Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter X Hunter
Chapter Nine: Ways on Wasting Time
Morgan fell asleep almost right away. Almost as soon as she closed her eyes, it seemed that she opened them with Leorio nudging her with a spoon. Or at least she thinks it was.
Morgan groaned and rubbed her eyes groggily. "Dude! That spoon doesn't exactly have pads on it!"
Leorio grunted. "That's the point: we have been trying to get you up for nearly 20 minutes. The next idea was for Gon to bang you on the head repeatedly with prison tray, so you picked the right time to wake up."
"Fantastic," grumbled Morgan as she rubbed her bruised cheek. "And I don't think Gon would ever do that." With his good nature… nope. Hurting others is out.
She sat up, yawned and stretched. She crawled on fours towards the table where all of them- and she mean all of them means including Tonpa, are eating.
"Sorry for waking you up, Morgan, but the Warden might take all the food trays." Gon explained, sounding sorry.
Since this was the case, she just let it go. "Oh, okay."
"Well, you were right about two things: you don't move nor snore. You are hard to wake like a rock." Killua sated. He's already eating his breakfast.
"Thanks for pointing that out." She said in sarcasm. She ate just like the rest.
It was only a simple breakfast and a single bowl of soup. Nonetheless, it's better than having none.
"Or maybe because you had a late night talk with Kurapika?"
Her spoon stopped midway. She looked at him and saw his teasing cat face.
"Really? So you're friends now?" Gon asked with mirth.
"Hey, hey… Smooth talker now aren't we, Kurapika?" Leorio teased, nudging he his sides.
"Don't be stupid, stupid." Kurapika responded.
Morgan released a breath. "Eavesdropping… Really? Do assassins gain that skill as well?" She mocked. "And what's wrong with that?"
Killua shrugged. "I can stay awake for three days, part of training."
"Okay, I get that but I want to ask if what's wrong talking with blondie?"
"Nothing. I just opened the topic with the group the possible cause you overslept. Is there something wrong with it? You seemed affected." He said taking another bite.
Her molars seethed as she made a fake smile. "Nothing." And just went on eating.
Clearly, Killua gave it a meaning, but Morgan best decides to back down.
After breakfast, it was time for them to find morning entertainment. Leorio was once again absorbed in his dirty magazine, Kurapika reading in what appeared to be an encyclopedia and Morgan with a comic book. One double-page action spread only had the word 'CHOW' written in muscular letters, something that the blonde know-it-all clearly disapproved.
The girl just gave him a scoff.
Sometime later, Kurapika sidled up to her on their couch. He did not say anything for a long time.
"What happened to Social Studies book?" He suddenly asked.
Morgan paused turning the page. She finds it odd blondie's initiating a conversation.
"Uh, I lost interest." Her response. "And I need some fun in this room so..." She waved the comic book. "You know I've read a lot, but I've never encountered scarlet eyes."
Kurapika flinched, as if attacked by a sudden memory. She thought he heard him murmur unintelligible words. He must've recalled painful memories.
Well, She was just plainly curious.
"If you don't mind me asking, are your eyes some sort of power passed down to Kuruta people?" She asked. "Can you control the color change?"
"I wouldn't call it 'power'. It's just a genetic trait that temporary increases my physical strength and speed," he said solemnly, in a deeper voice than usual. "But I don't know how to control it. It just… happens."
Her thoughts went back to his fight with Majitani. "Right, spiders." Even with the real living poor spiders.
Kurapika nodded.
Morgan felt mystified. How would the change in eye color heightens once physical abilities?
Are Scarlet Eyes directly responsible for the abilities or are just triggered and become red as a mere consequence/sign of activation of these powers?
She cleared her throat. "So, do Kuruta's only have this trait? Or are there any clans with same abilities?"
"The irises only belongs to the members of the Kurta Clan. My clan were known for it, which caused it to have high demand as a flesh collector's treasure. At the same time, people not from the clan would often turn frightened and violent after witnessing the transformation. These two factors led our ancestors to choose to live in obscurity in the forests of the Lukso Province."
Morgan recalled seeing his glowing eyes for the first time, earning goosebumps at the memory.
She wouldn't argue of it considered as one of the most gorgeous colors in the world.
Maybe, some of his members' eyes were now treated as a rare jewel by many. Sadly, it caused the clans' massacre.
'How did he survive?' She thought.
"Hey, let's play rock-paper-scissors!" Gon suddenly asked Morgan, snapping from their talking.
Morgan doesn't want to join, really. "Nah, You'll just lose." She jokingly said, just to refuse Gon.
Gon beamed. "Much better! I'm pretty good at it." He claimed confidently.
'Oh?' Morgan thought. Now she wanted to see if it was true.
"Alright." Morgan agreed, holding out her fist.
Thirty games later, she had an astounding record of thirty straight losses. By now, the other boys had settled down to watch her get decimated.
"Unbelievable," Leorio muttered. "Thirty straight wins? With no ties? This is a little impossible, even for Gon!"
"My turn next!" Killua declared, and she glared at him.
Morgan's completely into game.
"No way—I'm not satisfied losing like this!" She snapped. Then, she turned to Gon. "Again! Rock, paper—"
Killua huffed and shoved her to the side, sending the girl sprawling off the couch she was sitting on. She leapt up, outraged, as Killua took her seat.
"Damn assassin brat! I'm not finished yet!" She said.
"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Rock! Paper! Scissors!"
Though Morgan was still irritated at being ousted from her seat, she felt smug satisfaction at seeing Killua lose game after game. Instead of going through with her original plan to steal her spot back, she took a seat beside Kurapika, who was captivated by Gon's winning streak.
'Seriously, this guy's brain needs rest.'
"Don't think about it too much," She told him sympathetically. "It might fry your brain."
"There must be a trick," KurapiKa decided. He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. "It's next to impossible. Gon's nearing fifty straight wins with no ties. There is less than a 0.01 percent chance of this occurring naturally, even considering personal inclinations and nuances."
"You think Gon's capable of deception?" She asked doubtfully, resting her arms on her knees and leaning forward. "Just look at him—is that the face of a cheater?" Together, Kurapika and Morgan watched as Gon happily flailed his fist about, grin splitting across his face.
"Well, no," Kurapika admitted. He sighed, shaking his head. "You're right; I should stop thinking about this."
"You do tend to overthink a lot of things, don't you?" Leorio asked, sidling over to them. He threw an arm around Kurapika's shoulder, but it was immediately tossed off.
He glanced at Gon, who was cheerfully nearing his hundredth win. "Well, I suppose it's been easier for some of us."
Just as Morgan turned to glance at the two younger boys, Killua shoved Gon off the couch, causing him to land on the floor with a yelp. "I'm bored!" Killua complained, easily dodging Gon's attempt at revenge. "It's no fun if I keep losing! Honestly, how many games has it been? What kind of monster are you?"
"Maybe assassins aren't so good at it after all," Morgan said, smirking. Then dropped the smile remembering again his backgrounds.
"Hah! Just wait till I know the trick behind this." Killua snapped, bristling.
She blinked... Her lips firmly pressed into thin line to stop from snickering. 'How cute. He's still just a kid after all.'
...
Tompa snored like a bear. Finding it difficult to fall asleep at the same time as the short man, the other four remained awake. Morgan went back to her books, an act that perplexed the two younger boys.
"Hey Morgan, Kurapika, don't you want to watch TV?" asked Gon.
Hearing the blonde's name, her eyes momentarily landed on him. Turns out, he's also reading. "What are you watching?"
"It looks like a comedy," responded Killua. "Kind of lame, though."
"A lame comedy movie is a NO then." She said.
"Oh, umm, Kurapika?" Gon asked the blonde.
"No, thank you," Kurapika said, eyes returning to the book.
"What are you reading?" Gon crawled over to where Kurapika was seated against the wall.
"This? It's a collection of writings by an anthropologist written during his..."
"Woah, sounds boring!" Killua interrupted.
"It's not. It's quite fascinating," Kurapika responded. "You two would do better reading as well, rather than watching and reading that mindless things."
"Nah, I don't like reading. I was never really a good student. Mito-san always had a hard time getting me to do my schoolwork," Gon said.
"Who's Mito-san?" asked Morgan.
"My aunt. I studied through distance learning, so she was like my teacher. I think I was always frustrating her..." admitted the spiky-haired boy.
"I didn't like studying either," Killua said, turning to face Gon and Kurapika. "But then, I wasn't required to do too much of it. Most of my education was in assassination techniques."
Leorio gulped nervously, and Morgan paled slightly. "I see," she said.
"So I guess that means these two probably the only ones who did well in school," Leorio pointed out, "since I never really liked to study, either."
"Are you sure you want to be a doctor?" teased Killua. Leorio made a face at the white-haired boy.
"Actually, I never went to school, at least not in the traditional sense," Kurapika said.
Gon looked at the young man. "You did distance learning, too?"
Kurapika shook his head. "No. But I didn't attend 'school,' since there weren't too many children among the Kuruta at the time." He sighed. "Fortunately, I've always enjoyed reading, or my education would have ended with my tribe..."
His last sentence trailed off.
"Oh, then how about you Morgan?" Gon immediately jumped to the girl. He didn't want to end the conversation, not when everyone's starting to talk about things.
"Going to school is just a waste of money. Not much of a bookworm but I read what I think is interesting." She replied.
"Really? You act like a nerd though." Killua said before looking at Kurapika. "Not that reading lots or being a nerd is bad, no offense."
Kurapika shook his head. "None taken"
Killua continued. "I meant you joined the race with Kurapika in finishing all the books in here." He pointed both their piles of books on the floor.
"Wow! So that means that a lot of what you know, you learned on your own?"
Morgan blinked. "Well, yes..."
"Just by reading?" continued Gon. The girl nodded. Gon looked thoughtful. "Maybe I should read sometime..."
"You have to be able to remember what you read to be educated, Gon," Killua teased. Leorio laughed.
"Leorio!" Gon shouted. "Don't laugh! You didn't know about people wanting to take the left route, either!" That silenced Leorio immediately.
"Quiet, Gon. You'll wake his majesty, Tonpa," cautioned Morgan.
"Nothing's gonna wake him," Killua said. "He's still snoring loud enough to wake the dead."
"Maybe I should stuff something in his mouth so we can all sleep," said Leorio.
"How about one of your ties? You've got enough of them in that briefcase of yours," Killua snorted. "What are you, a tie salesman?"
"He may be an ass, but that's rude." Kurapika said.
"You called him an 'ass', it's rude too you know." Morgan pointed out.
"Because he is one." Kurapika insisted smartly.
Morgan could only blink, urging herself to stop from chuckling.
"Get use to Kurapika. His words are much harsher than you'll ever know." Leorio said and lay on his back on the sofa.
"You aren't going to offer us a seat?" Killua asked.
"You guys are watching TV."
"You were watching it from the sofa just moments ago!"
"There isn't room for three here."
"You heard the man. There's not enough space." She mocked, indicating the boy's last night's sentiments about space.
"Come on, Killua, we're fine right here," interjected Gon.
Killua gave Leorio and Morgan a knowing look. Morgan raised a questioning eyebrow. The white-haired boy grinned in response and turned back to the television. Morgan shook her head.
'This is going to be a long confinement...'
...
Leorio stretched his arms above his head before opening his eyes. He glanced at the clock. He'd only been asleep for a few hours. The tall man sat up and looked around.
Kurapika was seated against the wall, light blanket wrapped around himself and head leaning against his knees. He appeared to be asleep.
Killua and Gon were seated way too close to the television, eyes glued to the screen.
Morgan was... Leorio blinked. Morgan, now book free, sat on Gon and Killua' sofa, and noticed she was looking intently across the room. Leorio followed the girl's gaze to... Kurapika.
"Why do you look like you're ready to shoot holes in Kurapika's head?" Leorio said after a while, somewhat amused at the bizarre attention the girl was giving the blonde.
Morgan looked away from the slight figure, slightly embarrassed. "Oh, I was just... well, uh... it's... I thought Kurapika's face looks girly when I first met him, that sometimes I thought maybe he's a she, but now that I've seen that fight with that scary-looking guy, and seen him without all of those layers on... I know he's male now, or at least I'm pretty sure he is, but... maybe 95% sure... well, you know... I was just looking..."She finished lamely.
"You thought Kurapika was a girl?!" Killua exclaimed. He started laughing. "If Kurapika was a girl, Mister Pervert over there wouldn't be able to keep his hands off!"
"Hey!" Leorio yelled, although after his earlier display during his match, it was hard to deny Killua's accusation.
"Why would you think Kurapika was a girl?" Gon asked curiously, turning away from the television. "He's obviously male," he pointed out.
Morgan's eyebrows furrowed, "Can we please not talk loudly as if the subject is not three meters in range?"
"Obvious?" Leorio blurted out, ignoring the girl before he could stop himself. Then he tilted his head slightly. "Well, I guess you could tell the difference between the male and female kiriko...
"Uh-huh," Gon nodded.
"Kiriko? You met one?" She inserted, still ignored.
Killua shrugged beside the shorter boy. "I don't know about obvious visually, but Kurapika doesn't act or talk like a girl at all."
"Well, Ms. Menchi wasn't exactly feminine, either," Morgan pointed out.
Leorio exclaimed like it was blasphemy. "Are you blind? She's one hot babe!"
"No, not the figure, but the actions!"
"Whatever, you don't look nor act girly as well." Killua intervened their idle chatter.
Morgan narrowed her eyes. "Why am I suddenly the topic here?"
"Because you're a girl and you started this whole thing up." Killua said a matter of factly.
"Hey back on track!" Leorio snapped. It's not every day he'll have this interesting topic. "So, remember the way she was dressed?" Leorio added. He and Morgan exchanged glances, both of them inadvertently imagining Kurapika in a similar outfit. They laughed nervously.
"You guys are sick," Killua announced, following their trains of thought. "And this is pointless. Does it matter what Kurapika is?"
"Well... uh..." Morgan stuttered.
"If you're so curious, why don't you just ask?" Gon chimed in.
The two turned on the short boy. "Ask?!" exclaimed Leorio. "Gon, you don't just go up to someone and ask them their gender!" Morgan nodded beside him vigorously.
"Why not?" asked Gon. He stood and walked up to the sleeping blonde. He placed a hand on his shoulder.
"No! Stop!" Morgan and Leorio yelled, absolutely terrified.
"Kurapika?" Gon shook the young man gently. Kurapika's eyes flew open, instantly awake and alert. He eyed his surroundings warily, noting the strange tension in Leorio, Morgan's tensed jaw, and the odd look on Killua's face. The white-haired boy appeared to be holding his laughter.
"What's going on?" Kurapika asked slowly, his words almost drowned out by Morgan's "Don't! Don't!"
"Well, even though I've given them the answer, Morgan is doubtful, so I thought you could just tell them the truth," Gon said. He ignored the panicked tone of the girl who was now trying to pry him away from Kurapika. Killua had given up and was now laughing out loud.
"Tell them what?" Kurapika asked, although he was starting to get an idea of what this was all about. He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Whether you're male or female."
Kurapika closed his eyes as Morgan and Leorio let out loud yells of denial. They took nervous steps backward as the blonde young man stood, fists clenched against his side.
"You have nothing better to do than discuss my gender?" he asked tightly. He stepped past Killua who was now holding his stomach and rolling on the floor, howling. He pulled out his weapon and pointed it at Leorio. "And assuming I tell you, are you going to have me prove it like you did back there with that female convict?"
Leorio shook his head vehemently, hands held before him in protection. "No! No, Why me? It was Morgan! She was staring at you while you were asleep because she wasn't sure what you are. I know which you are. Never a doubt," he lied.
"Hey!" Morgan protested. "I was just saying you looked feminine despite your gender. I was just kidding around with them!"
"Really?" Kurapika asked smoothly, one eyebrow arched. "And you two?" Kurapika turned to face the two young boys.
"Obviously," Killua said, still chuckling.
"Uh-huh," said Gon.
Kurapika swung back towards the other two. He lowered his weapon and sighed. "I didn't think my gender would still be an issue at this age," he said wearily. He walked back to the sofa and sat down. He picked up the book he'd been reading earlier and began to read as if nothing had just happened.
The four others stared at him for several seconds.
"So... uh..." Morgan began.
"Just shut it, Morgan."
"So, what?" Kurapika asked innocently.
"You're... not going to say..."
"My gender?" inquired Kurapika. "Well, you're all so certain, it seems, so there's no need for me to clarify," he said, smiling wickedly.
Killua burst out laughing again. Leorio and Morgan exchanged nervous glances.
Man, Kurapika is really pissed off... Leorio glanced at the countdown clock above the exit door.
...
Tonpa was sawing logs once more, and amazingly, Leorio had joined him. The shorter man was leaned back against one large cushion, mouth hanging open, and the taller one was sprawled on his back on the sofa, one arm stretched above his head.
"They sound like a construction crew," Morgan commented.
Gon giggled. He glanced at Kurapika who was sleeping silently again. Morgan, noting the direction of the glance, continued, "They're like night and day, huh?"
The blonde haired boy had gathered himself into a ball once more, back to their sofa. Blond bangs parted and an earring peeked out from between parted hair. The earring shook minutely as the boy inhaled and exhaled.
"Actually, now that I think about it, I guess I can see why you thought Kurapika might be a girl," Gon said thoughtfully.
"If you're talking about the earrings. Nope it wasn't." Morgan stated.
Gon chuckled. " You know, you two are quite similar. You're both smart and read books. Why were you against each other?"
"You forget to mention unsociable." Killua inserted which earned him a raise of brow from her.
"If opposite attracts, then maybe the same repels." She replied.
"Oh then, does that mean you don't hate me, onee-chan?" Killua teased.
Morgan scoffed. "YOU are exceptionally exempted."
Killua shrugged. "Well, there is a big difference between Kurapika and you,"
"Really? What?" Gon asked, curious about what Killua would consider to be a big difference between the two.
"Well... Kurapika just seems prettier." Killua said.
Morgan made a face. "Now, you're just looking ways to insult me." She snapped.
Gon shook his head. "Morgan's pretty too you know! How about, gentle?"
Morgan's jaw dropped. "Are you saying I'm being rough?"
Killua tilted his head. "Sort of... but that's not it..." he said, recalling the blonde's fight with the giant.
Gon tried again. "Delicate...?"
"Are you saying I'm not?" Morgan grumbled.
"Well, yeah, but that's not why these she thought Kurapika was a girl..."
The black-haired boy scratched his head. "Patient?"
"Closer, I think, but that's not it, either."
"Skinny? Short?" Gon continued.
"Eccentric? Annoyingly moral?" Morgan threw out angrily.
Killua rolled his eyes.
"Okay, okay," Gon said, and focused his attention on observing Kurapika and Morgan. The two oldest were still snoring, mouths and limbs hanging. The third hadn't moved and continued to sleep silently, wrapped in the light blanket. Leorio muttered something about food and scratched his side.
Gon smiled. "I got it. Kurapika's more refined!"
Killua nodded, "And more serious and disciplined, too. Well, he'd have to be, to maintain a sense of refinement after being orphaned..."
Morgan rolled her eyes and placed her hands in front of her chest. "Way to have a smooth conversation in insulting someone."
Killua snorted. "Well, he just doesn't seem like you at all, "Killua said, "so I can see why some might think he was different from them."
"What about us?" asked Gon.
"Yeah, he's different from us, too," said Killua.
"What do you say, Morgan?" Gon asked the girl.
"Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm disciplined and refined! And Killua's a snotty brat."
"Morgan!"
"What are you three arguing about?" asked a soft voice. The three looked guiltily at Kurapika as he raised his head and rubbed his eyes. He straightened and cracked his neck before looking at them.
"Uh, nothing really," responded Morgan, wondering how much of the conversation Kurapika had heard.
Kurapika raised an eyebrow. "And you look guilty because...?"
"Guilty? We don't look guilty, do we, boys?" Morgan elbowed Gon who still looked obviously guilty and eyed Killua. Gon and Killua shook their heads vigorously.
Kurapika sighed and stood up. He walked towards the bookshelf, shaking his head.
...
They were all packed and ready go.
"Okay, we have roughly 9 hours and 43 minutes left." Leorio said, checking his watch. "We have to hurry!"
With that, he ran out of the room and they all followed. The five of them were jogging for a while until they came to a stop. There were two staircases, one that went up, and one that went down.
Morgan raised an eyebrow. 'Huh? Why…oh this is ridiculous!'
"Huh?" Leorio cried. "Which way?"
For some reason, the group somehow decided to go up. The girl didn't question, she just ran. They ran for about 30 minutes, and then they came to another room. Unfortunately, they'd been there already. They had returned to the fighting arena!
Morgan threw her hands up. "Oh come on!"
"We wasted 30 minutes running here!" Leorio shouted. He was totally aggravated now.
"We should have gone downstairs." Killua said with a blank stare.
"Shut up! I remind you that you were fine with the choice we made!" Leorio yelled at him. Killua seemed unfazed however, and just gave him his bored look.
So we went back to the stairs and went down this time.
Morgan was beginning to believe that the whole tower was one giant booby trap!
After the stairs, they had to use the Majority Rules again. Their choice ended up with a boulder appearing out of nowhere, and chasing them down a hallway. There were a lot more tricks and traps, but she can tell one thing that was similar with all of them.
They all RAN LIKE HELL.
Then, they finally arrived at another room. They stood there, panting. "We have to hurry." Leorio panted. "We don't have much time left!"
There was a sign that said 'O to open door, X do not open door'.
"Well it's obvious that we want to open the door!" Leorio cried, pushing O.
One person pressed X.
Leorio was now, OFFICIALLY TICKED OFF.
He whirled around to Tonpa and grabbed his shirt collar.
"You'd better stop!" he shouted. "I'm really fed up with you!"
"Hey don't get so mad. I pressed O." Tonpa said.
"Stop lying!"
"Leorio!" Gon interjected. He pointed to himself. "It was my fault. I pressed the X button by mistake."
Leorio let Tonpa's shirt go. "Oh." He turned away.
"Hey wait a minute Leorio." Tonpa said. "I think you owe me an apology."
Leorio turned and glared at Tonpa. "I have no intention of apologizing. Since the beginning you've purposely been doing the opposite of what you should be doing."
Tonpa returned the glare. "You don't have any room to talk you know."
"What?"
"Who's the one who lost 50 hours?" Tonpa asked. "You're the one who made the big mistake, not me!"
'Not this again.'
"Enough!" Kurapika yelled. He put his hand on Leorio's arm. "Leorio-hey!"
Leorio pushed Kurapika away from him. She sensed something bad was about to happen. Leorio brought out his little knife and Tonpa got into a fighting stance.
"Both of you grow up!" She yelled.
"Calm down you two!" Gon added.
"Well, I'll go now." Killua said, walking through the door. He suddenly stopped and turned back to them. "Hey, the exit's not far from here!"
"Oh, thank heavens." She cried, running into the room.
When they were all in there, no one moved. Above two doors across the room was the weirdest statue-thing she'd ever seen.
"Last junction." Said a voice from the statue. "Now is the time for your last choice. Are you ready to acknowledge it?"
"Does it really even matter?" Leorio asked, pressing a button. "Of course we are!"
Again, someone pressed X.
This time she's pretty sure it was Tompa.
Leorio looked like he was going to throttle Tompa and Kurapika yelled at him.
"Stop it! Do you really think we have time for this?"
Then, the voice came back from the statue.
"Well, choose one of the two doors. There's two roads…the first allows six people to go, but is long and difficult. The second only allows four people, but is short and easy."
Morgan could only close her eyes. From the start, she saw where this was going. And she didn't like it.
"Concretely, it's impossible, even hurrying, to exit the first road in less than 45 hours. If you take the second road, you will reach the end in about 3 minutes."
Why is her feeling of foreboding never wrong?
"Press O for the long and difficult path, and X for the short path. If you push on X, then the door will open as soon as two of you make yourselves prisoners. They'll use the chains on the wall."
Morgan looked over and saw manacles hanging from the wall, and weapons along the wall too. She hadn't noticed them before…but now she did. There were so many! Some of them she'd never even seen before, but some others were the usual swords, knives, clubs…even spears!
"Well…" Leorio said. "I should tell you this now. I don't intend on making myself a prisoner, so I'm pushing X."
Gon and Kurapika looked the most shocked out of them.
"It doesn't matter which way." Leorio continued. "I'll be one of the people leaving this room."
He looked around the room. "It's all been planned. The room's well equipped with weapons. Do they expect us to decide by fighting?"
"I'll push on O." Gon said. "We came here all together, and that's how I want to leave. Together."
"Gon…" Kurapika trailed off.
"Even if it's risky," Gon continued. "My choice will be the same."
"Hey!" Killua cried. "That's not only risky, it's impossible! We don't even have an hour! The only choice we have is to choose the short way!"
Leorio turned to me. "And you Morgan? Which way do you choose?"
Morgan looked at him for a moment and then sighed.
'You knew this was going to happen, and yet you stepped into their circle…' Her inner voice chided.
'Shut the hell up.' She talked back. Hating to admit she was somewhat right. She knew what to do, and yet… she hated her next decision.
She drawn out her sword. "…I'm sorry."
Tonpa chuckled. "See? Even Morgan showed her true nature. She's just as selfish as I am."
"Shut up, Tonpa. No matter what my decision is. You and I are leagues away." She spat.
"Morgan…" Gon said.
She calmed down and gave Gon a look. "I appreciate our time together, believe me. I want us to leave together." She smiled sadly. "But if there's no other way, I'll…" She gulped. "I have someone to save."
"That's two votes already." Leorio said.
"Are you really in position to say that? I suggest Leorio should volunteer. Don't forget, it was his fault for wasting fifty hours we have. We could have used it to choose the long path and all of us would surely pass." Tonpa inserted to their conversation.
"What did you say?!" Leorio roared back at him before he started to argue. "You were the one who wanted to fail us no matter what! You should stay behind!"
Taking things calmly as possible, Kurapika stepped in, trying to cool them down. "This isn't the time blaming things that's already done!"
Seeing Leorio was going to explode any second now, Gon decided to intervene. "We should all think of a way to get out together!"
"So if none of us have the intention of giving up…the only solution I see is combat." Killua said, looking around warily. His nails pushed out, ready to attack. Kurapika readied his bokken as well.
With Killua agreeing, this is becoming dreadful for all of them.
"Hey I have an idea!" Gon suddenly cried. They all looked at him questionably.
….
Morgan walked out of the dark passage and into the light, with Gon, Kurapika and Killua at her side. A voice from a loudspeaker somewhere announced that there were 30 seconds left. Gon sighed.
"Just in time."
"I can't feel my hands." Kurapika said, looking at them.
"It was risky…" came Leorio's voice from behind her. "But it was worth it." He and Tonpa emerged from the shadows, just as the time ran out.
"All six of us were able to make it out." Leorio said with a smile.
Morgan smiled too.
"And it's all thanks to Gon." She said, patting his shoulder.
He smiled sheepishly. "It wasn't all me. It was all of us together!"
What they had done was they had chosen the long and difficult path, and then they took some axes and smashed through the wall, creating another opening so they could enter the short and easy path.
"Entering through the long and difficult way, and using the 50 minutes left to chop our way through the wall and join the short and easy way…" Kurapika said out loud. "Proceeding this way, it was sure that we could all reach the goal."
"You said it Blondie." Morgan laughed, clapping her hand on his shoulder.
Kurapika looked startled at the gesture.
She laughed once more at his expression. "Oh come on! We all passed dude. That's enough reason to be happy!"
Kurapika chuckled. "Yes…"
"Children!" Leorio reprimanded them with a laugh.
So now the third phase was over…and only 37 of them had passed. Well, one of the guys died right after he walked through the door, so technically it was only 36. But what mattered to her was that she made it out.
They were all alive and ready for the next phase.
But…what would it be? She was getting anxious now. She couldn't wait.