Don't wanna let you down

But I am hell bound

Though this is all for you

Don't wanna hide the truth

"Are you coming, Rin?" Father asks me with a raised brow. He smiles, knowing that I can't possibly say no.

"Of course, Father," I chuckle. I slide my small hand into his much larger one. His hand squeeze mine softly as he grins down at me. His sky blue eyes shine and his long, black hair blows in the wind. I skip along side him, humming a tune.

"You aren't cold today?" he ask, a lightness in his tone.

I shake my head. "Nope. I'm actually hoping it snows today, I love when it snows." We walk down the mountain we've been staying on. He thought it was the ideal training place, but I don't care, as long at it snows soon.

"Would you like to have a race, darling?"

"Mmm, what kind of race?"

"Can you bring out your wings?"

I nod my head and focus as hard as I can to sprout my angelic wings.

"Come on, Rin, do it like I taught you: you have to focus."

I squeeze my eyes close and tense my whole body. I bite my lower lip and clench my hands.

"Don't try to force them from your body, but try to free them," his tone is gentle, trying to guide me the right way.

I relax and try again. In an instant, a pair of white feathered wings sprout from my back. My eyes widen alongside my smile. "I did it, I did it," I cheer, jumping up and down.

"You did, good job," he congratulates with a smile. Without a hint of a struggle, his black feathered wings spring from his back. "Okay, you see that tree down there?" He points to a leafless tree far down the mountain side. "Let's see who can get there first."

"But you're going to win," I say with a pout.

"I will go easy, promise."

"Okay!"

We take our positions at the edge of the trail. On his mark, we launch off the side of the mountain. Father is unsurprisingly fast and is instantly in front of me. I flap my wings, determined to catch up. Suddenly, it begins to snow. The flakes fall on my face and melt on contact. They tickle and cool my face, causing me to grin with happiness. Soon the wind blows hard and the snowflakes fall in large clumps. It falls into my eyes and makes my whole body cold.

I can no longer see ahead of me and Father disappears in a sea of white.

"Father!" I call, but my cry is muted by the howling winds. I find the tree and land. I look around, but my guardian is nowhere to be seen. "Father!"

The land under me starts to shake and soon begins to break away. I try to run, but I loose my step and begin to fall. My wings refuse to work and I can not fly up. The white nothingness seems to disappear as I'm consumed by darkness.

It's dark and empty. It's as if I'm standing in a black abyss and the darkness seems never ending.

"Come on, Rin," a voice calls to me. I turn around, trying to detect the caller, but there is nothing to see. "Rin-Rin, I'm over here." I jerk around, trying to face the direction of the voice, yet it seems to be coming from every direction.

"Rin," it says softly. A spotlight comes on and a person I know all too well who stands in the center of it. Her hand is outstretched and she is smiling. "Come on, Rin, you're so slow."

"Iris…" I say. I reach out my hand, but the space between us seems to widen. I shake my head frantically, not wanting to lose her. I try to run towards her, but my feet won't move. I try to call her name, but nothing but a squeak leaves my mouth.

"Rin," the voice seems to taunt. "If you don't come, I will leave you. Just like you left me."

'No, no don't leave me. I didn't mean to leave you, I will do anything to stay by your side. So please stay.'

The darkness then seems to glow and in an instant, everything is engulfed in flames. The deadly element flares all around me. Smoldering heat presses down on me and I find it a struggle to simply breath. There is burning wood and broken things littering the floor, which will turn to mere ashes soon. The only thing more distinct than the heat is the smell of sweat and blood.

The flames part and I see four men gathered around a small child. Jagged crystals are everywhere and the shouts seem to fill everything. A chilling scream sounds, making my blood run cold and everything seems to move in slow motion. The girl, bruised and bloody, is raised in the air by her neck. She raises a shaking arm to attack but is thrown to the ground.

The men continue to harm her not giving a shred of mercy. The girl cries out, but it does nothing to change the situation. I then make eye contact with her. Everything but the fire and her, seems to vanish. Her hazel eyes don't leave mine.

A tear leaves her eye as she mouths the signal word.

'Traitor.'

Like a thin glass, everything seems to shatter.

I'm then in back in Fiore, at the guild call. No one is drinking or fighting. They sit quietly, and none of them smile. The whole atmosphere is gloomy and down.

"Hey, Natsu?" I say, my weak knees barely able to carry me over to the dragon slayer. I place my hand on his shoulder. It is quickly slapped away.

"N-Natsu?" I stutter. He turn around, his expression is nothing but pure anger. His brow is knitted together and his smile is nowhere to be seen. To say he is scowling is an understatement, his whole face is twisted in a horrifying way. The fire mage stare at me with raw hatred.

"What are you doing here!? he shouts.

"W-W-What do you mean?"

"What do I mean!?" he echoes, his words seeping with venom. "How dare you show your face here? Because of you, Wendy and Romeo are dead!"

My eyes widen and I shake my head slowly. "No….no that can't be."

"We trusted you, Rin," Lucy says, tears forming in her eyes, "And you let us down. How could you do this to us?"

"Despicable," Erza shouts. "We promised to protect you, yet you can't even give us the promise you'll do the same. Do you think of us as mere shields?"

"We are a family here in Fairy Tail," Gray says, his eyes colder than ever. "If you don't think of us as one, then why are you even here? Tch, scum like you disgust me."

"You should be dead, not Romeo and Wendy," Levy says, her arms crossed and giving me a deadly stare I've never seen the mage wear. "Inhuman things like you shouldn't even plague the world."

"Who even let her join the guild!?" Gajeel question, eyes hard as steel.

"A horrible decision on my part," Mira says with a menacing look. "Monsters like you aren't welcomed here."

"You have no right to be here."

"Leave you monster."

"Things like you should just die."

"You are a disgrace to this guild."

"Just looking at a freak like you makes my eyes hurt."

The remarks and demands become more hate filled and threatening. One by one, the members begin to leave their seats and come closer to me. Soon, I'm surrounded by a mob of infuriated wizards. I look around frantically, my body trembling. I search for a way out, but all I see are angered glares and scowls.

"Leave!"

"Monster!"

"Freak!"

"Traitor!"

"Disgusting!"

"Abomination!"

"Die!"

The words weigh me down and I fall to the ground. I hold my head with my shaking hands and crouching, hoping it will all just stop. I feel hands begin to pull at me. I try to fight them but my efforts of worthless. I feel as if I'm being dragged back to the darkness that I escaped so long ago.

"No.." I whimper. "No, no, no, NO!" I scream,. My hand becomes engulfed in a black, fire-like shadow. I slice at the hands dragging me down. There are cries of pain. I form large shadowy orbs in my hands and hurl them at my guild mates. They are knocked away with cries of agony.

I stand, looking at the people around. They begin to ready for a fight. I don't want to fight, but my hand raises in a gun gesture. I begin to shoot at the people I surround myself, knocking them down like flies.

My devil wings sprout from my back and I fly into the air. I cup my hands together, a ray of darkness coming from it.

The cries of friends and the scent of blood filled the air. I smile at the victims as they lay on the ground or try it stand in agony. An evil laughter leaves my mouth as look at the cowering beings. I lick my lips as the rich smell of blood fills the air.

"You are a monster," a voice says from the ground.

I menacing smile forms on my face as I point my finger at them. "Yes, I am."

I jolt out of my sleeping state with a scream. I look around, noticing that I'm surrounded by darkness once more. My shaking limbs won't calm and my breath comes out ragged. My heart beats so loudly in my chest, I expect one of my ribs to crack.

I rub my hands over my arms, only feeling bumps. There aren't any angered guild members and its feel cold rather than hot. There isn't a fire and the only smell is my own sweet. I hear footsteps approaching quickly. My body tenses as they get closer and closer.

A door opens and light floods into the room. Two silhouettes of are in the door frame, but I don't know who they are. The light is turn on, revealing a concerned Gon with an equally worried Killua behind him.

"Rin?" Gon says, coming closer to me.

"NO!" I yell, getting out of the bed and stagger away from them. "D-Don't..come near me."

"What happened, Rin?" Kill ask, coming closer to me.

"Please, please just go away," I plead, putting my hands up. They need to leave, I don't want to hurt them. The devil inside me feels as if she is going to break loose and I don't want them to be here if it does happen.

"Rin, Rin please just talk to us," the albino say as he takes a few more steps towards.

"Killua is right, Rin. Just calm down and we can talk about this."

I shake my head, everything becoming a blur. I feel something grib my forearm and I panic. I fear it's going to try to pull my back down. I try to pull away, but the grip is too strong.

"Let go!" I cry out, trying to escape.

"...freak.." I hear the voice says

"Stop!" I scream. I wrench my hand away from its embrace. Dark shadows form over my limb and strike my attacker. I hear thud and a groan of pain.

"Killua!" a voice says

The name seems to snap me back into reality. I see Killua on the ground in front of me holding the side of his face. Gon is beside him in an instint, but I don't focus on him. My eyes don't leave Killua's. His electric blue eyes stare at me in horror. My right hand his consumed in a flaming shadow and my bangs no longer cover my black eye.

"Ri-"

I run past the two boys and out the door. I race out of the building and into the night. Not even caring if anyone sees me, I transform into a shadow and escape into the rolling hills surrounding the building. I don't know where I'm going, all I know is that I have to leave. How could I do this? I just hit Killua.

Rin, you need to calm down, nothing is happening, nothing will happen. I traveling in the shadows and return to my normal form. I sit on one of the hills and think. It was all just a bad dream, none of it was real, well, most of it. Wendy and Romeo aren't dead and no one is trying to hurt you.

I breath to calm my raging heart. How pathetic am I? I jump and get so shaken up from a dream. But it was so real and frightening. The whole things seemed to have been the combination off all my regrets and fears.

I look down at my hand normal as ever. I don't want to hurt people, but that seems to be the only thing that happens. I'm either incapable of helping them or I'm the reason for their suffering. I don't want to be a monster that takes pleasure seeing people die in front of me, that's not what I want. That isn't who I am.

I tuck my head into my knees and I admit something I tried so hard to hide: that I'm scared. I'm scared of not being able to help the people I care about. I'm scared of becoming a monster. I'm scared of hurting others mindlessly. I'm scared of the people who I surround myself rejecting me. I'm scared of losing those I love.

So why do I run? I run from my fears and love ones. Why do I close myself when others open up to me? I say that I want to be cared for, but I don't even tell anything about me. I can't keep doing this to them. I can't keep running and hoping that things will change.

"RIN!" I hear a faint voice call. I snap my head up when I hear my name. I look over in the direction of the building I came from. I see figures running around the grounds like ducks. Even in my state, I smile as they run around. "RIN!"

That's right, I have them. I place my hand on my bare arm, holding the area where my guild emblem is. I have people that will protect and care for me, so it's about time I give back to them. I smile slightly and transform back into my shadow form. I'm back on the inn's property in a moment.

I morph back into my human form. Holding my arms, I walk down the path towards my comrades.

"Rin!" Killua and Gon say in unison and hurry over to me.

I give a sheepish smile. "Sorr-" I begin but am cut off as I feel the warm embrace of the others. The two wrap their arms around me, close to suffocating me.

"Gosh, Rin," Killua says, "are you trying to give us heart attacks?"

"I doubt something small like that can kill either of you," I joke dryly.

They pull away from me and Killua places his hands on my shoulders. He looks into my eyes intensity. "Rin, what happened back there?"

"I, uh….i ju-"

"Killua," Gon says, "let's give Rin a moment, 'kay?" He smiles at the albino.

I smile at Gon's understanding and mental note to thank him for it. Killua looks a bit upset, but he nods his head and moves his hands.

"Let's go inside," Gon suggests. "You must be cold, Rin."

I cock my head to the side wondering what he means. I then look down at myself and notice that I'm wearing only leggings and my tank top. We all share a collective blush at my appearance and head inside. We enter our room and I quickly put on the shirt I arrived here in.

I sit down on the floor as Gon spills the content of a bag in front of us. There are various snacks and sweets and we easily begin to pick at them. No one speaks, although Killua gives me a few side glances.

After some time I finally speak up. "I'm sorry about everything guys," I say solemnly. "I didn't mean to cause anything big or to worry either of you. What happened...it wasn't necessarily in the norm. I...I just wasn't myself and I just couldn't function."

I raise my head and look at the two boys. Gon gives me a look of pity, sympathizing for me. Killua's eyes are narrowed in confusion as if asking me for more information. My stomach churns at their looks, but I have to go on.

"I'm sorry for hitting you, Killua; like I said, I was really out of it. I hope this doesn't bother you guys that much. I will do everything in my power to prevent from it again." I have no control sometimes. Things can happen and my mind would be somewhere else and I have no power to stop melf.

"Its find, Rin," Gon finally says. "Things happen that, we have little control over. You did look a bit shaken, so it's okay. Do what ever that helps you calm down."

"Thanks," I say. I give a glance to Killua, but he won't look at me.

We decide it's best to just go to sleep. The boys change and, after some arguing, take a bed, leaving me to myself. It's silent, either they are asleep and trying to. But sleep won't come to me. I lay facing the window, my back towards my comrades.

"Rin?" a voice calls. It's Killua. "You awake?"

"Hmm?" I hum, curious of why he's calling my name.

"Can you sleep?"

"No," I say lowly.

There's some shift and creaking from his bed. After a second, I feel the area behind me sink in. I turn around to see a bush a white hair.

"Kil-"

"Face that way," he cuts me off, jabbing a finger in the way I was originally facing. I blink blankly at him for a moment, but soon smile softly and turn. We lay there in the bed, silent, facing away from each other.

"If you ever need to talk, I'm always here, Rin," Killua says softly.

"Thanks," I reply.

It's silent again, but it's a peaceful one and I find myself drifting off to sleep.

"Whoa. Look it's huge!" Gon exclaims as he gazes out the window. Him and Killua both got the window seats on the tip, and I sit by the albino. I try to spy out the window also, enthusiastic about what view can be seen. Killua notices my struggle and allows me some room to see.

"Holy shit!" I gawk, pressing my face to the glass window. "I had no idea humanity had the technology to build something that tall!" I exclaim, then realize shortly after that I had pushed Kil away in order to get a closer look. He pushes me back to my side of the seat.

"Yep. That's Heavens Arena. Two hundred and fifty-one stories. Nine hundred, ninety-one meters tall. The world's fourth tallest building," Kil explains. My eyes widen even more.

"Fourth?! That's amazing!" I exclaim, beaming at said building.

"So this is where we'll be training…" Gon says, trailing off. We eventually land shortly after and we're now waiting for the other people to get off before we do.

"I used up all of my money on the trip fare. We'll have to make more here. After we disembark, we'll start from zero," Kil states.

"Gon, stop spacing out!" I command at said boy that is staring at who-knows-what. I successfully get his attention because he quickly closes the large gap between us.

"There's a really long line. Everyone's going to Heavens Arena?" Gon asks as we stare at the decently long line before us.

"Apparently," I say.

"There aren't any conditions here, like there were for the Hunter Exam. You just have to defeat your opponent," Kil explains. Wait, there were conditions for the Hunter Exam? "The higher you go, the more prize money you earn. This is as good as it gets for those looking to make a living with their fists." He finishes. So for the people who think with their fist and not their heads. Seems simple enough.

"Welcome to Heaven's Arena. Please fill out this form," the clerk lady says as she hands us three forms. We do so, handing the forms to the lady once we were finished. She types some stuff up on the computer then looks back to us. "Killua Zoldyck-sama, you are #2054. Gon Freecss-sama, you are #2055. Rin Kaijuu-sama, you are #2056. They'll call your number on the first floor of the arena, so make sure you remember it. Then please go ahead," the lady says, motioning to the hallway to the left.

"Your last name's Kaijuu?" Kil ask, noticing what the lady said.

I let a small smile cross my face before a full blown grin, showing my fangs. "Yup, And I won't change it!" I say happily. I know, I know, my last name means 'strange beast', and it practically tells what I am, but I won't change it because it was given to me by father. Yes, he gave it to me, and I will always love it, no matter what anyone says.

As soon as we enter the first floor stadium, we are immediately greeted by multiple battle cries and screaming. My poor ears...but what's there to expect? The place is full of muscle heads. We walk down to a space that is unoccupied and sit down. I seat myself in between Gon and Kil. I'm not next to any of those people who scream their lungs out to cheer, so I was happy.

"It's been a while, but the place hasn't changed," Kil says. Shocker. He's been here before.

"Huh? You've been here before?" Gon questions.

"Yeah, when I was six," Kil states.

"Six, really?" I comment.

He only shrugs. "My dad left me here without a penny. He said I should reach floor 200 before coming home. It took two years," Kil says. I nod slowly. Sure, he was only half the age he was now. But two years is long, even for him.

"You respect your father a lot, don't you, Kil?" I ask, causing his expression to show a hint of surprise.

"How did you know?" he ask in return. I only shrug back.

"Because I'm the same," I tell him, that and it is pretty obvious.

"Anyway, Gon. If you want to fight people of Hisoka's level, you'll need to go higher. Let's hurry," Kil says.

"Okay," Gon agrees, nodding.

"Aye, sir," I say with salute.

"#1973. #2055. Please enter ring E," the announcer calls. Oops, I completely forgot my number.

"#2055! That's me!" Gon exclaims as he stood up. If he's #2055, then that means I'm #2056 right? "I'm getting nervous now," he admits anxiously, taking off his backpack and placing it on the seat.

"Gon, it'll be fine. Don't worry about it," I reassure my fellow Hunter.

"Gon, you got through the Testing Gate, right?" Kil ask and Gon nods in response. "In that case, all you have to do is push hard," Kil whispers with a smirk. Oh yeah, I forgot about the Testing Gate. If he opened it he's plenty strong. I really do have nothing to worry about.

One man next to Kil keeps on shouting stuff like 'now's your chance to run kid!', but I ignore him for the most part, watching Gon's match. The referee begins the match, and the fat guy Gon is up against immediately throws a punch at him. My comrade dodges it easily, countering it with a push to his opponent's stomach. He is sent flying out of the ring and into the wall. I grin, standing up and punching my fist into the air.

"Yeah! Go, Gon!" I cheer along with several other muscle heads. He notices my cheering, since he turned in my direction and waves happily. "His abilities are awesome."

"Oh yeah, how did you know I was in that room at the butler's headquarters?" Kil ask, making me focus on the albino.

"Uhh...your scent?"

He looks at me weirdly. "You could smell my scent?" he ask confused.

I give him an enthusiastic smile. "Yeah! You have a nice scent, it's like chocolate and mint~" I say. With traces of blood in it.

He gives me another look and starts laughing. "You're definitely weird."

"Okay, Kil." I said.

"#1956. #2056. Please enter ring C," the announcer calls through the speakers once again, only this time it included my number. I stand up and stretch, bidding the still turned away Kil farewell. I pass Gon on my way down, giving him a high-five, and walk towards the ring I was assigned to. I wish the would have called me after Killua's match, I will want to see him.

"Hello, muscle-head #1956. Let us have a good match," I say in a bored tone, bowing at said muscle head. When I raise my head again, his fat face looks pissed. He looks like an overweight sumo wrestler, if that was even possible. The bad part about that is he is barely wearing any clothing. Blegh, disgusting.

"Then… Begin!" the referee shouts, snapping me out of my thoughts. I blink several times as the muscle head charges at me, throwing a very slow punch. I dodge it way too easily, ducking behind him. It takes him a while before he is able to stop himself. I roll my eyes, stepping my left leg so that the side was facing the muscle head, then proceed to roundhouse kick him out of the ring. Ouch. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, I guess.

I'm glad I didn't punch him, what would happen if I did? "Wow, the little girl's got spunk!" I hear someone shout from the seats. A lot of other perverted men start to shout other comments I don't even wanna mention, making me frown. I ignore all of those perverted comments and sigh in frustration before hearing a beeping noise coming from the referee.

"#2056, proceed to floor 50," the referee says.

"Okay, thanks," I say, taking the little slip of paper that comes out of the device the referee had.

In another ring not too far away from mine, I see a little boy that looks slightly younger than me. What are the chances of seeing another crazy strong kid? To size the kid up in a sentence, he has thick eyebrows and looks like a chestnut. But he is still cute nonetheless, like a puppy.

I meet up with Gon and Kil afterwards, receiving a 'congrats' from Gon. Not from Kil, though. I congratulate both of them, knowing they didn't even need it. If the guys they had fought had the same strength as the guy I fought, there was nothing to congratulate. Just another walk in the park. But just to be a good sport.

We get onto the elevator that will take us to the fiftieth floor, all the while a lady who works at Heavens Arena explains how it worked. "The first two hundred floors of Heavens Arena are divided into classes, each comprised of ten floors. So after someone defeats an opponent in the fifties, they advance to the sixties. If they lose, they'd drop back to the forties," the lady finishes explaining.

"Oh, so that's how it works," Gon says with a nod of his head.

"So we have to win five matches to get to the one hundreds? Should be easy enough, I guess," I say, nodding.

"I heard that after you pass the one-hundredth floor, you get your own room!" a voice exclaims from behind us. I turn around and smile. It's the cute little chestnut guy! I forgot about him. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Osu! My name is Zushi! What about you guys?" the boy, Zushi, asks. His name sounds like Sushi, which I note.

"I'm Killua." the albino says simply.

"I'm Gon. Nice to meet you." Gon says happily.

"I'm Rin, nice to meet you Sushi." I say with a wave.

There is a sudden beeping noise that signals that we had reached our destination. "We've arrived at the fiftieth floor," the lady clarifies.

"I saw your fights earlier. They were really amazing!" Zushi compliments. I smile at the young boy and ruffle his short hair.

"What are you talking about? You made it up here with one match, too?" Kil say.

"Thanks. I didn't see much of yours, but you have to be pretty good to go straight to the fifties like us," I say with another grin. He looks up at me in awe and shock.

"No… I still have a long way to go. By the way, which martial arts discipline do you practice? I study the Shingen-ryu fighting technique," he asks, extending his arms out then putting them back to his sides once he mentioned the technique he uses. What was it? Singing-ryu?

"School? We don't have one, right?" Kil ask me and Gon.

"No…" Gon answer.

"No," I echo bluntly.

"What?" Zushi exclaims, shocked. "You're that strong with no training? I'm kind of shocked…" He bows his head in disappointment. He suddenly perks up again moments later. "I still have so far to go!" he exclaims determinedly. It slightly reminded me of Gon.

Someone behind us has started to clap quickly, making us all turn towards the source. "Zushi. You did well," the voice was soft. The man looks young, maybe in his twenties, with big glasses and part of his shirt seemingly untuck. He actually looked younger than Leorio, now that I thought about it.

"Master!" Zushi exclaims once he saw said man. He's his master? I was expecting some kind of an old short guy, like Makarov. Now I'm just disappointed.

"You adhered to my teachings," Zushi's master says with a soft smile.

"Osu! I am honored!" Zushi says, doing that stance again. "Master, your shirt is untucked again."

"Oh, sorry about that…" the master says as he tucks in his shirt frantically. "Who are they?"

"Oh, they are Gon-san, Killua-san, and Rin-san," Zushi says, pointing to each of us as soon as he says our name.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Wing," he says.

"Osu!" Gon and Kil say in unison, during the stance as well. I bow to him instead, Like I'm doing that.

"I didn't expect to meet other children," Wing says. "Why are you here?"

"Uh…well, we want to become stronger. But we're also broke, so we're making money simultaneously," Kil tells the young man simply.

"Killua's a veteran here," Gon adds.

"Oh? If you're up here, you must be fairly skilled, but you should pay strict attention to your opponent's body, as well as your own," Wing says, giving us a little tip.

"Osu!" they say in unison again. I bow once again showing my respect, and leave with the two boys.

"Killua-sama, Gon-sama, Rin-sama, and Zushi-sama? Please hand me your tickets," the clerk lady says. It's weird having all these ladies call me sama, the only person who's ever done that was Yukino. We do as she asked, handing her the four tickets that we got from the referees on the first floor. She takes the tickets and places down four envelopes in return. "Here is your prize money."

We each take an envelope, emptying it into our hands. A few coins drop out. That was, well… Disappointing. Anticlimactic? Yeah, that too.

"One hundred, fifty-two jenny…" Gon says, successfully counting the amount. If even Gon can count it, it must be small.

"…Really?" I say, my voice dripping with disappointment. I lean over to Gon so only he can hear me. "Uh...how much is that?"

Gon gives me a an odd look before saying, "Not much. It can buy you a small snack or drink."

"On the first floor, win or lose, your reward covers a canned drink. But beyond that, a loss gets you nothing. A win over an opponent in the fifties gets you fifty thousand," Kil explains as he takes out a can of soda from the vending machine.

"Fifty thousand…" Gon says, relieved.

"That's a lot." Zushi said.

I insert the Jew-Jenny, and out came a strawberry milk from the slot. I take off the straw and puncture it into the craton and start to drink it.

"In the one hundreds, I think wins are worth a million," Kil adds nonchalantly. I stare at him in shock, I think that is a lot.

"What?" Gon and Zushi say in unison, staring wide-eyes at each other.

"Once you pass the one hundred fiftieth floor, you get ten million a pop."

"Ten million?" they repeat in unison

"Didn't you make it to floor two hundred when you were here before?" Gon ask. Zushi look surprised beyond belief. I start to feel bad for the little guy. I mean, he's done all of this 'Shingen-ryu' training, while we've had next to no training. While, I've done a lot of training in the past. Before the whole training montage at Killua's mansion, it has been a few months since I got some serious training in. The fact that we're probably stronger than him would make anyone feel bad.

"Th-The two h-hundredth floor?" Zushi stutters in disbelief.

"How much do you get for winning on the two hundredth floor?" Gon asks.

"Well… I don't really know, because I quit once I reached two hundred. But when I was winning in the hundred nineties, I had around two hundred million, total." Kil says, looking up in thought.

"T-Two hundred million…" Zushi says, deadpanning.

"Come on guys, it isn't that much…I think" I say, trying to reassure them.

"Where's that money now?" Gon asks. He was deadpanning as well.

"That was four years ago. Of course it's gone now. Spent it all on snacks!" he says simply.

I pat Gon on the back. "I would have done the same, maybe," I tell him with a grin.

"Two hundred million on snacks, in four years?" Gon asks, dumbfounded.

"What kind of snacks are they?"

"Hey, let's head to the waiting room. We didn't take any damage in the last fight, so they'll probably assign us another match today," Kil says as he throws away his can of juice and starts to walk off in the direction of said waiting room. I pass by the trashcan and drink the rest of my strawberry milk, then toss it into the trashcan.

Kil opens the door to the waiting room, revealing even more muscle heads. These muscle heads are slightly stronger, maybe. Only slightly. They're all glaring. The tension is nothing compared to the tension at the Hunter Exam, though. Because of this, I'm even intimidated. I guess Kil isn't either, since he waltz in like he owned the place.

"Well, these opponents should be a cinch. Just take it easy," Kil says as we all sit down on a bench next to each other.

"Really?" Gon asks.

"I don't need you to tell me that. I can already tell by looking at them that they're just brawns for brains," I say with a shrug as I lean back and close my eyes. If I saw their glares, I'll probably just start flipping out at them. Right now, I didn't really feel like causing a scene. Too….lazy.

"Killua-san, Rin-san!" Zushi whisper-shouts, making the man next to him start glaring. He deadpanned. "You're too loud…"

"#2054, Killua-sama," the speaker lady announces. I guess they're saying names now.

"I'm already up."

"And #1963, Zushi-sama," She adds. Ohhh shit.

"What?!"

"Please head to arena A, on the 57th floor," the worker finishes. I can hear the mic be placed down.

"Oh," Kil says simply as he looks down at Zushi.

"Osu! I shall give it my best." Zushi exclaims, bowing.

Kil only put his hand up. "Sure. Well, you can't win them all. Better luck next time," Kil says as he stands up. I lean forward and glare at him, a little.

"Kil…" I say, he turns in my direction. I give him a look as if telling him to be nice. He cocks his head as if challenging me and I raise my one visible eyebrow. He sighs in defeat.

"Good luck," he says with a grin before waving at Gon and me. "I'll head out." He says as he starts to walk towards the door, followed by a nervous Zushi.

"Yeah…good luck, guys," Gon says awkwardly.

"Hey, Zushi!" I exclaim, catching the chestnut's attention. "Good luck." . His face lit up and he nodded.

"What?! No good luck for me?" Kil says. I grin at him, "Good Luck!" I say with a grin as he turns around with pink cheeks. "I'll wait for you above." he says and walking out the door.

"Uh-huh…" Gon says as the door closes. He looks over at me. "He didn't have to be so blunt…" he says with a sheepish smile.

I rest my chin onto my hand as I look at the now closed door. "Tell me about it."

Ding.

"Oh, Killua! Over here!" Gon exclaims as he hears the 'ding' from the elevator. Kil is standing at the entrance of the elevator and Gon immediately runs towards him. He pulls out his envelope. "See? I got sixty-thousand. How about you?" he asks. I stand up and walk over to the two boys.

"That took longer than I thought it would. Something happen?" I ask Kil. He only starts to walk down the hall.

"So...was Zushi pretty strong?" Gon asks him.

"No, not at all. He has potential, I'll give him that. One day he'll be strong. But right now, he's just target practice for me. His punches were weak… I was completely able to knock him around. But I couldn't defeat him," he explains as he stops walking. Wait, he didn't win?

"Huh?"

"I received the TKO from points, but I couldn't knock him out. Further…when he changed his stance, his aura reminded me of my brother's," He says quietly. I unconsciously think about the emotionless boy.

"I don't know what it was, but it felt dangerous. It must be some kind of technique," Kil continues. Did he not notice what just happened? He looks back at the two of us. "His master called it 'Ren'."

"So he isn't supposed to use Ren until he reaches the top floor?" Gon says. "The strongest fighters are at the top, right?"

"Gon, Rin, change in plans. I'm aiming to reach the top floor," Kil decides.

"Uh-huh!" Gon says happily.

"I bet that was Gon's intention from the beginning. Right, Gon?" I say. I nudging him on the shoulder.

He smiles sheepishly as he scratches the back of his head. "How'd you know?"

I simply smile at the boy. "Not telling~"

Gon, Killua, and I keep defeating people the same way we have defeated them the first two matches. Gon's push, Killua's chop, and my kick. They have started to call the names of the people when they announced that it was your turn. They did that, yet I can't remember a single name.

Anyways, I have forgotten the names of the people I fought by the next match. I do not know if that's being forgetful or something else. We reached the one hundredth floor after six matches. One hundred more floors. One hundred more floors before I reached that floor. The floor where everything changed.

One after the other, kick after kick, they all are knocked out of the ring. It starts getting boring too. Eventually, the prize money we received doesn't come in envelopes. They instead put it into a bank account. I thought I had never seen such a big number, but in reality, I used to see big numbers like that daily, at the guild.

"You were right… I've never seen so many zeros before…" Gon says as he looks at the slip of paper the lady gave to him. "And just a week ago, I was totally broke," he adds.

"This is awesome!" I exclaims, my face only inches away from my slip of paper. My eyes were gleaming at the very large number. "I could buy so much sweets with this kind of money!" I press the slip of paper to my chest, swooning.

"I'm a little annoyed."

"Huh?" Gon says.

"Ha?" I say with a brow raised.

"My first time here, it took me two months to reach floor one hundred fifty. Meanwhile, you two are breezing through," Kil says with his eyes closed as we walk on. I only stare at him, my only thought being that it was dangerous to walk with your eyes closed.

"But you were only six back then," Gon says. Back to reality.

"Yeah, that's half the age we are now. It's only natural," I add.

"Well, that's true…" Kil mumbles.

"Oh, that's right. I saw Zushi on TV earlier," Gon says out of nowhere. I perk up at the sound of the chestnut guy's name.

"So did I. He's still in the fifties." Kil adds.

"Sushi is still in the fifties? I thought he'd at least be higher by now…" I say as I stare up at the ceiling. Now that I'm thinking about Sushi again, it's reminding me of that 'Ren' Kil talked about. I still have to figure out what that is exactly. But how?

"Apparently not," Kil says. A pause, then we stop walking.

"I wonder what that Ren you sensed could have been," Gon says. Whoa. It's like he read my mind or something.

Kil put his hands back down to his sides. "Maybe if we fight opponents higher up…" Kil starts with his finger raised.

"…Or wouldn't it be faster to just ask Zushi?" Gon asks innocently. It was his turn to raise his finger.

Silence.

I put the bottom of my fist down onto the palm of my other hand. "Wow, so simple. I never would have thought of that!" I exclaim excitedly. Maybe I'll finally get some answers.

Kil puts his hand over Gon's finger and starts to laugh awkwardly.

"Ren is one of the four major principles. The four major principles for disciplining your mind and body. Fundamental to every martial art! You must know Ten, learn Zetsu, achieve Ren, and reach Hatsu! This is all part of Nen training! That covers everything!" Zushi says once we asked him what Ren.

The only thing I got out of that was Nen training, because Ging said something 'bout it.

"I've no idea what you just said!" Kil says angrily to the chestnut boy.

"Zushi…" A familiar soft voice calls. Zushi froze up. "Are you sufficiently educated that you can teach others?" And there he was, Wing. The untucked shirt guy. "Gon-kun, Killua-kun, Rin-kun, there's an old saying that if you learn something piecemeal, you'll end up knowing less than what you started," he says with a kind smile. I don't get it…

"So a little knowledge is a dangerous thing? But I want to know right now. Because it's the secret behind my brother's power," Kil says determinedly as he stares down Wing.

"Then, Killua-kun, your brother is able to use Nen?" Wing asks the boy.

"I need to know what Nen and Ren even mean! I'll agree to the full learning process rather than a quick explanation! And if you're willing to teach me, I won't try to figure it out myself," Kil says, his eyes now full of determination. I smile at this.

"I understand." Wing says, fixing his glasses. They did the typical 'fix the glasses then the light reflects in them' thing. He turns around. "Come with me to my residence."

"Thank you very much!" Gon says before running out of Wing's 'residence'. Kil and I are already long gone though. "Wait up, Rin, Killua!" Gon whines as he ran after the two of us. I have my hands laced behind my back as I walk, all the while looking up ahead.

"He tells the stupidest lies," I say quietly staring at the lights.

"He was lying?" Gon seem to catch up to us since he heard what I said. Yep, the sad truth. I got my hopes up for nothing. I let out a sigh.

"Yeah. The explanation made perfect sense, and Wing is clearly very strong. But his story had holes," Kil starts to explain. I knew he was lying the moment I looked at him. What he told me was completely different from what Ging said. I would rather believe Ging cause I felt it, and he told me it was just like magic. You can't have magic from just willpower.

"Huh?"

"Zushi's toughness. He kept getting up after I knocked him down. I was getting irritated, so I used all of my strength during my last attack. He still didn't get knocked out. Willpower didn't keep him standing. He's hiding some other secret," Kil says. He spoke really seriously.

I shrug, twirling a strand of loose hair around. "Willpower can only get you so far, after all…" I add.

Omake

"Oh my gosh, that chestnut boy was so cute," I woo, holding my cheeks.

"Chestnut boy, you mean Zushi?" Gon questions.

"Yes, I just want to pull off his face," I squeak.

"That's kind of harsh, Rin"

"I'm sorry, but it's too cute, it's disgusting . I swear, I'm going to pull him apart limb by limb!"

"..."

"Just like Asuka. I'm so surprised I haven't just squeezed her eyes out yet. I miss her, I'm going to kill her the next time I see her."

"Killua," Gon whispers to the albino, "don't let Rin near that little brother of yours."

Okay I am really sorry for it being late, like supppppppper late. But I just wasn't feeling in the mood to write. My dog died, my fish... Okay my dog ate the fish. Naww I'm kidding about the whole dog died thing, but I did have to give her away to go on a trip. When school finished in like the middle of June, I wanted to make a longer chapter, but something was missing. It was the part on top, so yeah. I'm glad I got to type it then post. I'm happy and I hope you are too.