet soft. Firm. Yet sad.

Not a single ounce of real wickedness shines in either man's heart through the windows of their souls.

"Not of a cold-hearted murderer. Or one who kills to enjoy the despicability of it. Those eyes of yours, they do not hold such things. Tell me," Kenshiro asked Garou who remained watchful and quiet, "What are you trying to achieve?"

/.\

"How... How did he do that?" Gon saked, amazed by the incredible yet grotesque form of ability. He listens to the explanation the brown hair man was giving so generously. "Pressure points... An assassin technique? Is that true Killua?"

Killua frowned, "Grandad always told me stories about how there lived assassins who can kill a person with a single touch. I've never seen it myself..." Yet it was somewhat ludicrous that this person would call the manner of causing people to explode an "assassin technque", there was absolutely no subtly to it. But it doesn't make it any less dangerous.

Emma's breath was caught in her throat. She was stunned to speechlessness, the horror show of a person's body being shredded open from the inside. It was miraculous that this dark hunter could somewhat still speak and not roll around in agony, or what the pain so great that he couldn't even scream about it? Goosebumps traveled across her body at such a horrifying ability, and that a human could actually perform such a terrible technique that surely does not give any mercy to those who have been targeted by it.

"What do we do?" Gon asked Killua.

Killua looked at the scene longer, "...Well, it's a lost cause against that guy." He then referred to the silver haired competitor, the bottom of that silver hair dowsed in redness now. "He's pretty much done for."

Emma looked at the struggling dark hunter, flailing to move and escape only for his knees to explode too, flinching from the brutal display. A pained, grievance in her gut and heart at the sight of such desperation.

This is wrong. This is so wrong.

Why? Why do people have to hurt each other this way? Why did anyone have to draw blood this way?

The man in dark blue draws closer to the bloodied figure that had also his elbows blown apart.

He's going to die... Emma harrowingly realized.

That cruel attacker who chased had chased them and fought with her friends. That man of savage-fighting style that was both mended with controlled grace. That terrifying figure, the very same who lied on the ground helplessly, unchanged in form, so it was a fact, he was indeed human. A mean human.

He was also the one who had protected her from the King Taijitu and let her go, hardly harmed, hardly hurt.

He was not a bad guy.

He doesn't need to die.

She also cannot stand to see another human being killed before her eyes.

"Let's keep going," Killua stated. "There's not much we can do here, other than waiting to see if either one of them - by that, I mean the guy who's still standing - would notice us. I don't think we should stick around to find out what happens. Emma-"

He turns to usher Emma along, but finds her missing. "Huh?"

Gon looked as well, "Wha-?! Emma? Emma!"

"Where did she-?" Killua was so focused on the fight he hadn't realized the girl had moved. It was so sudden, why didn't she warn them? And where was she?

Looking for the girl with a discreet search through their hiding spot, lightning sounded across the air, however, the boys knew better and they stiffened.

She didn't, Killua thought in disbelief.

It was the undoubted sound of a gunshot.

Kenshiro was surprised. What he heard was most certainly not lightning. He quickly looked up from the bloodied young man to the sky, through the falling raindrops, a small metallic sort of object could be distinguished if one were to have the sharpest eyes. From that bullet, its surface fell apart in pieces and then-

White.

It was a flash bomb.

Garou did not know what was happening, but the moment the area was surrounded in white light as if a flash of lightning struck them nearby, and the distraction of his dangerous opponent who shielded his eyes, he took this chance that may have been granted mercifully by Mother Nature herself. He was willing to stand on his own two feet in deranged determination and fight for his own life, but against an opponent that could literally "touch him to death," his ways to attack the man dwindled to very, very few options.

Yet he was willing to fight him still.

But as of now, a strategic retreat is not unwelcome.

Garou forced his arms to move, forced his legs to move, blood pouring out from their open wounds, his body rushed away from the surprised man, moving almost four-legged, and drags himself out of the area with every bite of enduring pain he could eat and swallow.

"Gon! Killua!" Emma hurries back to the boys.

"Did you actually-!"

"We got to go! Now!" She takes Killua's hand before letting him finish, taking Gon's hand as well, and hurries down a path with both boys following along, stunned yet still able to react at a moment's notice. The children ran through the forest with their white light overhead their saving grace, and its fade, Kenshiro's eyes adjusted, and he found himself alone.

He saw the blood trail that no doubt belonged to the silver hair opponent, "What?! He could still move?!"

No man could make it farther than a foot before he would already realize he was completely immobile, and yet that competitor was able to get as far away as he did.

"He's strong," Kenshiro acknowledge, grabbing his side that had dealt with that powerful strike from the silver hair opponent. "For someone young..."

What tragedy did it befall on that young man, he wondered.

/.\

"I can't believe you did that..." Killua stated as he takes lead, Emma and Gon following behind. Though the trees that stood tall above their heads did much to protect them from most of the rainfall, there were still droplets of the cold drops that were starting to soak their shoulders.

"Honestly, you're too soft, Emma," the assassin scolded. "You can't stop to help everybody you see. Especially guys who attacked us before!"

Emma fidgeted her hands, "I know he did. I understand that you're angry. It's just..."

Killua sighed, "Look, if you're still thinking how that guy kept you from being eaten by a monster you both came across, I'm pretty sure he didn't do it just to be kind. He thought you had his stars, so he kept you alive."

"But then he left me alone," albeit, Emma was prodded with those harsh jabs, but otherwise, he spared her.

"Sure, but you don't owe the guy. He's an opponent, don't think he'll be grateful if he sees you again. I can tell he's that kind of guy."

Gon spoke up in defense, "Come on Killua. Emma just wanted to help. I think if she did feel that she owed that man, then she can give it."

"It's not that..."

The boys looked at her and her downed expression, "I just... didn't want to see him die."

The memory of her dead little sister haunts her to this day. The stories of other children being murdered as they ran. She felt sickened. She knew there were bad people, and what that buff man did was clearly self-defense, but to kill a human while they're down? Emma couldn't stand for that. And furthermore...

"I really believe he isn't bad," Emma said as before. "And since he's not a bad person, we shouldn't have to let him die, shouldn't we?"

"It wasn't any of our business," Killua argued. "And come on, he is clearly bad. Even if he has some likable qualities, that doesn't make him a good person. Take me for example."

"That's not a good argument," Emma countered. "You're a good person. Even if you and your family are assassins, you're not a bad person at all! You look out for Gon and me, and you're so cool-headed to make sure we know how to look out for ourselves! That's what a good person does!"

Gon smiled with a light laugh. Killua huffed, scratching his head. "Man you really are an air-head."

Emma cheeks puffed in irritation. Killua resumed his way, "Whatever. We can't change what happened. Come on. Let's find some cover until the rain passes."

He spotted an overgrown tree with its strong roots picking itself up, allowing a cover that looked big enough for all three to take camp, bushes in the middle of where they can enter.

"We can make an umbrella if the rain doesn't pass. You guys have any extra cloths on you-?"

He pushes aside the bushes.

Garou sat against the wall of roots. His arms crossed over his huddled knees. The torn flesh apparent but slowly healing, yet still hideously mauled with exposed underskin. His hair dripped with rainwater and blood.

He stared at the children. The children stared back.

Gon and Killua picked Emma up by the arms and ran the other way.

"Why the hell did we have to run into him?!" Killua demanded as he and Gon glided over the grass with hasty feet.

"Don't ask me! How should I know?!" Gon shouted back.

A dotted expression on Emma as she was carried in a tight hold of her arms by theirs and seeing her limply legs in front of her. She saw the figure of the silver hair competitor jump from tree to tree. Before she could warn the boys, Garou had jumped a hefty distance and was ahead of them instantly.

Gon and Killua stopped at once, an angry expression as Garou landed a few feet in front of them, glowering down at the children.

"It's you brats from yesterday..." Paling widened eyes and a disturbing furrow of his silver brows, he looked even more vicious and ferocious with his battle wounds. "So it was your eyes I felt watching me when I was facing that guy."

He had noticed he was being watched, but focused as he was to the man with an evidently strong physique, Garou paid more attention to that opponent.

I forgot his senses are insane, Killua thought to himself bitterly. "Hey, you sure you want to mess with us? You don't look like you can handle another fight."

"Shut up," Garou darkly, almost childishly, responded. He pointed at them, "I still owe you guys a beating. Don't think I'll be as easy-going as before, even with kids like you."

He clenches his hand, a shadow cascading over his face, "And I still got enough fight in me to deal with you three..."

The boys glared at the wounded young man, Emma craning her head to see behind her and at the taller figure until she was suddenly let go by the boys.

"Go, Emma. We'll handle this," Killua told her.

"I want to finish our fight," Gon said to Garou. "I won't run away this time."

"Tough little runt, aren't you?" A gnarling smile from the dark hunter, "Alright! Let's finish where we left off!"

Emma regains her footing and turns to face the opposing competitors who were ready to pounce.

"Go, Emma! Don't worry about us," Gon said to the girl behind him.

"Oh right... Don't think I forgot about you," Garou pointed at her, a frowning mouth. "I warned you before about me seeing you and your friends again. Guess I got to live up to my promise now..."

"Leave her out of this! We're the ones you're fighting!" Gon challenged.

"Yeah? Well you better win for sure, cause once I'm through with you two, she's next," a wicked grin that aggravated the boys and inviting fury at his threat. Their auras were about to charge up.

"I'm really glad you got away, mister."

Their spiked aura halted. Gon and Killua looked behind them with baffled looks, "Huh?"

Garou blinked at the little girl who smiled at him. She walked forward, passing between her two friends.

Killua could hardly believe it, "H-hey wait! Emma!"

She stopped in front of her friends and faced up close the bloodied young man who looked down on her. His wild eyes regarding her in blatancy. He didn't expect her to come up to him.

"What you say?" Garou asked in quiet dumbfounded, his ears mildly filled with rainwater and also his blood, probably bits of his flesh also. So surely, he didn't just hear that she was relieved to see that he got away from death, did he?

"Are you really alright? You probably need a lot of bandages to cover all that wound," she pointedly looked at the ripped open flesh through his dark clothing.

Garou said nothing, still wondering why she was even talking to him this casually.

"By the way. We found your patch."

Gon and Killua flinched at her reveal. Garou's eyes widened further.

"But then we gave it away."

The young boys gawked at her bluntness. The dark hunter was even more baffled that his eyes might as well pop out.

A slow, teeth-clenching smile stretched the bottom of Garou's face, an angry vein pulsing at his temple. "You gave them away...?"

"Most of them anyway. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" The audacity of this little child. Garou's strained grinning teeth creaked at their tightening close of his building anger.

"There were people who needed it and we weren't sure if we were ever going to see you again, but now that we found you, I think it was best that you should know."

Reaching into her vest pocket, Emma takes out her patch of three stars, and points to one of them. "The only star that was left that belonged to you was this one."

What is she-?! Killua stared incomprehensively. Gon watched curiously.

What can only be seen as a mad move, she walked closer, picking out two gold stars from her patch, and reached for his other hand. Garou observed her in closed-mouth, astound silence.

She gently takes his hand and places two of her stars in his palm, closing his fingers to hold them. He let her without debate, too stunned to act otherwise.

"Here, you can have these," she patted his knuckles, "That should give you a good headstart if you still needed more stars."

Garou stilled. His mind completely left him.

"Wha... wha..." Killua started, "What are you doing?! Are you actually giving him your stars?"

"Sure," Emma answered, turning to him. "We're going to find more later anyway."

"That's not the point! You're giving stars to this guy! Seriously, did you skip the part when he threatened you too?!"

"We don't have time to fight though. We shouldn't get side-tracked. Besides, we all have the same goal, why should any of us fight?"

"Are you dumb?! What makes you think he's gonna let us go?!"

Gon steadily leaves his defensive posture as he looked on unsurely while Killua and Emma argue back and forth, putting his mind on the wolfish competitor aside.

Garou silently watched the two children in their heated discussion. The orange hair girl moving her arms up and down in appeasing effort while the kid in white assertively pointed his finger at her with plenty of insults to her questionable intellect. Neither of them, not even the boy in green who took an interest in their talk than the dark hunter himself, were paying Garou any more mind.

He slowly raised his closed hand, looking at it, he uncurled his fingers. The two stars in his palm.

I messed up.

He looked back at the children.

I messed up real bad.

What the hell? He thought to himself. To be pitied by this little girl, for her to relent two of these stars and then have her back to him, be quickly forgotten as these other kids paid her attention as opposed to himself. First his humiliating loss against that man and his explosive touch, and now this treatment?

How is he supposed to become the Ultimate Evil if he can't even scare a couple of kids? They weren't even guarded around him anymore, and he has totally lost his fearing effect on the girl for her to speak to him as if he was harmless, just because he decided to be merciful with her.

He shouldn't have let her off so easy.

He shall correct this.

Yellow chrome sharp gaze fell upon the orange hair girl.

I have to crush them.

Clutching the stars in a tight squeeze with his ring finger and pinky, he extended three of his other fingers for her head.

Evil must not be soft on anyone.

He saw the eyes of the boys sparked in alarmed. Good. Maybe this ought to instigate them. Burn the memory of him into their subconscious so that they will know never to put him aside again.

"Anyway, I think we should bring him with us!"

He stopped his closing reach. Gon and Killua, who were ready to react, drop back their attention to Emma. Garou looked at her wide-eyed.

"Eh?"

She turned around for the dark hunter once more, his fingers baring like fangs for the feeble numbered throat of the baby calf in his view.

"How about it mister? We know a place where we can get more stars." Emma spread her arms out in invite, and spoke whole-heartedly to the black silver devil cloaked in blood as the rain falls all around them.

"Why don't you come with us? Let's go to Beast Valley together!"

Doomed words could never be said, and yet she said it with a smile.


Competitors Introduced:

Kenshiro (Fist of the North Star/Hokuto No Ken)

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