I don't own HxH!

The rest of the week was spent travelling around with Killua and honestly after being trapped alone for seventy two hours then trekking the island for another three days, Sora didn't mind the additional human presence in her vicinity—she didn't count Aym as a human, no— especially when the person was someone as helpless in cooking like Killua.

Which usually resulted in arguments such as:

"How did you even survive these past few days by eating a whole ass rabbit without cleaning it?" Sora gawked at the poor creature poised above the roaring fire still fully intact. She mentally gave herself a pat in the back for being composed even with the rather big flame.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard Aym yelling.

She ignored it.

The male blinked. "Wait, you have to clean it?"

"What do you mean by that question, that's like the first and absolute rule." Sora let out an exasperated sigh. "Give me the other one. I'll show you."

Or.

"I'm not using my claws to debone a fish." Killua crossed his arms across his chest, brows furrowed deep, a look of absolute disgust on his face.

Sora looked up from her position beside the stream, a mackerel flapping up and down on the dirt. "Your claws are sharper than my spike. It'll be faster."

"Still no."

At times like this, the girl lamented over the loss of her beloved switchblade at the hands of one pesky Hunter. She shouldn't have stabbed him that time.

"Fine, just start the fire or something."

Or.

"You're awfully critical about cooking, huh."

"I'm sorry that I'm not immune to poison like a certain person." Sora did roll her eyes this time and saw the boy sparkled at her response. She has been more and more outward with her annoyance lately and Killua became even more eager to egg her on.

Which in a way hurt her pride a bit because she promised herself she wouldn't be affected by the boy's word but hearing offhand teasing for twenty four hours was bound to do something to your patience.

He munched on the roasted fish, his eyes visibly glowing and an imaginary cat tail swishing behind him. "I never knew the fish bile was the reason why it tasted bitter."

"The more you know," The girl simply said, dumping the rest of the carcass to a hole she dug before placing the soil back, flattening it. May it return to earth to replenish it.

"You should really cook more, Sora."

"I will if I bring proper equipment and supplies." She shrugged, taking her seat across the boy to stare at the flickering orange tongues. Her heart thumped erratically and her fingers twitched, digging on her yet again reopened wounds on her palms.

burn...burn…

In short, Sora was glad that Killua didn't mind her being extra infuriating with their survival and even listening closely to some of her senseless lectures about food safety which was just her muttering to herself in an attempt to recall the steps Shax had taught her.

Unlike, the voice constantly groaning inside her head.

[That's just plain gross, kid.

I'm the one doing the trouble cleaning it. Why are you the one being fussy?

Those eyes just stared at your soul. I can't.

And then there's you slaughtering a room full of people.

That's different!]

Days continued to roll around. The two of them managed to successfully evade most participants and no one in particular hunted her down so she could safely assume that the badge was the right one. No one also came to find #210 which brought a huge relief and meant that most of the participants have got their respective target already.

Eventually, the night before the last day came.

"You never told me the exact reason why you joined the Hunter Exam."

Her hood was down and she looked to her side in surprise. The breeze was calm enough to give a sense of coolness but not to the point it blew out the crackling bonfire between them. The sky was clear with no traces of cloud, giving a clear view of the scattered star and the round full moon above.

And because of that she got the stark view of Killua's serious blue eyes for once.

Sora fiddled with the hems of her jacket, turning herself away from the piercing gaze, brain whirring in full power to come up with a possible reason.

"You know I can hear you thinking on how to dodge that question."

The girl flinched and sighed because damn, travelling together for a measly three days could make the assassin read her already. Totally not blaming his acute observation.

She had no more reason to hide it anyway. After all, Gon has already known it too.

"Remember what I said in the airship?" She hummed, poking the fire with a stick. "What conclusion did you make?"

"That you're just like me, an assassin."

Sora shook her head, his answer confirming her earlier suspicion. "That's not entirely correct."

She stopped for a beat.

"I'm a wanted criminal."

Killua didn't give much reaction to that except for the slightest hitch of his breath so she continued. "Have you ever heard of the name 'Hellfire'?"

"The mysterious arsonist that vanished after a solid year of burning spree? That's you?"

"That's me." She nodded, glad the male was always quick to catch on hints. "I've been on a run for more or less two years now. Shax was the one who covered up my tracks when I was still active."

"So, you join the Hunter Exam to get rid of the large bounty on your head?"

The girl picked at her bandages, pondering what exact words she could use to describe her dream. "It's more like, I want the benefits that could give me additional protection."

She was never sure having a Hunter title would just wipe away all those wrongdoings in her past. There's no way she could be set free just like that.

"I'm not part of an infamous family like the Zoldycks where none of the authorities dare to lay a hand on them." Sora felt Killua stiffened beside her but she pressed on. "I'm not as powerful as the Phantom Troupe nor have anyone to protect me anymore. Shax is gone and I don't even know where he is now."

She looked upwards.

"I'm all alone."

Saying it out loud brought a huge hollow to her chest and for a moment, she was overwhelmed by the intense feeling of abandonment gnawing at the hole, something she had tried desperately to push down for a while now. He hadn't even said where he was going, not even giving her any promise he would come back. Only a simple head pat and he disappeared just like that.

As if she didn't even matter to him.

"Now, stop being a mindless brat and start thinking about yourself."

Aym's words once again rang inside her mind and she sucked in a shaky breath.

Right, she had to stop connecting everything to Shax.

Killua had been oddly quiet ever since her answer and she dimly registered the thickening air.

The girl coughed. "Sorry, that turned serious real quick, ignore what I said please. But yeah, that's my real reason, protection that kind of leads to freedom I guess. How about yours, Killua? I don't think I've ever heard your reason."

When the boy didn't answer, she turned her head around and was immediately struck with how intense the male was looking at her.

"What do you mean you're alone?"

Sora blinked, her hand already itching to grab her hood back. "What?"

"You have me," the white haired boy stated with all the confidence in his heart.

Stunned, the girl widened her eyes as the breeze briefly picked up, sending the distant bushes to rustle.

Taking her silence as the wrong answer, he quickly sputtered out, "And Gon, Kurapika, even that old man. Dammit, I'm not good with this kind of thing." He groaned and scratched his head before turning his attention back to her, the moonlight casting a dark shadow across his face and his eyes shone.

"Didn't you say friends should help hide each other's dead bodies?"

That single sentence caused a ripple of emotions inside her.

If her finally admitting the wound she refused to acknowledge was finally submerging herself to the darkest, murkiest water ocean, watching as everything clouded her vision and vines dragging her further down. Then his words were that single streak of light that managed to penetrate even the deepest trench.

Beckoning, coaxing, inviting,

Welcoming.

There was nothing that could help her convey the blossoming warmth in her chest.

So she chose to say, "Are you saying that you considered me a friend too, Killua? Finally."

The white haired boy openly gawked at her answer, an angry tick mark appearing on his forehead as he struck her head. "I was being serious there!"

His hit hurt but she merely turned to the boy, eyes sparkling with the biggest smile she had on her face.

"Thank you, Killua."

The male froze in his spot, his cheeks flaming for a bit before he turned away, grumbling.

"Anytime."

The last day finally came around and both Sora and Killua headed back to the starting point after hearing the booming announcement of the end of the Fourth Phase. By the time they arrived, a handful of other participants had gathered around.

Killua held up his tags and after the same orange haired lady confirmed his, Sora held up her own tags then looked around for the sight of familiar black or blond haired males, frowning when she spotted none of them.

"So, only seven participants have passed?" The lady asked while writing something on her clipboard. "Oh wait!"

Her eyes finally caught the people she was searching for and a grin broke out.

"Gon!" Killua called out, giving the boy a thumbs up while the girl waved her hand, a bit worried with the amount of bruises the spiky haired boy sported. She even noticed Leorio visibly holding back his pain. It's good to see Kurapika not injured though.

The said boy replied with his own thumbs up before turning seriously to the front and she followed his line of sight, rightfully toward Hisoka.

Something must have happened there.

The three males each held up their acquired tags and the announcer declared the ten participants that had successfully passed the Fourth Phase before the blimp came down and they all boarded it.

Once inside, Sora stared blankly at the window outside, watching the white clouds drifted around. She clenched her fist.

One more phase and she'd finally get all the benefits she wanted.

[You okay, kid?]

The girl blinked, feeling strangely comforted by the familiar voice of the male that had been missing for the last couple of days.

"Yeah, just thinking. Where were you?"

[Chilling somewhere in your head, watching you interact with another human being that wasn't me.]

She scoffed, deciding to not argue over trivial stuff with him and instead asked him for one thing that had been bugging her.

"Hey, Aym. Was there a problem between you and Shax?"

One second, two seconds, three seconds. No answer came from the male and Sora had fully expected him to wave that question away.

[So you really forgot, huh…]

She was stunned.

"...What?"

She knew the answer to that?

"What do you mea—"

"Are you that nervous that you finally started talking to yourself?"

Footsteps stopped beside her and she looked at the side to see Killua staring at her with the most calculating look she had ever seen on his face.

Crap, she had thought that she was alone.

The presence of another being in her mind lifted and she mentally cursed, trying to get him to stay but he was gone.

"Yeah, I am," The girl admitted without an ounce of shame, knowing that's the response the male expected from her before throwing the bullet back at him, praying that the male wouldn't question her further. "Aren't you?"

The white haired boy shrugged and she heaved out a relieved sigh internally. "Why would I? The exam had been a breeze so I'm sure the last phase won't be that different either."

"Must have been nice to be powerful."

Killua huffed. "You're not so bad yourself actually."

Sora looked at him as if she had seen a ghost because she wasn't sure if she's hearing things. "Wow, a compliment from you? That's rare," she said with pure astonishment in her tone and she saw an angry tick mark appear on his forehead.

"What do you mean. I praise you regularly."

Her cooking? Yes, her skill? No. Did she care? Obviously not.

She was about to retort once more when a loud announcement came from the speaker. "Attention, all participants. The Chairman wishes to interview you. When you hear your number, please come to the reception room on the second floor. We'll start with #44, Hisoka-sama. Thank you for your cooperation."

At that she frowned. "An interview out of all things? Strange."

"You scared he's going to ask you weird things?" Killua smirked at her.

"Won't be surprised if that happen actually."

He looked curiously at her. "Gut feeling?"

She waved a hand off. "The Chairman is just sleazy."

The speaker picked up again, "#53, Pokkle-sama. Please come to the reception room."

Sora blinked. That's some rapid interview session right there. Not even ten minutes have passed since Hisoka was called.

"You'll be up soon, Killua," the girl said, cutting Killua off from whatever topic he was going to bring out, feeling that it'd be in the direction of asking the questionable behaviour she did a few minutes prior.

The white haired boy's face blanked. "How do you know that?"

"Number order. Hisoka was #44 then Pokkle-san was #53. Next one will obviously be you."

"...Of course, I knew that."

"You could just admit if you didn't know, you know?" Sora said, lips and eyebrows flat in her attempt to appear as judging as possible.

"Shut up," Killua grumbled before his eyes widened and he pointed an accusing finger at her. "Dammit, you keep doing that thing to distract me—"

"#99, Killua-sama. Please come to the reception room."

"Your call, Killua," she said, a victorious smile on her face as she watched the boy fumed.

"Stay put, we are not done," The white haired boy threatened before dashing away, away from her sight. He even had the nerve to turn around and held up two fingers at his eyes then hers.

His white figure gradually got smaller and smaller until she could no longer see the fluffy hair. And at that, she swiftly turned on her heels and walked in the opposite direction.

There's no way she's going to stay put.

Killua could chase her down for all she cared. There's a limit to things she could tell people and explaining that there's another being living inside her head was certainly passing the limit especially when she herself didn't exactly understand what exactly Aym is.

There would come a time but now was not the time.

She spotted the other three boys that have been missing from her life for the past few days loitering around in the corridor and waved her hand.

"Yo, kid!" Leorio greeted her.

"Sora! Where were you?" Kurapika asked as soon as he noticed her speed walking toward him.

"I was with Killua," The girl explained, stopping in front of a worryingly quiet Gon before shooting a questioning look at Kurapika. "His number was called just now."

The blond hair male softly sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, we did hear it just now. It seems like they're going in a number order."

The girl nodded and looked back at Gon who finally registered her presence. "Ah, Sora! You're here!" He smiled, not as bright as how it usually was and it made her anxious.

What would she do if this precious sunlight lost its shine?

"You're covered in wounds, Gon," She said, softly patting the large bump on his cheek and amazed at how the boy didn't even flinch in pain.

"I'm okay, don't worry! Leorio has patched it up for me!"

"#191, Bodoro-sama. Please come to the reception room."

It would be her number after this. She should get herself prepared.

"As long as you're fine." Sora sighed before turning her attention to the oldest male in the room. She could see bandages peeking out beneath his shirt. "You look horrible, Leorio-san."

He gaped. "Leorio is fine but what's with the change of attitude between Gon and me?!"

The girl shrugged. "I'm just stating the facts."

"Kids these days don't know how to respect their elders," he let out a grunt of displeasure while crossing his arms.

"Didn't you say you're the same age as us?"

"Stop twisting my words for your own gain!"

"Am I lying though?" Sora looked at an amused Kurapika for confirmation, the teen simply shaking his head, a soft look adorning his face. "See, Kurapika agreed."

"Why you—"

"#210, Sora-sama. Please come to the reception room."

She blinked. Right, she had forgotten her earlier intention when she spotted them.

"That's my cue," The girl said before looking at the other three boys properly. A still fuming Leorio, a confused Gon, and an entertained Kurapika all watching her curiously when she didn't budge from her spot. She smiled.

"Thank you. I'm glad to have met you guys."

They have been doing nothing but showing concern and care for her. It felt a bit deceitful to not tell them anything about her identity. Once this was over, she'd properly introduced herself again. After all, she still owed some explanation to Kurapika and Leorio.

Gon and Kurapika gave her a smile in return while Leorio looked away, scratching the back of his head with a blush. "What are you saying, kid?"

"Nothing, I'll see you guys soon." With that she turned around and began walking toward the reception room.

She entered the designated place—after making sure the coast was clear and there was no sign of a particular white tuft of hair— and closed the door lightly behind her. The Chairman was sitting behind a low table with a giant calligraphy plastered on the wall, watching her intently.

"Please, have a seat, Sora-kun," he instructed, gesturing to the pillow in front of him with a brush in hand. On the other, he clutched a small clipboard.

Sora sat and crossed her legs, suddenly getting nervous.

"I'll be asking several questions," he began.

"Would this affect the Last Phase?" she interjected, eyes narrowing a bit. "Or are you simply curious like that time again?"

"Yes, it has some effect on it," he responded, the ghost of a smile playing on his face. "It's got nothing to do with me being curious or not."

The girl nodded, not entirely reassured, legs bouncing as her mind buzzed with answers she could possibly lay out.

"First, why do you want to be a Hunter?"

Starting immediately with the hardest question. She pondered whether she should lie or not for a bit but decided against it because this was the Chairman of the Hunter Association. He was bound to know anyway.

"Are you asking because you really don't know or you just want to hear the words out of my mouth?" She shot back.

Mirth twinkled in his eyes as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "The latter, of course."

Sly old man.

Sora sighed. "I want the benefit that comes with being a Hunter. Now that I'm basically being hunted down by this very association. I figured taking shelter inside the enemy's lair is a much better protection than running around alone."

The Chairman simply hummed as he scribbled something on his clipboard. "Are you aware that being a Hunter doesn't mean that your bounty will be lifted?"

"I.." She licked her suddenly dry lips. The girl had often considered that possibility but coming from the Chairman's mouth himself hammered that extra nail to her head. "...Yes, I'm aware of that."

She had accepted the fact that she would spend the rest of her life constantly having people breathing down her neck. It was already a miracle enough she could somehow walk around with her hood down because not a lot of people, even Hunter, was aware of her appearance. Of course, there's always a handful of exceptions which she gladly welcomed. There's a strange thrill to being known.

The Chairman didn't dwell much further on the topic and continued with a new question. "Out of all the remaining contestants, which one are you keeping your eyes on?"

"99 and 405," she answered without any consideration. "They each have interesting abilities and are powerful on their own and besides, I don't see people other than them being the same age as me so it's nice to have friends to enjoy the time with."

"Young friendship, of course," he hummed. "Well, one last question and we're done. Which of the remaining contestants would you least want to fight?"

"The same people," Sora once again replied without much pondering, brows furrowed as she thought of the rest of the gang. "And also 404, 403. I'm not as close to them as I am to 99 and 405 but I appreciated them enough."

The Chairman nodded as he finished writing down what he wanted, raising his brush with a flick. "That will be all, you may leave now," he said cheerily.

The girl nodded, eagerly getting up from her seat and made her way to the door. Closing it behind her, she heard the speaker announcing the next number as she looked to the side, only to see the devil himself have come.

Damn, he was actually waiting.

Silently, she turned to her right, already preparing to bolt out when a hand clamped down on her hood and an eerie smile met her face.

"I thought I told you to stay put?" Killua asked sweetly.

"I never said I will listen," Sora responded, cold sweat already breaking out, searching for her way out. The cold brush of metal on her hand gave her an idea. "By the way, do you want to try my tonfa now?"

Thankfully, Killua let the issue go at being offered a new toy as his eyes immediately lit up and he dragged her toward an empty room. The girl spent the rest of the night explaining all the mechanics and trinkets her weapons have and letting him try.

"Pressed here to activate the spikes. Pressed it again to deactivate." Sora pointed at a barely visible button just at the junction between the handle and the bar.

The boy did just that and he visibly glowed in awe as he struck some fighting poses, testing them. "It's a bit heavier than normal tonfa. I didn't know you're carrying things this heavy. "

She was confused, hearing his words. "They felt light to me though?"

"You've probably gotten used to it." Killua shrugged. "Like me. Say, how did you take out the chains?"

"Shake the tonfa twice."

Chains fell out from the bottom and the boy wasted no time swinging it at a can that acted as a practice target they got along the way, a bit too forceful she might add because not only it completely missed, but the spike at the end of the chain scrapped the wall, causing a huge crack to tear open the white concrete.

Sora now understood the part where her tonfa was heavy. A simple spike wasn't supposed to be able to do that even with a disgusting amount of strength. Was that why she had a relatively easy time breaking the maze wall that one time?

"...you might want to tone down your power a bit, Killua."

They arrived at the venue of the Last Phase a couple of days later, touching down in front of a large hotel. The Chairman gathered them in one large room, way larger than the one they used when they tried to play 'get-the-ball'.

"Well, gentlemen. Did you get plenty of rest?"

During that short break time, the trio of kids explored every nook and cranny of the blimp. She had checked the same locker she had disposed of the corpses at and found that it was empty, much to her relief. The girl also took the time to borrow Gon's fishing pole while Gon borrowed hers.

"Uwa, Sora. How did you even lift these?" Gon asked as he struggled to even pick up the metals off the ground.

Another confirmation to Killua's statement that she wasn't sure whether she should be glad or not.

"I just picked them up. See?" Sora easily plucked the tonfa off and put on a fighting stance, cocking her head to the side.

"Cool! Let me borrow them again once I'm strong enough to hold them."

She had nodded, ruffling his head as he laughed.

Her turn with the fishing pole was not a lost case like her with Killua's skateboard as she figured out the act of casting the bait has similar motion to her swinging the chain.

"I got it!" She cheered as she lifted the pole, the hook managed to latch onto a new can after the first one was demolished when Killua made another attempt with her chains.

"I'm better than her, right Gon?" The white haired boy quipped from the side, deciding to join their little activities.

Another day, another time where Killua picked a fight with her.

"Yes, yes. Mr. Good-at-Everything," Sora said lightly, plucking the can from the fishing pole and setting it to the side. "Not everyone could get a big fish like Leorio."

Gon had recounted, with Killua adding a few details and giving his offhand comments as usual, all of their activities during their Third Phase. She was amused by a lot of things especially when they have to spend fifty hours because of Leorio's supposed "mistake" but at least they got books and entertainment there.

She got forty hours of barren concrete and metal and she had told them exactly that after telling them her part of trials. Of course minus all that part about her losing sanity or Aym taking over her body. That's a story for another day.

Also, she learnt to never speak about Phantom Troupe in front of Kurapika and inwardly winced when she remembered how casually she said it to Lippo.

"Your praises got increasingly drier these days, huh?"

"What do you mean, it's always been dry."

So yes, she got plenty of rest.

"Now then. The Hunter Exam Committee runs this hotel. So, I want all of you to make yourself at home until the battle has concluded."

A man clad in suit and sunglasses pushed a covered board in, placing it beside the Chairman.

"For the Final Phase of the Hunter Exam, you'll be competing in a one-on-one tournament," he explained before pulling off the white cloth covering the board.

Sora blinked at the uncanny looking bracket.

"Hold on a second, so only the last person standing passes?" Leorio asked from her side.

"No," The Chairman replied firmly before lifting a finger, "You only need one win to pass this phase."

"Just one?" Gon spoke out in surprise.

"Wait. So in this tournament…"

"See, it's the winner who will drop away and the losers who will advance to the next round. Which means…"

"The person who finishes at the top will not pass," Sora and the Chairman spoke out at the same time, the old man looking at her in surprise.

Her mind spun. There's luck playing as a factor here.

"You're saying that only one person will fail the exam," Hanzo said, the bald ninja that she finally knew the name of.

"Exactly."

It was silent for a moment as everyone tried to digest the information that was given to them.

"Here is the bracket we've put together," the Chairman declared, ripping off the sheet covering the bottom half of the board and Sora quickly scanned it for the person she was going to fight with.

A pair of light brown eyes stared back at her. #53, Pokkle.

She followed the black line leading up if she had lost, landing on a pair of blue eyes.

She was not going to win if she had to fight Killua which meant that she had to secure her victory first by beating Pokkle.

The girl glanced at the teen boy who didn't seem worried to be fighting her.

She could win.

Her eyes fluttered to the right half of the board, widening in shock when she saw who Kurapika was fighting with. The blond merely closed his eyes, still composed despite the obvious disadvantage he has.

"Impressive, yes? You see under this format, every competitor has at least two chances to win the round."

"Yeah, but some people got five chances to win like #294 and #405," Pokkle commented on the unfairness of the situation.

"Couldn't you have used a more balanced bracket?" Bodoro spoke up next.

"Now, that's a fair question. The bracket was carefully assembled based on each of your individual performances throughout the Hunter Exam. To put it simply, those whose performances are rated highly will have the most chances to win," The Chairman explained to the increasingly anxious group.

Sora mentally counted the chances she had. Three chances, the same amount as Leorio and Killua which was just plain weird because obviously Killua towered over both her and Leorio in terms of abilities alone.

The white haired boy seemed to share the same sentiment because he spoke out from her side, clearly looking dissatisfied. 'I'm not convinced. Could you explain exactly how you scored our performances?"

The Chairman hummed before suddenly yelling, shocking the hell out of her, "NO!"

Killua fumed, a tick mark appearing on his head while bristling like a cat. "Why not?"

The Chairman started explaining and in a few words, he couldn't tell their exact score but physical strength, mental acuity and overall impression were the major criteria they used to assess the participants. There's also the intangible factors that are not included in the previous factors and the interview they had before were in fact a form to round up their findings.

"And there you have it," he ended his explanation with a satisfied look on his face.

The white haired boy was strangely quiet after that and Sora smacked his arms, feeling strangely offended with him looking so glum in his placement.

"I can hear you thinking, stop it," she mumbled, watching Killua blinking back to life. "You looked as if the world's ending by being evaluated with the same chances as me."

He sputtered. "That's not…"

"Don't let the Chairman's words get to you, okay? You have equal potential, no, even greater than other people," the girl said before gesturing to herself, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, I don't know why they evaluated me the same as you. They clearly saw it wrong."

The white haired boy grumbled but didn't rebuke further and turned his attention back in front. She, however, could feel some of the invisible weights being taken off him.

"The battle rules are quite simple. Weapons are allowed, cheating is forbidden, and if your opponent admits defeat, you win. However." The Chairman raised his voice as if trying to prove a point. "If you kill your opponent, you will be disqualified without hesitation. And if that happens, the Exam ends and the remaining applicants pass."

"Now, let the Final Phase of the Exam begin!"

Did I purposely search how to prepare wild hunts for this even though at the end I barely put info about it? Yes.

Do I regret it? Not really, because I didn't know many of them can be as complex as that.

We're nearing the end of the Hunter Exam arc finally. The next two chapters will be the last of it before we'll dive into the Zoldyck arc!

We also got more insight into Sora's current relationship with Aym and the forgotten relationship about Aym and Shax.

As always, I would love to hear more about your opinion! And thank you so much for the favs and follows!

Bye!