A/N: Yesh, I managed to write this one too! I hate fighting scenes... Well, I like them but writing them is a pain. I have different moves in my head and then I try to fit them into a sensible fight. And then I need to put it on the paper and make it sound sensible to you too.

Oh, and did you notice the cover picture? I drew it awhile ago and only now got it here. Whops... Anyways... That's Sora with her chained knives. Adn ehr regular outfit that she won't be wearing until York Shin arc... That seems to be so far away...

Chapter 7
Violet: Talk and Fight

The announcement about the interviews woke up Sora with a start. The girl let out a yawn after gathering her bearings and headed toward lounge room where the rest of the applicants were residing in and waiting for the call to the reception room in the second floor.

Hisoka was in. Tough Sora didn't know it, the clown mentioned her number. Both in the keeping an eye on and not wanting to fight. Netero naturally just coolly wrote down the answers.

Pokkle didn't mention her. Apparently she hadn't caught his attention yet.

Killua told the chairman that he was keeping an eye on the blonde girl along with Gon though he also told he found her irritating at times.

Then it was Sora's turn.

"Hmm… I want to become an information Hunter. I like to find out different fact and then use the knowledge to my advantage." The girl told Netero. To be honest she'd figured it out properly during her trade with Hanzo but at least she had now some other reason than finding out who she was in this world. "And I thought Hunter Exam could be a good opportunity to test my abilities." That wasn't a lie either.

"Alright, which of the nine other applicants are you keeping an eye on?"

"Hmm… There're the four that I've befriended… #99, #403, #404 and #405… and then there's those to creeps that I definitely don't want to fight: #44 and #301."

"Oh, you already answered to my second question too!" Netero laughed. "You are free to go now."

Then was Bodoro and Gittarackur. Neither of them mentioned Sora.

Gon in the other hand told Netero that he wouldn't want to fight the girl.

When it was Hanzo's turn, the ninja only mentioned Hisoka and no one else.

Kurapika's answer was… enigmatic to say the least but Sora wasn't specifically mentioned.

Leorio was like Hanzo. He mentioned only one person. And that was Gon.

On the next day the ten of them were gathered to the room they'd fight in the Hunter's Association Headquaters. Or in a place something like that… Netero was there and so was Beans (A/N: I'm keeping this one in English) and the other examiners. There were whispers and silence at the same time in the room. Sora swallowed. She was really nervous about this.

"Well, gentlemen." The chairman began. "Did you get plenty of rest? This hotel is owned by the Hunter Exam Selection Committee."

Oh, so that's the place.

"The place is all yours until the battles have concluded." The bracket the chairman had drawn was brought in, covered with a sheet. "For Final Phase, we will be holding a one-on-one tournament." The sheet was drawn away. A hush travelled through the applicants.

"So only one of us will become a Hunter?" Leorio asked.

"No. One win is all you need to pass."

"One win?" Gon gasped.

"Then, in this tournament…" Leorio began.

"The winners are removed from competition while the losers continued up the bracket. In other words, the person who finishes at the top will not pass. Does everyone understand now?"

"So you're saying that only one person will fail." Hanzo asked.

"Exactly."

Clack, clack… Netero stepped a bit away from the board. "And here's the bracket." The sheet was pulled away. Silence was thick enough to cut with a knife but thin enough for the knife be quite blunt. Sora could only stare at her placement. She was… She was…

"Impressive, right?" Netero hummed smugly, interrupting the girl's train of thought. "After all, everyone has at least two chances to win."

"But some people, like #294 and #405 get five chances." Pokkle pointed out.

"Why didn't you use a balanced bracket?" Bodoro questioned.

"And what was the purpose of the interviews?" Sora added.

"The questions that must be on everyone's mind." Netero stated. "This bracket was assembled based on your performances throughout the entire exam. Those who performed better received more chances."

Sora noticed Killua blinking in surprise.

"That doesn't sound right." The kid assassin voiced his thoughts. "Can you explain how you scored our performances?" And as an answer to the boy's determined stare…

"NO!"

"Why not?!"

The chairman just laughed. "Your scores are classified information. So I can't tell you everything. But I can explain some methods. First, we consider three major criteria: physical strength, mental strength and overall impression. For physical strength, we use an aggregate of agility, flexibility, endurance and perception. For mental strength, we use an aggregate of resilience, adaptability, judgment and creativity. However, this information is only used as a reference point. After all, you were strong enough to advance to the Final Phase. We are most concerned with your overall impression. This refers to any intangible factors not previously mentioned. You could consider this an evaluation of your potential as a Hunter. And we also incorporate the opinions of your peers. That was our process."

When Netero went into explaining the rules of the fights, Sora kept an eye on Killua. The explanation obviously bothered him.

"Judging from your expression… you didn't understand that a bit." Sora told Killua quietly when Gon and Hanzo were preparing to their fight. The boy looked up and frowned.

"What? I understood the rules perfectly. No killing and we fight until the other surrenders."

"Not that. I meant the evaluation process. You keep thinking your own performance only. While it's true that you are physically ready to be a Hunter and are about to pass this exam with flying colors… You still lack on both mental strength and overall impression."

"I'm strong mentally. I endured all the tasks just fine while the others were losing their minds." The assassin growled. Sora was irked now.

"Look, I'm explaining this only once and that's only because you are my first opponent." The girl glared. Ever since the names on the bracket had been revealed, she'd been on edge. Only one thing was in her mind. Win Killua. She couldn't afford losing since that could easily alter the whole rest of the story.

"Then what is it?" The boy glared back.

"I heard about the Trick Tower from Leorio-kun and Kurapika-kun. What caught my attention was the room of the last choice. You were completely ready to kill two of your fellow applicants in order to get out of a sticky situation instead of looking for a sensible and creative solution. You dashed head first into what you saw right in front of you instead of looking around yourself. Gon-kun was the one to realize you all could get out of the room together and still get in time to the finish."

Killua seemed to be ready to interrupt but Sora held out a hand to silence him.

"The other thing was the overall impression you give to everyone throughout the exam. Well, that's easy." The girl chuckled. "All you've done this far is to have been complaining about how easy this has been and how you aren't interested in being a hunter. The question is now then, why are you here? Why didn't you give up a long time ago and give other's a chance to chase their dreams after you saw how boring this was?"

The kid was silenced now. Stunned and confused.

"Yep, that's something for you to think about." Sora patted the boy on the head with a smile. "I hope we'll have a good match."

"Yeah…"

The match between Gon and Hanzo had been painful to say the least. Sora cringed away several times as she saw her friend getting beaten up but she didn't say a word. She stood silently with her arms crossed over her chest and watched it happen. It was like she wasn't even there. When Gon managed to kick the ninja in the face, she smiled a bit but otherwise her expression didn't change.

But then Hanzo pulled out the hidden blade from the wrappings of his wrist. Sora could only stare. The blade was longer than the width of those bandages. How had it fit?

"I won't accept that!" Gon's reaction to Hanzo's ultimatum froze the whole hall of people. The examiners and applicants alike. Hello, snowmen!

"I don't want my legs cut off, but I don't want to surrender. So let's find a different way to fight!"

"Hey… Do you understand your own position?!" And Hanzo blew up. Sora laughed. She wasn't the only one. At least Hisoka and Bodoro joined in too, though the old man tried to hide it.

"You don't get to make demands! Are you trying to insult me?! I'm seriously gonna cut off your legs!" Didn't the ninja boy even understand that yelling made him every passing second less and less believable?

"But I still will not surrender." Came Gon's firm reply. "Besides, if you do that, I'll bleed to death. He'll be disqualified if that happens, right?" The question was directed to Masta, the referee.

"Oh, yes."

"See? Neither of us wants that to happen. So let's think of a better way."

The blade touched Gon's forehead and a trail of blood appeared down the boy's face.

"You really don't get it. If you die, you'll never get another chance." Hanzo told the green-clad kid with a broken arm. "If I kill you here, I need only try again next year. We are not on equal footing!"

"Maybe so, but you are the one at disadvantage, Ninja-san." Sora spoke up. "Gon's determination not to surrender right here, right now, is greater than yours. His mental strength is greater than yours. His ambitions are set higher that yours. Not to mention that he has everyone on this room on his side, if only temporarily, including you. So he has already won this match."

Her words were met with silence. No one questioned them but no one voiced their agreement either. People were wary of how to act. Kurapika and Leorio were ready to dash to Gon's help, Killua was scrutinizing the situation from the point of an assassin and Hanzo directed his attention back to his opponent who was steadily looking him in the eye. The ninja blew up once again, questioning everything he'd heard, everything he'd also seen. And Gon answered calmly.

"I'm going to find my dad. He is a Hunter, so I'm going to become a Hunter and find him! I believe that I'll find him one day… But I have a feeling that if I give up now, I'll never find him! So I won't surrender."

"If you don't yield, you'll die…" Hanzo tried one last time before withdrawing and announcing that he was giving up. Gon didn't take it lightly and ended up unconscious on the floor of the fighting arena. Sora stretched her fingers. It was her turn next.

Sora had pulled on a pair gloves from her bag. They were funny things. They were black and reached past her elbows and were missing the finger parts of thumbs, fore and middle fingers. She had tested her knives with them and found them quite handy. She couldn't really explain it. But she was nevertheless going to use her knives and solely those knives.

And now she was standing opposite Killua. The boy had his hands casually in his pockets. It seemed like he was almost about to give up this fight like he'd do with Pokkle but changed his mind then.

"I'm not going easy on you then, Sora."

"I was just about to say the same."

"And start!" Masta stepped out of their way. For a moment nothing happened but then the pair of competitors were gone. Only the most trained eyes could catch them exchanging blows and blocks until Killua was sent flying across the room from a kick Sora had directed to his stomach. It was almost like Déjà vu to the trio of them who had seen the confrontation of the Amori Brothers. Meaning Killua, Sora and Hanzo (+the stalker examiners).

The kid assassin was soon up though as Sora hadn't moved to deliver a next blow. There was a good ten meters between them and the boy could see five throwing knives on the girl's hands. Those knives hadn't been there previously he noted and he couldn't see any place where they could have been hidden. Although Hisoka also pulled his card seemingly from midair…

"Not bad." Killua smirked.

"Agreed." Sora mused. She was honestly surprised that she was able to keep up with the boy and even beat him. Not to mention she wasn't even breaking a sweat. It frightened her. It truly did.

Killua dashed forward. One moment he was there, the next moment behind Sora, right about to slash at her with his claws. The girl side-stepped to the right, sinking down and grabbing the boy's wrist with her left hand. She pulled the kid assassin over her shoulder and he flew once again. Sora could practically feel the astonishment from Leorio and Kurapika coming towards her in waves. They both had seen Killua kill that prisoner, Johannes the Dissector or something like that.

There was a staring contest between the two at the moment. Killu was lying on his stomach and facing the girl who was aiming a knife at him.

First knife flew. The boy jumped out of the way and the second one was already headed towards him. He caught it midair though and threw it back. Sora leaned on the side just enough to dodge it. Meanwhile Killua was already almost at her. The girl pressed her right hand, currently empty, against the floor and bounced in the air, flying over the boy. She landed a mere meter behind him and aimed a blow on his neck. At the same time the claws were back and slashing at her. She couldn't stop the attack but could change its course just enough so the claws just ripped at her left shirt sleeve and not her flesh that much. She was bleeding though. The flashing pain in her shoulder was back.

Sora jumped away from Killua and sent the third knife in his direction, picking up her first knife from the floor with her other hand. The assassin dodged it again and also the next two. The girl had backed him up close one of the wall though. She sent her fifth knife flying. The boy was about to dodge it but…

Killua slid to a stop on the last moment. The knife had imbedded itself on the wall right in front of his nose.

"H-How…"

"Miscalculation?" Sora smirked. "Don't ask me. You were the one on the move."

The boy glared but she ignored it. At the moment she only idly noted that her sleeve was turning red. She didn't feel dizzy yet though but she'd still better finish the match soon enough.

"Alright…" Sora closed her eyes for a moment. On that second Killua had made his way across the room and was ready to strike once again. With her eyes still closed, Sora pulled out one of her chained knives and…

Killua found himself chained into the wall. The chain was wrapped around his chest and his right hand, making him unable to move it. The knives in the other hand were deep in the wall and out of reach for the boy. With a few experimental tugs on the chains which didn't budge, the kid assassin continued his glaring. Sora shrugged and crossed her arms. She had yet another knife on her hand.

"Are you done now? I'd like to stop and I'm sure you are also aware that you have no chances on winning." She told the boy brightly.

"I won't…" The sixth knife grazed his ear.

"Give up. I don't feeling like going on forever." The blood loss was about to get her. "Think about your next battles. Maybe you'll win those more easily." She smiled.

"Fine." Killua gritted his teeth. "I'll lose. Happy now?"

"Perfectly."

"The winner is Sora!" Masta announced and the girl moved to remove her knives from the walls and floor. Once Killua was free, the boy sulked back to his place in the row of applicants. Sora just smiled faintly and went to sit down. It was the time of Kurapika and Hisoka's match.

Her left sleeve was ripped off and some bandages were covering the wound. Hisoka had just given up his match. The girl was so distracted by everything that she missed the calculating look the clown was giving to her. She only wanted to go to sleep but she couldn't. If there was one thing she wanted to change in this timeline, it was saving Bodoro's life. But in the way that Killua would still be disqualified.

So she watched Hanzo 'torture' Pokkle and Hisoka beat up Bodoro. Killua just walked away from his fight confidently despite the fact he'd just been beaten by Sora. Due Leorio's reguest, his and Bodor's fight was postponed so it was now time for Killua to face Gittarackur aka Illumi the emotionless bastard.

That 'fight' was her hard to follow. Sora just shut down from her place, like she had done about the whole time of Gon's fight. She didn't say anything even when she felt like. She didn't move even when Gon's life was being threatened. She. Did. Nothing.

And it was painful. Killua was her friend in a way. And watching her friend being manipulated so cruelly like that…

Killua came to his place, his whole being hollow and empty. Kurapika and Leorio tried to get him talk and find out what was wrong but nothing got through him. Sora watched him quietly and when was the time for Leorio to fight Bodoro.

"This is only about making lethal blow a fatal one. Killua will still be disqualified as the result will be unclear for a long time. The rest will get their licenses and the exam will end…"

As soon as the white-haired assassin-boy was found standing by the Kung Fu master's side, Sora was on the move. The whole hall silenced in her ears. It was like she was in a dream…

The claws stroke. Sora appeared behind him and grabbed his wrist. The momentum was too big for her to stop in such a short notice but she did manage to prevent the claws from sinking that deep into Bodoro's back. Blood spilled on the both of them and the old man went down.

"Take him to a doctor!" The blonde girl yelled while holding the boy against her chest, her left hand covering his eyes so nothing could provoke him any more. He was still. Dangerously still. The examiners were running around. Killua was declared disqualified for intentional murder attempt. The applicants were staring at the two of them in shock. Some for Killua's attempt, some for Sora's seemingly successful prevention, some at the blood on them.

After a while the girl finally let go of him. The boy walked away, out of the doors. He wasn't seen after that.

The sounds came back to her in a rush. Sora blinked and staggered back, almost tripping and being them caught by Leorio.

"Le-orio-kun?" She looked up in surprise.

"You okay, Sora?" The to be Doctor asked gently.

"I-I… I think so…" The girl let out a shuddering sigh and tried to gain the control of her legs. She didn't succeed. She noted that Bodoro had been taken away and the rest of them had also been declared to have passed the exam.

"Come. Let's take you out of here. Kurapika will bring your bag." The businessman looking teen guided Sora out of the arena and to the yard. Sora ran a hand across her face but stopped when her fingers met something wet. Withdrawing the hand, she was it being blood. She shuddered.

"I hope Bodoro-san will be alright…" She whispered.

"So do I…"

"Sora-san…" Kurapika sat on the same bench than the two of them. He placed their different pieces of luggage at their feet. "That was impressive what you did."

"T-Thank you…" The girl muttered, still not letting go of Leorio. She didn't trust herself enough to stay upright.

"We have the orientation tomorrow. Until then we are free to do whatever we please." The Kurta continued. He figured to keep the girl talking so she wouldn't sink into a shock.

"I see. I gotta wash myself up then…" Sora attempted to get up but the both males pulled her back to sit.

"No need to rush, Sora. We have time." Leorio told her. "Just calm down."

"You know… It's good that Gon-kun is out of cold at the moment. I wouldn't have wanted him to see Killua almost kill that man."

"Agreed." Kurapika nodded.

"True that." Leorio mused.

"I wonder if Killua is alright though…" Sora mumbled. She was tired. So tired…

"Nee, Nii-san?" Sora tugged the boy's sleeve. He looked back at her.

"What is it now, Sora?" He sighed. The day had been long and both of them were more or less tired.

"You'll never leave me, right?"

The look in the boy's eyes softened considerably at the question.

"Of course not. Unless we decide to travel on our own, I'll stay with you always."

Sora grinned and hugged the older boy. "I love you Nii-san. I'll never ever never leave you."

"I love you too, Sora." The boy replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. He knew the girl was too independent to tag along all the time in the future…

"Sora, are you sure you want to leave?" They were older now. A lot older actually. Sora was wearing a violet tunic with light turquoise trimmings and black long pants. She was fingering her telescopic fighting staff and checking the contents of her bag.

"Yes, I am. You have your own adventures with this lot and I want to have my own ones."

"I wouldn't say adventures…" The young man muttered, looking away where some of their friends, their family, were playing cards.

"In any case, I want to see the world on my own pace for now. And maybe also take the Hunter Exam too eventually. Then I could help you with your job." Sora grinned and swung her bag on her shoulders. "And I want to become stronger and explore my Nen abilities without all that racket."

Her brother laughed. He agreed wholeheartedly with the last statement.

"Just give proper goodbyes for them." He told her.

"Even to that creep?" Sora pouted.

"This is probably the only time you'll see him for a while. Same with the rest of them." He patted her shoulder consolingly.

"Yeah… I promise to keep contact with you all though even if you don't see me."

"Good, otherwise they'd hunt you down and kill you."

"No, they wouldn't! I'm their little sister; they wouldn't do anything to hurt me. Well, maybe shorty but no one else really."

They laughed as they made their way to the empty room where all their friends were playing cards. Some of them looked up as they approached and once Sora's backpack was noticed, uproar arose.

"I'm leaving now. See you in two years." The girl smiled. It was time to leave York Shin.

A/N: Two flashbacks! Yay! I feel like I've made quite obvious who Sora is... Well, I can't help it anymore. She'll figure it out eventually.

Please don't kill me for making Sora win Killua so easily. But if you consider her past that you most likely have already figured out, it kind of makes sense. And in next chapter's flashback you'll know more about her abilities and training during those two years she was travelling.

Oh, and the shoulder is important. Keep an eye on it.

Review replies... None. You guys are amazing. You read and subscribe but no one bothers to say a word...

Well see you someday again.