Hi, everybody! It's been just over six months since my last update, and I'm terribly sorry. This is not much of an excuse.

In Australia, Year 12 is the final schooling year and begins in term 4, October. This is because Year 11, the Preliminary HSC year is only three terms. Year 12 is a far cry from Year 11. It's about double the workload, plus fear of the final exams and our future. The Trials are in August. The HSC starts in October. It is safe to say that I will be writing, but not updating, again until November at the earliest.

Once again, I apologise. I only have one shot at this and I want to do this well. The ATAR requirement for the course I want to get into is achievable, so wish me luck!

This is the longest chapter I have ever written by far. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it can tide you over until November. Thank you all for sticking with me, you awesome people!


"Allow me to introduce myself to the forty-two remaining applicants. I am Netero, Chairman of this year's Hunter Exam selection committee."

"I am Beans, his secretary."

"Originally, I'd planned to make my appearance during the exam's final phase, but as I'm already here," he paused, "I'm loving the tension in the air! So I'll stick around for the rest of the trip."

The lack of separate transportation probably never even crossed his mind.

"We're scheduled to arrive at our destination tomorrow morning, 8am." Beans spoke up cheerfully. "You'll find dinner waiting in the dining hall. You are also welcome to get some rest. In other words, you are free to do as you please until you are contacted."

Killua turned to Gon. "Let's go explore the airship!"

"Yeah!" Gon agreed, and they made off to the gods know where.

"Oh my god." I groaned, at the same time Leorio grimaced.

"How can they have so much energy?" He rubbed his eyes. "I'm going to hit the hay."

"It's certainly been a long day." Kurapika amended.

"Understatement of the century," I yawned. "I can't believe all that happened in a day."

Kurapika ignored me. "However, I have one concern."

"Hmm? What's up?" Leorio asked him.

"How many more phases are there?" Kurapika wondered.

There could literally be any number of any length. It's useless to worry about it.

"Oh." Leorio hesitated. "They never mentioned that, did they?"

Heavy footfalls fell behind us. "On average there are five to six phases." Tonpa interjected. We paused from entering a room and turned around. Why would he help us now?

"That means we still have three or four to go." Leorio mused.

"All the more reason to rest now." Kurapika said. We all turned to leave, when the creepy little man spoke again.

"But you should be careful. The secretary only told us when we'll arriving at our destination so it's possible that the exam could take place on the airship itself, and it doesn't necessarily mean we'll be contacted at eight." He spoke quickly.

Leorio spun around. "What? Are you serious?"

"Huh, that does make sense." Kurapika contemplated.

"You might wake up to discover the exam has already ended." Tonpa sounded smug. "If you plan to make it to the next phase, don't let yourself relax on this airship."

"And I am taking a shower!" I announced loudly, throwing my arms into the air. "Disrupt me only on the grounds of death and murder." I spun on my heel before I saw Kurapika and Leorio's reactions. Stupid Tonpa. Who does he think he's kidding? Sure, they could set traps to weed us out when our guards are down but that is just low. The exam has been ridiculously difficult so far, and strange and dangerous, but it hasn't been underhanded. The bitter fat man was just trying to psych us out so we didn't get any rest – which after the day we just had, we needed badly.

I found a small unoccupied room and snagged it, spinning the lock behind me and flicking on the lights. The naked bulb cast a warm yellow glow throughout the room. It was a very nice place, complete with a shower, a bath, a toilet and a couple of benches and cupboards.

I set my bag down on a bench and proceeded to dig through it for clothes. Do I need to do laundry? I pulled out a plastic bag of damp clothes, from the ship trip, I suppose. I still had a couple sets of clothes left but the white pleated skirt I've been wearing since I changed on the ship was splattered with mud and torn in too many places in a way that went beyond the grungy fashion trends.

Wearing a skirt was the worst decision I've made so far in the exam. Considering all the running, and fighting, and falling, I'm just thankful for bike shorts. The tank top I was wearing was still good but… No, I'm not doing laundry. There was also the cloak I had shed sometime on the way to the entrance restaurant. I scrunched up all my dirty clothes and shoved them into the bottom of my bag like I do with my problems. I'll wash them when I get home.

I opened one of the cupboards and was surprised to discover stacks of clean white towels and a wide selection of shampoos and shower gels. Awesome. The water was hot, and delicious. It rejuvenated and made me sleepy at all once. I sighed happily as I lathered up my hair with a handful of sweet coconutty shampoo. It's been a while since I last used any coconut.

Years, actually. Eight years. Ben, my adoptive dad, was allergic to coconuts – completely and totally. He couldn't even handle the fumes so there was never any coconut or such products in the house.

I used to always smell like coconuts. It was my favourite scent to use as a kid, and even now, apparently. I was such a spoilt kid. How many children get to use fancy coconut scented soaps? I didn't realise I was a princess until everything was taken away. I brought with me nothing from my previous life save for cough medicine memories. Sweet at first, but leaving my emotions raw and bitter when the happiness wore off. And a bad taste in my mouth.

But even so, I couldn't help reminiscing about all the luxuries I had like a slow, suffering tease.

A maid and a butler to serve the girl, her father and her grandmother. A cook to take care of the meals. A gardener to tend to the extensive grounds and pretty flowers… what was his name again? Rob… no, Bobby. I called him Bobby.

I flinched at the stinging in my right eye and quickly rinsed it out with water.

In contrast, the Kanata household was like taking a sip of water you thought was only warm but ended up burning not only your tongue but also your eyebrows.

It was utter pandemonium to my life of proper behaviour. (I did possess a very impressive blob of fake poop, though, which Bobby gave me now that I think about it.) There was a baby, a toddler, an older, more domineering beast of a kid and a teen.

Every time I cried, which was fairly often to be completely honest, Ben would crush my head with his warm, heavy hand, and tell me to "Be a man, Risumi!" Somewhat sexist, but he meant well. The weight of his hand was comforting as it anchored me from imagined troubles. And between the hours of eight and three there was a crowd of people of all ages and sizes were punching at each other and yelling at the top of their very deep lungs. Yeah, it was a change.

And my name? Well it was certainly unorthodox.

"Hey, Ri," Ben called down to me from the roof, "could you pass me that hammer?"

"Sumi! Oh, Sumi, is that you?" Tae was caught off guard behind a basket of fresh laundry, which she dropped and had to wash again.

"MUM, Ri hit me!" Nicky screamed.

Del turned the corner and crashed into me. "Argh, Sumi! Oh, sorry, Ri."

Roger tugged at me sleeve. "Ri, can you reach the cookies?"

"Sumi."

"Ri."

"Sumi."

"Ri-Sumi!" Ellie squealed. And there you have it, christened anew – Risumi.

As an only (disowned) child whose only friends were the cat and the gardener everyday was a fun disaster. Nicky broke three teapots to my knowledge. Roger's fart noises started with the pursing of his lips and soon evolved to also produce from the backs of his knees and armpits. Nicky swallowed Ellie's tooth by accident. I wasn't sure how and I never asked. Del got rejected by the guy with the mushroom haircut and right-angled feet… It happened so fast;

"I like you!"

"I'm sorry, I like Jodie!"

I snorted. Ah, teenage love. Like that lasts.

I towelled off and pulled on a fuzzy purple sweater and grey sweatpants before emerging from the bathroom in a puff of coconut-scented steam like a very sophisticated super villain.

I found the boys eating dinner in the cafeteria. A dark haired girl was with them. The selection of food, I noticed, was every bit as wide as the soaps. I piled up a plate and plonked down next to Gon. "So, what's the plan?"

"I understand how you feel. Let's become hunters together and make our dreams come true." A deep, sultry voice murmured.

"Mmrf" I said, looking up from my plate. Oh, Leorio. He was flirting with the pretty girl who was turned resolutely away from him.

"By the way, I'm Leorio, what is your name?"

Gon, whose face was so lost up to this point, brightened. "She's Anita!"

"Anita… that's a good name." Leorio didn't miss a beat. "How about it?" His lips moved close to her ear. "Instead of talking to these kids, why don't we move over there so we grown-ups can talk about our dreams?" Oh, barf. I paused, chopsticks halfway to my mouth to watch her reaction.

"We can't do that. Leave me alone!" Anita burst out. Ooh, poor Leorio our fallen comrade, may your next attempt be shot down a little kinder.

"I can't." Kurapika cut in. Whoa, was he having a go too? "My name is Kurapika. I'm also aiming to become a Blacklist Hunter so I can relate to your situation."

Leorio was better at this.

"I wouldn't get too deeply involved if I were you." Killua said nonchalantly. "She has some business with me."

Oh, of course she does you smooth talking little man. What was it about this girl that's got all the guys chatting her up?

Anita removed Leorio's hand from her shoulder and stood up. "I heard a rumour that a member of the Zoldyck family was going to be taking the exam this year."

Okay, so maybe I read this wrong.

"Bingo! No doubt about it. I'm one of them." Killua said, not facing her. Seriously? This little brat? I've been fraternising with one of them?

Oh man, this chicken is great.

"So, you applied for the exam to take revenge?" Leorio clarified.

"That's right!"

Killua smirked. "You better remember this; having an assassin sent means that the person must have been really hated by others."

"Shut your mouth!" She screamed. Uh-oh. I rolled out of my seat just as she flipped the table. Food splattered all over where Gon and I were just a second ago, honestly our butt prints are still on it. I just got out of the shower!

She fought free of Kurapika and stabbed the back of the seat Killua was until a moment ago. She turned around and lunged again. Killua just stood there with his hands in his pockets like some overconfident idiot, too far away for me to knock over.

Chairman Netero appeared out of nowhere like an avenging angel and pressed two fingers on her blade. "Stop right there." That girl struggled but couldn't move her knife. I bet those fingers have little biceps he could flex.

"Don't stop her." Killua said loftily. "What a nosy geezer." I picked myself up off of the floor and dusted myself off. What a proud child.

"Examiners aren't normally supposed to deal with conflict between candidates." Netero said, as the girl withdrew her knife helplessly. "But Number 111 failed the second phase. No matter the reason, a person who has failed the exam won't even be able to compete with one who has passed." We watched her being led away by two bodyguards.

"She should have known that she would get caught pretty quickly for sneaking in." Leorio commented.

Kurapika shook his head. "If I had failed I probably would have done the same thing." His eyes softened. "The reason – it's not logical."

"Not logical, huh." Leorio said.

It's true, I suppose. Some things you just can't justify with science. Sometimes emotions overpower even the most logical side of us.

I stifled a yawn. "Let's get some rest, hmm?" They nodded, and the three of us retreated into an empty room.

That night, I slept surrounded by the scent of a life long gone.

~oOo~

"No, no, not the stomach… it'll damage the organs. We won't want the authorities upon us. Nothing near the hips, the current will damage her… reproductive organs. We don't want to cause obvious damage, I say."

The cold of the floor seeped past my dress and into my bones. The wall at my back was rough and unpolished. It dug into my shoulder blade. It caught my messy hair so that it hurt when I turned my head.

"The arm is too obvious, everyone will be able to see her arm. No, it has to be somewhere discrete. There is no meat on the ankle! Have you no mind? My boy, we want to cause maximum pain with minimum injury!"

I'm sorry I got the dress so dirty, Mum.

"…There we go."

Something cold and hard was cuffed around my upper thigh. There was a click, a buzz.

And it hurt. A tingling sensation to the power of three hundred. Numb and stinging at the same time. So much.

Electricity.

I screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

I didn't take it. I don't want it. I don't even like it. Why would I take it?

"Where did you take it, little witch?"

It wasn't me!

My left leg jerked so hard I almost kicked my face. Then the electric current faded. I had barely caught my breath before it started up again.

"Just tell grandma, and it'll all be over."

"I d-d-didn't take-e i-it!"

My overweight grandmother turned her back and waddled away. "Make sure she spits it out, my boy."

And so my father stayed. Not as my protector as I had always believed. But as my tormenter.

My body survived on instinct. It must have taken breath when it had the chance, kept itself awake, lucid, enough for me to make it because all I remembered was the pain.

Against the back wall of the basement, under a two-storey mansion, in the centre of acres and acres of land. There was no one to hear me scream.

"Risumi, hey! Risumi!" Someone said. I was sure I told them to leave me alone but someone completely bypassed that and grabbed me by both shoulders. My eyes snapped open before they had time to start shaking me. I knew this routine.

"I'm awake, you psychotic mother ducking son of a..." I muttered, glowering at the large hand on my shoulder and followed the arm back to the face of… I blinked. "What?" I turned to the right but there was another face. "Oh." Yesterday's events flooded into my sleep-addled brain. That was the second time I had woken with two people peering down at me. It is a disconcerting feeling, to be watched while you sleep.

They pulled back to let me sit up, which I did, grudgingly. I ran a hand through my damp, sweat-soaked hair. My left leg was tingling unpleasantly. "Oh."

Kurapika cleared his throat. "You were screaming." He said, gently.

I sighed and let my head fall back on the wall behind me. "Sorry you had to see that."

"Are you okay?" This time Leorio spoke.

"Sure." I climbed to my feet. I took a step and my left leg gave way.

I crashed onto both knees.

I bit my tongue.

"In a bit." I said thickly. Leorio and Kurapika picked me up by my arms and led me to a bench by the window.

"What was it about?" Kurapika asked. I'm sure he looked concerned, and he sure sounded so, but I wouldn't know because I refused to meet his eyes.

"They wouldn't believe me." I said at last.

"They?" He prompted.

"Grandma. Dad."

They shared a look over my head. Leorio took Kurapika aside and I caught the words 'trauma' and 'memory' in their whispered conversation. I sighed. There was no going back now. Why did I have to dream that? It had been several months since the last time and I let myself by fooled into a false sense of security. I got up. They were both at my side in a flash, holding me up.

"Guys, I'm fine now, thanks." I said, smiling reluctantly. Their worry was touching. "I'm just going to wash up." At least they let me go about that alone.

When I came out of the bathroom some half hour later, all four of them were waiting for me at the door. Their eyes were filled with honest worry, despite Killua looking somewhat bored. I wanted to tell them thank you – thank you for caring about me. But what I said was, "Did you all listen to me shower?"

~oOo~

"May the trials begin. Good luck."

And with that our group of forty was stranded on the top of a tower-like prison. We had three days to get to the bottom. I peered slowly down the side. We were so high up that for a moment I thought I were weightless. I tripped to get away from the edge. It would be suicide to climb down that. Someone seconded my opinion out loud.

"For ordinary people, yeah." A muscly man in a singlet top stepped forward. "With such grips, it's a child's game for somebody used to climbing cliffs." He moved down the side of the tower deftly like a spider – in control of each and every limb.

Distantly came the sound of large leathery wings beating against the air. I looked to my left. Crimson monsters raced towards us. I backed away from the edge. I didn't have enough time to make out any distinct features, just a large jaw filled with spikes and the scream of the rock-climbing applicant as he was picked off the wall like a grape.

"I don't think going down the wall is a good idea." Leorio mumbled.

You don't say.

"There must be…" Kurapika mused, "A trapdoor that leads inside."

We stared out at the expanse of brickwork and applicants. I watched them idly as they milled around the top. It was getting much hotter than when we landed. I debated between keeping my cloak on and baking, or taking it off and burning. I pushed my bangs away from my forehead. One, two, three… thirteen, fourteen… twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three.

Twenty-three? That's it?

"Twenty-three?" Leorio yelped beside me. I guess we all reached the same conclusion.

"We're down the half the amount of when we arrived here." Kurapika affirmed.

"Wha- but when?" said Leorio.

Kurapika scanned the rooftop. "I can't really think they all discretely used the same way to get down."

"Yeah," I agreed, "someone would have started throwing punches a long time ago."

"There must be several hidden doors." He concluded. At that moment, Gon and Killua ran to us.

"Risumi, Leorio, Kurapika!" Gon called, still running. "We found a way to go down." He said, more calmly. "But we're still deliberating."

Did he just say 'deliberating'?

"How can you hesitate?" Leorio demanded of him.

"Well, there are a lot of them." He led us over to a cluster of trapdoors near the centre of the roof. He pointed out the tiles one by one. They were grouped suspiciously close together.

"There are probably some that are traps." Kurapika said.

"Moreover, it seems the trapdoor function only works one time." Killua added. Gon explained how he and Killua saw a guy going in and tried the door but it wouldn't move. "In fact, the passing by is done one-by-one. That means each one has to enter through a different door." Killua concluded, matter of factly.

Leorio tapped one door. "It looks right considering the size of the passage, it's only the size of one person."

Killua spoke up. "Gon and I have decided to pass through one of these five doors."

"Yeah, even if it's a trap, no regrets." Gon agreed. "And you?" He asked the rest of us. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going in." I nodded.

"Me too," Leorio agreed. "I was told luck was part of the skill."

"Who chooses first?" Kurapika asked.

We scrambled into a game of scissors-paper-rock and one by one we stood by a door.

"At three, we all go at the same time. Our road splits here." Gon said, cheerfully.

"See you again on the real ground." Leorio smiled.

"All the best." I wished them.

"One, two, three!"

I had already landed on the door, felt it slipping underneath me when something heavy hurtled into my back, jerking a scream out of me.

I crashed onto the ground inside. A strangled cry tore from my throat as a dead weight crushed my lower body. I flailed to escape. It was densely soft, a body. I pushed my front half up and sank my elbow into their stomach.

"Ooft."

A man.

I punched him square in the nose with all the force I could muster. The dead weight got off my back and I got a good look at him.

"Oh, frickity-frack," I rolled my eyes, "not you again." I climbed gingerly to my feet and brushed my hair out of my face. My knees were bleeding through my clean black pants and my hips stung dully when I pressed them.

The four faces that I bade goodbye and good luck to not a minute earlier stared back at me. "Oh, wow." I said. Tonpa, meanwhile, was pinching his bleeding nose. That's the least he deserves for what he did. "Seriously?" I glared at him. "No one – no one – does that!"

"Nee-chan, are you alright?"

"Yeah, you alright there?"

"Are you okay, Risumi?"

"Whoa, man, you alright?"

"I'll live." I said, picking at the ripped fabric in my wounds. Leorio knelt down in front of me.

"Roll up your pants." He said, authoritatively. I did. He pulled out a bottle of disinfectant and a ball of cotton wool and set about cleaning my knees. When he finished taping them up, he lifted my fuzzy sweater a crack and pulled the waistband of my pants to expose one of my hip bones which were swelling an angry purple. All this was done with complete professionalism – quick and impersonal.

"Wow, you're going to make a really good doctor." I remarked. He laughed and gave me another bottle.

"Rub that into your bruises twice a day and they should fade within the week."

"Wow, thanks," was all I could say.

"So, we all ended up in the same room…" Killua remarked.

"…But there's no exit." Gon finished. A pause. "Hey, there's a sign up there."

He didn't mean it metaphorically.

[Choice of the Way by the Majority. For the five candidates, you will have to reach your goal by following the majority's rule.]

"Five?" Kurapika said out loud.

I glared at Tonpa. "Well there would be, if this lump hadn't attacked me."

He held his hands up defensively. "I'm so, so sorry, miss." He smiled, crookedly. "But I didn't hurt you on purpose."

I stared at him.

"All I did was jump on you!" He added, frustrated.

"Should I file for sexual assault, then?" I snapped at him.

He shut up.

Leorio peered at the table. "Hey, there are five watches here."

"With X and O buttons." Killua added.

"All right!" A high male voice blasted from the speaker mounted on the wall. "This tower contains numerous passages. Each one contains its own crossway. You can only move forward following majority rules. It's impossible to pass on the vote of a single person. The difficult part is that cooperating is the essential condition. On that note, just fight well!"

"So…" I began. "Who doesn't get a say in this?"

Tonpa strode over to the table and snapped one onto his meaty wrist. "Well certainly not me."

I just stared at him. The others each strap one on. Fair enough, no one wants to leave their future in the hands of other people. At least I can trust the boys to make a good decision. Tonpa on the other hand…

The door slid open.

Tonpa strode ahead. "Well let's go!"

"Why the hell is he leading?" I heard Leorio mutter under his breath and couldn't help but agree.

The door opened into another room with another closed door. There was another screen mounted on top. [The door: O opens, X does not.]

"Already a choice." Leorio commented. "The choice seems obvious to me, however." They all pushed a button, and the door opened. The screen now read [O4, X1].

Leorio slowly turned around. "Who pressed X?"

"Ah, sorry!" Tonpa smiled apologetically, scratching the back of his head. "I messed up pushing!"

Your mum did.

Leorio got up close and personal to the little man. "So, Grandpa? Your sight is getting worse? Don't joke with me."

Tonpa narrowed his eyes. "I apologised, didn't I?" He wasn't smiling anymore.

"I don't know anyone who would confused an X and an O."

"Hey, it's open." Gon interrupted. "We can go."

"Not so fast. I'm sure that jerk did it on purpose."

"Time is acting against us." Kurapika pointed out.

"Yeah, we can just beat him up as we go." I suggested helpfully.

"Even if he does this each time we'll still be able to move forward." Killua said.

Leorio glared at the oldest-of-us-but-hardly-the-wisest one last time. "Okay, let's go."

The door opened onto a stretch of corridor with both sides blocked off by bars. O for right and X for left. This was going to take forever.

The results popped up in favour of going right.

"What does this mean? Usually in such a case we choose the left, don't we?" Leorio barked. "For me choosing the left side is obvious, choosing the right isn't reassuring to me!"

"Well," said Kurapika, "Some behaviour studies have shown that it appears when people are lost and have to make one of these decisions, they unconsciously choose left."

"I've heard the same thing." Killua added.

Did those two read medical journals in their spare time?

"Wait a sec, I don't understand anything!" Leorio protested. "What you're telling me is exactly the opposite of the result obtained, isn't it?"

"Right."

Yeah."

Leorio bristled like an aggravated hedgehog.

"Instinctively, we choose the left side." Tonpa held up one finger up smugly. "If the members of the jury know this there's a strong possibility that they put a higher level of difficulty on the left."

"Exactly!" Kurapika agreed.

Our aspiring doctor huffed. "Looks like there are two idiots among us." He muttered to Gon. Gon's smile froze for a second.

To be completely honest I was hoping for the right side, for no apparent reason. It's just a feeling. Perhaps it's because I'm right handed, the left isn't reassuring to me.

Soon after that scuffle, we were approaching the end of the tunnel. Beyond the door I couldn't see anything save for the glint of fire light. It was too dark to be sure and we all instinctively slowed our step.

Suddenly there was a clang just behind me. I whirled around and was faced with a set of prison-issue bars. There was no turning back. The rest of our path opened onto a small platform, just large enough to fit us all.

In the middle of the… room? Cavern? Hall? …was a brick platform similar to the sparring ring in our dojo on a single column. The four corners were marked each with a flaming torch. There was nothing connecting us to the platform, and likewise nothing connecting the platform to the door on the opposite side where hooded figures were emerging.

There was the clang of metal dropping to the ground followed by the figure in front whipping off his hood. The man had such broad shoulders he was shaped like a triangle. White scars marred his bald head. His neck was so thick that even from this distance I didn't think both my hands could fit around it comfortably. How hard did you have to work out to gain neck muscles?

"We are jurors for the trial commission." He roared across the cavern. "Our mission is to fight you."

I hope I don't fight that guy. I hope they aren't all meatheads.

"The matches are one-on-one and one can only fight once!"

Did he say one?

"The order of the passage is free. You'll have to reach three victories if you want to go on!"

Majority rules again.

"The rules are extremely simple: Everything is allowed! There is no limit! The defeat of one means victory of his opponent!"

Did he say one?

"You only have to say whether you accept this trial or not? O if you accept, X if you refuse."

"Another waste of time." Leorio grumbled. "If we want to qualify we have to go through this. It's obvious we'll all choose O!"

Uh-huh, it's not like those iron bars behind us are just going to up and away, either.

"You must be really dumb to choose something else." Leorio added, under his breath.

"It's okay, I totally understand." Tonpa said. Leorio was not known for his subtlety.

They all pushed their buttons. I wished I had Tonpa's device instead.

"There we are!" Leorio shouted, across the room. "Unanimous."

The meathead's mouth twitched into a smirk. "I'm the one beginning. Choose your contestant now!"

I tugged at my bangs. What was this, a game show? We could die.

Beside me, Tonpa stepped forward. "I'm going." He said, resolutely.

We all stared at him.

"Since everything is allowed," he continued, "we don't know what will happen. I'm going to be the tester. This is my way of apologising."

No one spoke. He had a point. It would be wise to send a pawn. But now I feel bad. Maybe he's not such an awful guy, this was a pretty big leap of faith after all. I somewhat wanted to take his place by way of thanks for being gallant, but he was right. This was completely unknown territory and I wasn't quite willing to take his fall for him.

"Actually no one trusts me, right?" Tonpa added.

Well… pretty much, yeah.

"Imagine its two to two and I'm the tie breaker."

That would suck thoroughly.

There must be someone monitoring what goes on in here because as soon as a decision was made, a walkway extended from our ledge and attached itself to the platform. It was just barely wide enough for a person. I drew a five cent piece from my pocket while Tonpa was busy edging his stubby legs down the walkway and flicked it into the gaping abyss. I counted seconds, but I never did hear the clang of copper at the bottom.

The walkway retracted as soon as Tonpa stepped off it. He was stranded.

"Well," Meathead glared, "for the fight itself, I propose a fight to the death! Until the death or the desertion of a fighter, we'll fight."

We all stared. A death match? As if anyone was thick-headed enough to accept those terms.

"I accept!"

Is he freaking serious?

The meathead sank into a crouching stance. "That's the determination… and on that note… LET'S FIGHT!" He charged.

I expected a vicious clash of fists, and I certainly got something dramatic.

"I quite!" Our guinea pig prostrated himself on the floor. What.

"He – he said 'I quit, didn't he?" hesitated Gon.

Leorio shook his head, "He must have meant to say 'I'm quite ready', right?"

"What did you say?" The meathead clarified for us.

Tonpa put one hand behind his head in an attempt to look casual while he sweated profusely with a twitchy eye. "I quit. I lost"

The meathead burst out laughing. The sign above the opponent's door blipped from a 0 to a 1. No-one moved as Tonpa waddled back to us. Everyone was busy calculating. We lost one out of five. With four people left, we had to win three matches. That's 75% of matches. Much higher than the 60 we needed if we just refused that lying piece of shit to play for us. Tonpa did not meet our gaze.

"It's not very glorious, but … close up, he looked really strong. You understand."

Leorio grabbed him by the collar so hard his feet lifted off the floor. "Oh, I understand." Leorio snarled. "Your hobby is to do all you can to disturb others."

Tonpa's face flickered between scared and smug. It settled on smug. "Exactly. You have understood everything. And I'm not even close to stopping it. It's this way I've stayed alive 'till now."

Say what, now?

"Listen up. There's a big difference between you and me. I don't want to become a hunter."

My temples ached. This was going to be a long phase.

~oOo~

Please leave your reviews!

I want to recommend three books I read over the summer holidays, you know, for study. They are very different from your standard teenage fiction, but so epic.

The first is 'The Boundless Sublime' by Lili Wilkinson. I picked it up because it was new. I didn't want to read it. You could just tell it was going to be a complete train wreck two pages in and I didn't want to be so invested. I read it like a page at a time when I was waiting for the bus and it sucked me in against my will. Like slowly climbing a roller-coaster, thinking 'what a great view, this isn't so bad' and reaching the peak and having the living breath jerked out of you as the ground gave way. It was like that. I have never before read about this topic, and it is quite morbid, and brings you right into the human subconsciousness.

The second is called 'The Skin of a Monster' by Kathryn Barker, and it is very unusual. The protagonist's identical twin sister gunned down seven kids. She's hated and persecuted because she reminds them of the killer of their children, their siblings. There's a parallel dimension of the town's dreams that has been messed up since that incident. It's a heartbreaking story. It switches between the protagonist's and another person's perspective. I can't remember the writing style at this point, but I remember it gave me chills. There is so much human response to a tragedy, the ugly side to all of us. The way the story unfolds and you find out bits at a time of the full story will make you shiver.

The final one is 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak that I'm sure you're all familiar with. It was a very popular movie a few years back. I have seen the full movie and it's great, very realistic and touching. But the book. The book is on a whole other level. The way this guy writes is amazing. You don't just see the words, you feel the words. When Liesel picks up a book from the bonfire I was suffocating with her. It's indescribable. It made me cry in three separate scenes. And let me tell you, 'Rudy dies' is the biggest lie by omission you will ever hear. During the final death scene I kept being interrupted by my family wanting me to see this, help them with this, asking me what I think of that. I had to re-read it over and over. It took them so long to die. And poor Rudy. All he wanted was a kiss. This book is simply beautiful. The movie chopped out some controversial bits about the Holocaust, which some reviewers were salty about, but book gives you nothing to complain. Honestly this is one of the most beautiful books you will ever read.