He watched quietly as Hisoka started toying with his new prey. A rat he had called it earlier. Illumi had no reason to think otherwise. It was small, dirty, and more than likely infested with nasty diseases.

All the more reason to keep an eye on it if it persisted in following his little brother. He wasn't blind to the actions of this morning, after all. He'd watched it all, how his poor naive Killua had even reached out to touch the thing was beyond him. Perhaps he saw it as a new pet but if his brother had wanted one of those all he'd have to do was ask.

There should have been no reason for Killua to stab his family and run. Even if Mother was ecstatic- even crying tears of joy- Illumi was upset. He was upset because Killua was not ready to face the influences of the disgusting outer world alone. He was upset because Killua had attacked family outside the bounds of training, orders, or contract. And he was upset because if Illumi had ever had the notion to do something foolhardy… he would not have been given leeway like the Heir was.

If he could frown in this guise, he might have felt his lips twitch down, but he was not a man for overt displays of emotions… and this guise of his allowed nothing other than a vacant smile anyway. Father had allowed Killua to roam for now so Illumi would let him be. But if he kept up with consorting with disgusting creatures like Hisoka's rat he was going to have to step in eventually.

A stirring of nen distracted him from his thoughts and his eyes turned to the rat sitting against the far wall. Hisoka, too, had noticed and was watching directly instead of pretending to focus on his cards. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Instead of the nen fully encompassing the body as it poured from each node equally, it focused only on the nodes surrounding the head and shoulders and the aura crept down from there. Obviously the rat was not fully awakened (which he had not thought was possible) but the control displayed already was impressive. It was almost like a bastardized version of Ko but the nen wasn't being moved to protect an area. In fact, he couldn't tell exactly what it was doing besides being forced into the area of the lungs through the medium of the hands. Illumi had been unaware that one could utilize nen so competently unless one was fully aware of it. Perhaps this was what had caught the fickle magician's attention?

He watched with detached interest as Hisoka stood and sauntered over, a delighted smirk tilting the corners of the magician's mouth. The red haired man gracefully plopped onto the dirty stone floor next to the rat, legs crossed, elbow on his knee so he could prop his chin on the heel of his palm. His other hand was fingering his deck, but beyond that his attention was mostly absorbed by whatever the rat was doing. Illumi, watched a moment longer but when no other movement was made by either of them, he glanced away.

There truly was nothing interesting in the rest of the room. The other applicants were weak and boring, huddling in on themselves or paying each other no mind beyond their terrible attempts at spying. Boredom was not a stranger to Illumi. Long nights of watching targets, forced into stillness as a child, starvation training that left him alone and useless for hours on end. Yes, he was quite familiar with the mental pains of boredom but he had formed methods to deal with it. That didn't mean he was all that fond of it.

His eyes fell back onto the only interesting thing in the room; Hisoka and his rat.

He tried to discern exactly what the rat was doing, extending his own nen to get a feel for what was happening. Golden eyes snapped over to him and Illumi took it for the warning it was. He pulled his nen back slowly as an acknowledgment of the message received. Hisoka gave him a bit of tooth in a smile before turning back to the rat.

"What do you want?"

Illumi blinked at the shattering of the uneasy silence. Hisoka grinned, tongue snaking out to wet his lips.

"Why, precious fruit, whatever do you mean?"

"I meant what I said."

Illumi tilted his head, the clacking of his needles washing away more of the silence. He could hear the shifting of applicants around him, probably watching the same thing, but they made no noise above a whisper.

It made it easier to focus on the exchange happening. This voice was not the same one from this morning. It was a little deeper with a new accent that didn't ping as recognizable to anything he had heard before. Was this a different boy entirely or perhaps the hidden child under a mask?

"Precocious," Hisoka cooed.

"And you're disgusting." The rat's hands shifted further up his chest and there was a distinct rattling cough. "You're also interrupting my work with your leering. Answer my question."

How strange. The syntax was entirely different as well- much more mature.

Hisoka leaned forward, shoving his face almost directly into the rat's, hidden under the hood. "Green again, hm? I've heard of Scarlet Eyes… but never Emerald."

The rat scoffed. "What are you even saying? And get out of my face. Didn't I say you were distracting me?"

"You did. I chose to ignore it," Hisoka responded happily, his eyes falling half mast in amusement. "Do you remember me?"

"Of course I do," the rat huffed impatiently. "You broke our wrist after acting like a pedophile. Applicant number 44, Hisoka."

"Our?"

Illumi could see the deep breath the rat sucked in, his chest expanding beneath his hands. It resulted in another rattling cough that lasted slightly longer than the last one. The conversation, though slightly confusing, was still illuminating. If he was drawing correct conclusions then Hisoka's rat had more than one person in that body. It wasn't just a mask but another personality entirely.

His mind flashed back to the abomination that had ruined his Kil; Alluka. His guise could not allow his lip to curl in distaste but he practically radiated it with his nen before he caught it and curled the feeling back into himself. It curdled in his chest most unpleasantly.

No wonder Kil had taken such a liking to the rat. He always had more fondness for monsters than his actual family.

"Tch. You're a nosy pedo, aren't you?"

"And you're purposefully trying to rile me. How cute!"

"Go back to whatever circus spawned your unholy carcass."

"Mm, but I haven't achieved what I want to on this plane yet. I decline your request."

"Ugh. Seriously," the rat groaned. "Can't you go bug pins and needles over there or something? He's probably stronger than I am."

Illumi's eyes narrowed. Probably? He was most definitely stronger. Strong enough to blast this thing into pieces so it wouldn't corrupt Killua any more. Except… he wasn't very keen on fighting Hisoka over this. Not now, at least.

"No," Hisoka responded cheerily. "I rather like the view right here."

There was a grumbled 'disgusting' as the rat's hands fell from it's chest into its lap. Its head fell back into the stone behind it and Illumi was able to see a pale jaw illuminated by the flickering torches in the room.

After that it was quiet again. Hisoka hardly moved, except to scoot over to the wall and lean against it, playing with his cards again. The rat made no move for the longest time, though the nen was still swirling around his upper body.

Hours passed that way, where the only interesting thing to happen was the rat dragging out a satchel from under his robe and devouring two eggs. After returning everything the way it had been (also stuffing something that looked suspiciously like a professional garrote wire away) the nen dispersed and the rat slumped against the wall.

Illumi watched the entire time, plotting ways he would be rid of the abomination. It would be easy to do it in the Hunter Exam but there was the fact that Hisoka would be close and extremely displeased for interfering with his ripening fruits. He could track it down afterwards but that truly was too much effort when he had a contract to complete. He could tear Kil away from the abomination and drag him home but he wasn't sure how father would feel about that. Or perhaps he could implant a suggestion? In Kil or the rat. Either worked, though it would be much easier in Kil as there was already a needle there.

Illumi's needles clicked and clacked long into the remaining hours of the Third Phase.


What-what was this? It couldn't be blood, it wasn't red! But-

He coughed again but this time it felt as if there was something clogging his throat. He gagged, saliva spilling over his lips and tears from his eyes as his hands came up to clutch at his throat in panic. He gagged again, his lungs burning, chest heaving under the strain of trying to breathe-

What a good boy.

(NO!)

His throat cleared and a gunk of black splashed onto his lap as he coughed and coughed and wheezed trying to completely clear his airway.

"Such a mess," an amused voice said right next to him.

He squeaked- forcing another black coughing fit- his watering eyes shifting over to the man dressed as a clown that was even closer than before. He wanted to do something- anything to make him go away, but Jasper's leaking face and black stained hands took a bit more priority.

"I see. So, that's what he was doing. What an interesting application… I'm glad you'll be sticking around," the clown hummed. "For now, have another nap."

A sharp pain in his neck-

Jasper woke up with a gurgled gasp. The air grated against the inside of his throat, and his eyes were stinging and blurry. He felt absolutely terrible and terrified. He could hear his heart in his ears drowning out any other noise as his fingers scraped against rough stone-

No. Please.

He couldn't let himself be caught- He couldn't let-

His head jerked back into something hard enough to make him see black spots. His breath was ragged and painful but he could at least hear it now over the sound of his heartbeat. He glanced around the area he was in, noting the flickering torches (the colors and shadows making his stomach quiver) and wide cavernous space. There were people here, all adults but they were far away from him in their own little huddles and corners.

Everything here was so dark. He hated it. Why did it have to be dark?

There were what looked like doorways but they could also be smooth stone set farther back to trick people. He could check them over for an escape route but he didn't want to get up and draw attention to himself. Besides that, he hurt. He needed to know what was wrong before he tried anything. How injured was he? What did he have?

He shivered, his hands automatically starting to check his hood and bag. His muscles ached and his wrist twinged. It was wrapped in bandages that felt stiff but looked absolutely wretched. His clothes and hands were stained brown and black as well. Obviously something happened. He was absolutely not safe here. He glanced around the room again, his heightened breathing scratching unpleasantly at his throat. Nobody was looking at him. He sucked in a deeper breath (ignoring the itchitchache of his chest) and let it out slowly. He still needed to check his belongings.

The hood was still secured but… his knife was missing from the sheath and there was a strange watch attached to his wrist. And when he pulled out his phone it didn't turn on. He pursed his lips, ignoring his shaking fingers, and dug out his charger and garotte. He honestly couldn't remember if there was anything left in it but he had to try. His phone was pretty much essential to figuring out anything that had happened.

While wrapping the garrote around his wrist for security, he licked his chapped lips and almost gagged at the lingering taste on them. The sheer shock of the vile flavor in his mouth, had him breathing much easier again. Which was good… because he couldn't let himself panic. Panic was bad. Panic got you into trouble.

Other than foggy memories of upset and red… he couldn't remember anything.

Not that that wasn't normal. But it didn't exactly help him not freak out. Especially when he couldn't get on his phone. He clenched it in his fist and sucked in another agonizing breath.

Then he glanced around the room again to make sure he wasn't being observed. Except he was. There was a red haired clown man that he caught glancing at him but he didn't feel dangerous at the moment. That one was easier to ignore because he was more focused on the pinhead. The mohawked man wasn't directly looking but Jasper certainly felt uneasy, like there was malice directed at him from that guy. He had no idea why but he absolutely knew he'd need to avoid him in the future… if only his phone was working he'd be able to write it down.

He jammed in the charger sloppily (if only his hands would stop shaking) and was relieved to see the screen light up. He could even physically feel his shoulders loosen in relief. Unfortunately, he didn't know how much was in there so he left it alone for the moment, letting it soak up as much energy as it could from the charger box. He focused his attention instead on his vigil, keeping track of all pinhead's movements… and peripherally looking at the others as well. Some didn't really stand out but there were a few. A woman with blue hair, the clown, snake man, and weird staff guy were only some of the ones he noted in his head. They weren't really paying him any attention but there was something about their demeanor.

Jasper sighed through his nose while despairing over his aching chest and throat. Swallowing also hurt but it was better than having a dry throat.

What exactly was he doing here? Especially so injured? Nothing in his head or surroundings was giving him any clues and it was starting to worry him. Was he trapped here with these people or were they all waiting for something?

He brought his left hand up to scrub at his eyes. He had a feeling it was going to be a while before he could figure anything out.

A while was an understatement. He didn't know how long had passed before he'd figured out that the strange watch he had was actually counting backwards. Still, it was a way to keep track of time that he didn't have before because his phone was still charging. He figured the countdown meant they were all waiting for something, though. With ten hours to go he wasn't exactly happy about the wait.

During the time of his little discovery, one of the stone doors opening had startled him into jolting up straight as well (which had hurt). But it had given him more information to work with thanks to the voice coming from the speakers that he hadn't noticed before. He was applying for something and being in this room meant he'd passed. Which yay! But also, what would he be applying for?

Not too much later, the light on the charger went out, meaning it was dead until he could get it into the sun again. He eagerly unplugged the phone and turned it on, wincing a bit at the start up noise. (Why did he have the noise on?) It attracted a few looks but they went away again shortly after and he let out a short breath of relief. His throat and lungs still hurt but it was better than earlier at least. The itch had died down to something he could deal with and soft, short breaths were more gentle on his throat.

As soon as the screen blinked to life he was delving into the notes devouring every scrap of information he could.

He was in the Hunter Exam to get a License to find his family. He had some people that might be friends but weren't with him for this exam. And most importantly he'd passed Phase Three!

His last entry was sort of confusing, though. He'd eaten and then nothing. There was no mention of Camo or Gray and he definitely couldn't see them in the room with him. So, he'd passed but they hadn't. Considering it had been a majority vote… had they voted to pass him? But why?

He scratched at the bandages around his wrist, then at his thighs under the robe, all the while deep in thought.

Oh, well. What truly mattered was that he was here. In this room. With adults.

He shivered unconsciously.

And Pinhead was paying attention to him again, he could feel it.

He glanced over and was met with a vacant smile and half-lidded eyes. Jasper quickly jerked his head down so he wouldn't have to see the man directly. He'd still watch him from the corner of his eye but looking directly at him… somehow made it worse.

He really wished Greenie and Whitey (whose name he couldn't, for the life of him, remember which he was really upset about) were here. Even Blondie or Mister Drab would be preferable to being alone right now. He didn't want to be alone.

He shifted his hand discreetly under his hood to wipe away the dirt (and not the tears because he wasn't a crybaby) and whatever other mess happened to be on his face that he couldn't see. His eyes were burning for sleep (not the tears, never the tears) but he couldn't let himself so much as nap when he knew no one here and there was nowhere to hide.

Jasper let out a wet sigh from his nose before immediately groaning and rubbing his sleeve against his face. He hated leaky faces.

Could time please, maybe, go just a little bit faster?

No, no, it couldn't. But his phone could start chiming very loudly out of nowhere.

Jasper jumped, froze, then finally scrambled to turn the noise off. He panted harshly (itacheditachedithurt), his heartbeat rabbiting in his chest as he glanced around the room to check the damage.

Eyes, so many eyes, were staring.

He shrunk in on himself, his shoulders nearly reaching his ears as he shivered again, his hands shaking near violently.

Jasper never did like attention from adults outside his family. Attention brought… brought… well, he wasn't exactly sure but he knew it was bad just as adults were bad. So in a room full of adults with all of their attention on him? Jasper was just about ready to- to do something. Anything was better than having them all staring. Though… he couldn't exactly run and fighting was out because there were too many and he was already injured. Maybe he could just vanish into the floor?

For now, he ducked his head bringing his phone up to his face so he could fiddle with it and figure out how to make it not make any more noise. It had been some sort of alarm… probably. He thought he noticed words at the top of the screen before he dismissed it but he didn't actually read them before his clumsy fingers had managed to get rid of it. He wondered briefly if it was something important.

Eventually, he was able to figure out that he had an alarm set to go off every thirty minutes. And it was a reminder to remember Whitey's name, which just soured his mood even further because he didn't. Still, burying himself in his phone to figure out the problem was a fantastic distraction because when he looked around the room again everyone was back to their own business.

It didn't stop his hands from shaking, nor his lungs from aching, nor his heart from beating much too quickly… but it was better than before.

Except for Pinhead.

Jasper made extra sure to type some observations about the needle wearing man because he absolutely needed to know to avoid him. In fact, to pass the time, he started making notes on all the people that had caught his attention before. Blue hair was wearing a strange hat that he was almost positive started buzzing when she bent over, snake man definitely had multiple snakes with the way his robes were shifting, clown man… gave him the chills when he caught golden eyes with his own and he made an extra note for avoidance on that one as well, and weird staff guy… was extremely uninteresting and looked like he was asleep now.

Time passed that way slowly. His phone, unfortunately, had to be put away at the three hour mark because the battery was almost dead again. After that there was nothing to distract himself but himself. So, he started using himself- first up, his wrist.


Gon passed Phase Three with high spirits and fists raised in the air as soon as he entered the large stone cavern with all the other examinees. With only a minute to spare, he was rather proud of his idea to bash through the walls to the short route.

"Do you think Jas made it?" He wandered a little further in, squinting at the room to find their missing friend. Killua scoffed next to him but didn't give an answer. Gon shot him a curious look and noticed the white haired boy was also scanning the room. He grinned when Killua lifted a finger and pointed to a darker patch of wall that held a smaller figure curled into a loose ball.

Behind them, Gon could hear his friends and Tonpa chattering, and the examiner was still announcing their success as he shot forward with a laugh. "Jasper! You made it!"

Halfway across the distance to the older boy, something painfully hard bounced off his forehead and he stopped in his tracks, blinking the pain away. Behind him, Killua snickered and at his feet lay an old shoe. He stared at it for a moment, trying to understand where it came from.

"Ah… Greenie? Oops…."

He looked up to the robed boy, who had another shoe held poised in a good throwing position, then looked down at the shoe in front of him. It was kind of obvious he'd startled Jasper but it was fine now that he'd been recognized, right? He didn't exactly want another shoe to the face. What kind of shoe was that for it to hit like a brick anyhow? It looked so soft and old…

"He clocked you just right- and your face right now-!" Killua sauntered up next to him, bending down and grabbing the shoe, to look it over with interest. It was super old, there was even a really big hole right on the side and Gon couldn't even make out what the original color was supposed to be. It was either too faded or covered in too much dirt and gunk.

"Sorry… I wasn't expecting…"

"It's okay," Gon cheered, finally looking away from the shoe. "I scared you! I'm so glad you remembered me, though!"

"Yeah… um…"

"End of Round time," a familiar voice announced. Gon grinned and threw his arms behind his head. "Third Phase. Number of participants passed: twenty-six, including one dead. Please proceed outside so we may process the applicants for the next round."

As soon as the examiner stopped talking, there was another grinding sound and one of the stone doors started lifting. Immediately, Gon could smell the difference in the air. His nose lifted a bit as he tested the quality. It was dryer and warmer than the cool, stale air from inside the tower. Much more pleasant to breathe, too! And there was the familiar scent of brine as well, meaning they must be close to the ocean. He hadn't really been paying attention when they landed at the top of the tower so it wasn't too much of a surprise that he'd missed it. Besides it had been cloudy and they'd been so high up.

He appreciated the light that came flooding in, it was so much better than the torches that were in here. But it was also a bit blinding, forcing him to squint. Despite spending two whole days in the side room, his eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting of the rest of the tunnels on the way down. He was rather eager to get back outside, though. Gon was an island boy through and through. He grew up around nature, the sea and the forests, and he felt much better when he was out there instead of in a tower of stones.

"C'mon guys! Let's go!" He wanted to pull them both with him, back over to Kurapika and Leorio, except-

"Ah- my shoe!"

"It's mine now," Killua hummed, tossing it between his hands as Jasper lunged for it.

"Give it back!"

"No."

Jasper lunged again and Gon's smile dropped, the hair on his neck standing up. The feeling that had washed over them was far too similar to when Hisoka had attacked Leorio for him to take it lightly. He was not a fan of the dark, oppressive weight, even if it made his heart speed up in anticipation of a fight. He glanced around but Hisoka was nowhere in sight.

"It's Pinhead again," Jas muttered quietly, tugging his shoe out of a quiet Killua's hand. His assassin friend was also frowning, his blue eyes staring daggers at the man with the purple mohawk and weird needles stuck everywhere. Gon had thought him cool looking at first sight but now he was going to have to be a little more wary.

"Well, who cares about him," Gon huffed, his smile coming back as he tugged on Jas' sleeve to get them moving. "Tell me how your tower trip went!"

"Er, um… you first!"

Killua snorted as they walked outside into the heat of a morning sun. Gon stopped to admire the expanse of blue that started only a few hundred meters ahead of them. The tower was much closer to the ocean than expected! "You don't remember, do you?"

Jas never answered because Leorio made his way over to them, exclaiming, "Oh, it looks like you made it too- what the hell happened to you, kid?"

"Huh." Gon tilted his head, running his eyes over his friend. "Did you change your robe? It's a different color."

He honestly hadn't noticed in the dim lighting. Now that they were outside, the sun exposed the reddish brown of Jasper's robe. His back was completely changed but the front still had some cream to it… in some places, along with something black that was splattered on the sleeves and lower torso area. And the smell was very metallic and something else; something like bitter herbs but not quite.

"Gon, that's not-"

He didn't let Leorio finish. "Oh! It's blood! That's a lot of blood," he hummed, his head bobbing as gazed at the mess of the robe.

"I'm surprised you know that." Killua was raising an eyebrow, one hand over his eyes to shade them from the brightness of the sun.

"I guess I didn't notice at first because the smell is hiding behind something else. It's a really weird smell too..."

"Right, your weird dog senses."

Jas cut them off from continuing their conversation, shoving himself behind Gon and staring warily at Leorio. He glanced between the two. Did Jas not recognize Leorio? He'd known Gon on sight so he'd assumed the other boy would know them all, but maybe not? "Don't worry, Jas, that's just-"

"Applicants! Attention please!"


AN: Phew! So, what do you guys think about Illumi? Drop a comment cause I love to read them~

Q&A: KrixLight- My wonderful, faithful reviewer! Most of your questions should have been answered in this chapter. But as for Jasper being disqualified... My take on it was that as long as the applicant got to the bottom floor, they passed. Gon and the others destroyed a wall to get to the quicker route that was only supposed to pass three. Yet, all of them passed. As for a personality getting along with Hisoka- that would absolutely be hilarious and the sad part is that it would be Jasper because he's so naïve and ignorant.

Shoutout to darknesslight13 and Tetractys! Thank you so much for your reviews, I adore them!