Chapter 30: I x Give x Up

January 21, 1999 (Final Phase)

Feitan vs Pakunoda

The next match was an unusual one. The two muttered something. Something shiny went up in the air. And...

"I give up." The Feitan guy mumbled and the two took their place back in the crowd.

Nobunaga vs Hanzo

Nobunaga had watched the previous match intently and had been silently rooting for Gon. One way or the other, he had kind of grown to like him. He had that classic enhancer nature that Nobunaga loved.

Not to mention, he was Levi's friend, and even though he didn't know what Levi's nen type was, he kind of thought of him as an enhancer too.

Last but not the least, Hanzo was a ninja, a.k.a. a samurai rip-off.

Needless to say, he was pretty pissed off at him.

"Blade vs blade huh." Hanzo smirked as the two took their places, facing against each other.

The referee cautiously eyed the frowning Nobunaga before yelling, "Begin!"

Ka-ching!

It was blade against blade. Hanzo was the first one to attack and Nobunaga simply dodged to the right.

Swish! Ching!

Nobunaga unsheathed his sword and launched an attack. Hanzo blocked it with his blade.

"You know-" The swordsman smirked at Hanzo's strained face, "-I usually don't like to waste my time on bastards like you... but I'm feeling particularly generous today... so be sure to try to be as entertaining as possible..."

He jumped back and leapt forward again. Hanzo tried his best to block his attack but missed and received a nearly fatal cut on the right side of his neck. Before he could recover, another blur of a blade and his own blade was broken.

"You're weak, even for a ninja... so not worth my time...tch..."

Another gray blur and Hanzo was on the ground, with the sharp point of his opponent's blade at his Adam's apple. His breathing ragged, he clutched the deep cut on his neck with both hands, and sighed.

"I give up."

"Huh? Aren't you a disappointment..." Nobunaga resheathed his sword. "Alright, at least you aren't too in over your head. I was expecting more from you though... Tch..."

As he walked back to the group, with Hanzo getting medical attention behind him, he smiled at Levi.

"Thank you!" Levi beamed.

Hanzo vs Pokkle

It turned out that Hanzo's cut wasn't that deep (Nobunaga was planning to play with him a bit more after all), and after a few minutes of fixing, he was ready for his next match.

"Are you sure you can continue without your blade?" The referee asked Hanzo.

"Tch... I've been trained for such circumstances." Hanzo muttered back.

The referee shrugged and after Pokkle took his position as well, he yelled again, "BEGIN!"In a flash, Pokkle was on the ground with his left arm behind him and his right stuck beneath.

"Give up." Hanzo said, his blood lust leaking out of him.

Pokkle quickly accepted his fate and did as he was told.

Killua vs Pokkle

The next match was a disappointing one. As soon as the referee yelled 'Begin!' Killua smirked and putting his arms behind his head, he gave up.

Pokkle sighed with relief and the two rejoined the crowd.

Phinks vs Todo

Another boring match up. It was clear, even to Todo himself, that nothing in the world could make this match any less predictable.

Even before the referee could finish his classic yelling thing, Todo gave up.

"Meh... he was bound to be boring anyway..." Phinks muttered as he walked back to the crowd.

Killua vs To-

"Just no!" Killua sulked.

The referee shrugged and Todo 'won' the match.

Feitan vs Levi

Levi already knew what to do as he approached the fighting space. He owed him too much. He was going to-

"Give up? Too boring. I want entertain."

The quiet muttering of the man in front of him froze Levi.... fight him? But I don't stand a chance! Why does he even want to do that?? I... can't exactly say no though...

"Uhm... ok." Levi gulped.

The referee didn't seem to happy with the match up either. He waited for a few moments to see if Levi or Feitan would change. After that he finally sighed and yelled, "BEGIN!" albeit in a nervous tone.

Some more awkward staring until Feitan spoke up. "You start."

Levi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I give up." he said and walked back to the crowd.

Feitan gave him a disappointed look, thrusted his hands in his pockets, and followed suit.

Kurapika vs Hisoka

"BEGIN!"

Kurapika used his pair of bokken swords while Hisoka fought barehanded. The two went back and forth for a while. Kurapika tried his best while the magician simply toyed with him, even getting hurt on purpose at times.

Finally, after a few minutes of bloodshed, Hisoka whispered something in Kurapika's ear that not even the keenest could catch and...

"I give up~" Hisoka smirked and rejoined the crowd.

Kurapika looked shaken for a moment until he blinked and walked back.

Levi raised an eye brow but decided not to say anything.

Levi vs Killua

"Finally!" Killua stretched his arms as he took his place in front of a nervous Levi.

"Should we really fight?" Levi frowned.

"Why not?" Killua shrugged. "I'll give it my all. You do the same. Or else it'll be no fun."

"... Okay."

"BEGIN!"

Killua sharpened his nails and leapt at Levi. One second Levi was in front of him, and another...

Wha-

Levi was behind him and with a swift chop to the neck brought him to the ground.

How could... am I really as bad as Gon? But I... couldn't see him at all!

"Are you okay?" Levi's concerned voice rang in his ears.

His head felt fuzzy. How could this little kid do this? He's even younger than I am! What kind of training has he had... he's stronger than I am! I should just-

Killua blinked and shook his head. At the very least, he wanted to see what more Levi could do. After all, he wasn't trying to kill him so it was okay, right? Yeah!

With a flex of his arm, he was standing right back up. He checked out Levi. The little boy had a concerned look on his face.

Why? I'm his opponent? Why is he showing me mercy? It's just not possible... yeah! it must be a facade!

Killua took a deep breath and let his blood lust take over. He was sure that Levi was fast enough to give up before he could kill him, so it was probably okay to go in killing mode.

His nails sharpened again, turning his hands into claws, he leapt at Levi again. He was definitely going to aim straight for his neck now.

But! Levi just dodged to the side like it was nothing... how? Again, one second he was there and another he was behind him.

Not again!

Despite not knowing Levi's exact location, Killua managed to dodge his attack and even retaliate with another of his own. This time he chose a barrage. Levi sure couldn't dodge all of them!

Maybe, but this time, catching Killua's wrists with both hands, he stopped his attack.

Killua tried to wrench free but it did nothing. He tried to dislocate his wrists, and it worked! Free from Levi's unusually tight yet somehow still soft grip, he leapt back. He had to think of a new plan-

"This isn't going anywhere, Killua." Levi frowned. "I really don't want to go all out on a friend. Maybe we should try to find a different way to settle this."

... Friend? Did Levi just call him... a friend?

He snapped out of his blood lust mode.

"Are you okay? I'm really sorry if I hurt you too hard there!"

Killua shook his head. "No, I'm not that weak. It's just that... never mind. I guess you're right. How do you suggest we settle this then?"

"Hmmmm..." Levi stuck his tongue out. "Uhhh..." He tucked it back in. "Oh I get it! How about... Rock Paper Scissors?"

Some people in the audience gave a short laugh at this. Killua couldn't hold back a smile either.

"Of course that's what you decided on! Well... I guess it's not too bad. How many points?"

"Hmm... three?"

"Alright!"

The two took the proper stance and began.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Killua got rock while Levi got scissors.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Levi got scissors again while Killua chose paper.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Levi chose paper while Killua got rock.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Killua decided to go with scissors while Levi went with paper.

Both of them had two points now...

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Levi beamed. "Well played, Killua!"

Killua sulked. He had chosen paper while Levi had gone with rock.

"Fine! I give up!" Killua groaned and putting his arms behind his back again, rejoined the crowd.

Levi nearly went back as well when-

"Oh!" He turned to the referee. "I won the match, right? So, I'm a hunter now. I would really like to stick around for Killua's match but I'm sure he'll manage. So, is it okay if I go to visit Gon? Maybe he's awake by now and even if he hasn't awaken yet, I would like to-"

"Yeah." The referee smiled at him. "No problem."

"Thank you!" Levi smiled back and ran to find the infirmary.

What he didn't know however, was that he was very very wrong in that matter.