Out of all the nine people we had, Netero just had to put me against Kurapika. Was that the point of his interview? It didn't seem fair to me. I really did not want to fight him. I refuse to fight him. But will I have to force myself to?
Looking back at the whiteboard, I noticed something was missing. Wait, not something, someone is missing.
There's supposed to be ten of us but I see nine names on the board. I looked around and saw that Hisoka's friend was missing.
"Excuse me, President Netero" I called
"Yes Aoi?"
"This lineup here isn't correct, There were ten of us here but I only see nine names on that" I said
"Oh. I was just about to explain that. Thank you for pointing that out Aoi." Netero said with a smile. "One person decided to drop out of the exam during my interview. So that is why the match between the three of you is unbalanced."
"What? Who dropped out?" Leorio asked, looking around the room. "Have I not noticed a person here the whole time?"
"You're an idiot" Killua said
I looked at Hisoka and gave a wondering face of where his friend went. All Hisoka did was placing a finger towards his mouth, indicating that he is keeping it quiet.
"We shall begin the tournament immediately. The first match will be #294, Hanzo versus #405, Gon" Satotsu said as he walked to the middle of the arena.
With that, Gon and Hanzo walked to where Satotsu was. I realized, I have never seen Hanzo fight before. It might be interesting to watch. I know Hanzo is a ninja so he'll probably use his ninja techniques and weapons.
"Oi! Aoi! I hope you're watching me! I'm going to win this match for you!" Hanzo shouted out towards me.
My face flushed in embarrassment. It's the final part of the exam and yet Hanzo still find the time to flirt with me.
"What did I tell you Aoi!? This guy is practically in love with you!" Leorio said as he winked and poked my arm to tease me.
"Well...I don't know what to say..." I said.
Seriously. I don't.
"I'll bet Gon will knock him out so he won't go near you" Kurapika said as he put his hand on my shoulder.
"I guess we'll see who wins Kurapika" I said with a slight smile.
I think he's jealous again.
"There are only a few rules in this tournament. No killing, No interrupting the match, and do not attack the proctors. If you break any of these rules, you automatically fail." Satotsu said as we all nodded our heads in agreement.
"Now, this match may start."
Satotsu walked away to the observation area and Gon and Hanzo started fighting. I didn't notice that Hanzo had a blade sticking out from his wristband. It was actually a pretty cool weapon. The blade was really long and it was sharp. Gon is an interesting kid, I have a feeling Gon will win this match.
"This is for Aoi!" Hanzo shouted as he rushed towards Gon and swung at him.
Gon managed to dodge it with his fishing rod and jumped back a bit. I can see them talking to each other but I could barely hear it from where I'm standing. The observers were standing pretty far from the arena.
After a couple minutes of hitting, dodging and swinging, Hanzo caught Gon's left arm.
"I got it!" With that, he twisted Gon's arm.
"Ahhh!" A crack was heard.
Gon's left arm was broken. He even cut Gon with his blade. I got very worried. What's going to happen between the two of them?
"Gon is going to lose!" Leorio panicked
"I don't think so" Kurapika said. "I think Gon has a plan"
"But his arm..." I said quietly "He can't use his fishing rod much if his arm is broken"
"That is true, but look at him. He is smirking" Killua pointed out.
He was right. Gon did have a smile on his face and it was intimidating Hanzo.
"What's with that smirk huh!? I'm going to wipe that off with my blade!" He shouted and continue to swing towards Gon.
This kept going on for another few minutes until I noticed Hanzo getting tired.
"Gon!? Are you going to dodge Hanzo forever!?" Leorio shouted
"My exact question!" Hanzo said as he swung one more time before losing his guard
"Now's my chance!" Gon said as he jumped as high as he could and gave a good hard kick at Hanzo's face.
Hanzo flew a couple feet back and landed head first on the ground. He was knocked out from that kick.
"Winner of this match, Gon" Satotsu said as Gon put a thumbs up towards us.
"You did it Gon!" Killua cheered
"All it took was to tire out Hanzo. Smart plan" Kurapika said with a smile.
"Yeah. But my arm is broken though." Gon said, supporting his broken arm.
"Is Hanzo okay?" I asked, concerned about his injuries.
"He's fine." Kurapika said, while glaring at the confused Hanzo.
Hanzo got up and looked around, trying to figure out what happened. Satotsu explained to him that he lost and he sulked his way to our group.
"Well, nice job Gon. Although my head hurts a lot right now, but you did good" Hanzo said as he shook Gon's hand.
"You too Hanzo. You're a strong person" Gon said with a smile.
"Oh Aoi. I'm sorry I didn't win this match for you" Hanzo said, grabbing my hands once again.
I looked at Kurapika and he was glaring at Hanzo.
"Uh...it's okay Hanzo. At least I got to watch you fight. That's all the matters. Right?" I said with a nervous laugh
"Yeah! You're right! If only I can bring you back to Japan with me" Hanzo said with a sigh
"In which you will not" Kurapika said
Hanzo and Kurapika then started having a glaring contest.
Leorio, being the idiot that he is, started to tease me now.
"Oi Aoi. Two guys, one gal. What do you think?" He said
I bonked his head and called him an idiot. This is no time for people to argue if we have a tournament to take care of.
Just then, Satotsu cleared his throat to get our attention.
"Ahem...now that everyone is ready, we can start the next match."
The next two matches went by like a breeze. There really wasn't anything much to miss. Killua and Pokkle had their match next but Killua forfeited. He mentioned that Pokkle wasn't worth his time to fight. This gave Pokkle the automatic win.
As for Leorio and Bodoro's match, all they did was punch each other to the point that they both knocked each other out. Satotsu claimed their fight to be a tie.
Now, it was the match between me, Hisoka and Kurapika.
"For the three way match, you can have a choice of all three of you fighting the same time and declare last man standing, or do separate matches within the three of you to declare two winners" Satotsu said, looking at the three of us.
Hisoka shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he doesn't care. So it was just up to me and Kurapika.
"What do you think Aoi?" Kurapika asked
"I'm not sure.." I said
If we all fight at the same time, only one of us will win but that gives a better chance of defeating Hisoka but Kurapika and I would lost. If we do the separate matches, two of us can win. I don't know. Either way, I'd still have to fight Kurapika. There is nothing I can do to avoid this fate.
"Aoi? Did you hear me?" Kurapika said
"Huh? What? What did you say?" I asked, losing my thoughts
"I would like to ask for separate matches. Is that okay with you?" He asked
"Yeah, I guess so" I said
"Okay. Satotsu. We'd like to have separate matches" Kurapika said
"Very well then. Between the three of you, the first ones to go will be Hisoka versus Kurapika. Would you kindly wait at the observation space Aoi?" Satotsu said
"Ye-Yeah" I said
I was worried. Hisoka and Kurapika fights first? I was hoping it'll be me versus Hisoka first so that I can tell him to stay away from Kurapika.
"Don't worry about me Aoi" Kurapika said with a smile. "I'll be fine"
Kurapika patted my head while I looked at Hisoka. He took out his cards and showed me the Joker card and pointed at his wrist. That was the card that gave me the frightening answer back at the hotel.
Chrollo said I can do whatever I want as long as it makes you come back to the group,
even if it means I have to kill your circle of friends.
That rang in my head a couple of times.
My eyes widened in fear as I walked back to the group. Is my time up? Is Hisoka going to use force to bring me back? Is he planning on killing Kurapika!?
I was feeling very nervous. I was tugging at my gloves uncontrollably. I don't know what to do. I can't interfere with the match. I'll fail. Sadly, all I can do is just stand there and watch.
"Hisoka, I don't know what is going on between you and Aoi but I want you to leave her alone" Kurapika said
"Oh? Me? Leave her alone? I cannot do that" Hisoka said
He was showing that infamous creepy smile.
"I simply have something to do with her." Hisoka looked at me as I felt chills down my body
"What do you want with her?" Kurapika said
"I cannot tell you. It's our little secret" Hisoka said as he took out his cards and start throwing then towards Kurapika.
Luckily, Kurapika managed to dodge each card except for one. One managed to graze his face. There was a trickle of blood sliding down his face.
I was really worried this time. Is Hisoka toying with Kurapika? Or is he willing to kill him?
"I said leave her alone!" Kurapika ran towards Hisoka as fast as he could.
He caught Hisoka off guard and stabbed his shoulder with his knife.
There, Hisoka's face, his eyes, were an expression that would make a child fear for their life.
His eyes were as wide as they could be. His smile turned wicked. He looked at his blood. He touched it. Then he started to laugh hysterically.
"Hehe...hehehehe...HA..HAHA...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"W-What?" Kurapika jumped back a couple of feet as Hisoka was getting scarier.
"My...my...my blood...hehehe...this...is...my...blood..." Hisoka said
"This is scary. What's going on?" Leorio asked
"He was similarly like this. Back at Zevil island." Gon said
I looked at Gon, shocked. Gon was still able to get Hisoka's number plate even in that state?
"You're a brave kid Gon" I said as I patted his head.
I could tell my body was shaking in fear. I tried my best to stay calm. I guess the same goes for Hisoka.
"Calm down...calm down...I'm here...for a reason...for Aoi...I'm here...for Aoi...Aoi...AOI" He turned his gaze towards me.
I took a step back. His gaze was deadly. He looks like as if he's ready to just kill all of us any minute.
I was still shaking in fear. This is the guy Chrollo replaced me for. The new #4.
Why?
Why did he have to choose someone so deadly, so fearful?
Pretty soon, Leorio stood right in front of me, blocking Hisoka's view of me.
"I don't like the way he's staring at you Aoi" Leorio said
"Same here. I don't like that look of his. It's really creepy and he shouldn't be looking at you like that" Hanzo said as he joined Leorio.
Both Hanzo and Leorio stood in front of me. As if they were protecting me from Hisoka's gaze. They shouldn't have. They don't know me. They don't know that I should be leaving this place with Hisoka.
I looked over their shoulders and saw that Kurapika was standing in between me and Hisoka. I can't tell what his face expression is showing, but I sense that he's getting angry.
"Leave. Her. Alone." Kurapika said in the most serious tone I've ever heard.
Hisoka looked at Kurapika. Everything went quiet for a while. Hisoka finally 'calmed down' and went back to his usual self. Or at least, I hope it's the same Hisoka that we've met.
"Well. Time's up" Hisoka said as he calmly walked up to Kurapika.
He stood next to him, shoulder to shoulder and whispered something in Kurapika's ears.
"What do you think he's telling him?" Leorio asked
"I don't know, but from the looks of it here, Kurapika don't seem happy" Killua said
After Hisoka was done whispering to Kurapika, he walked past him and headed towards the door, which was behind the rest of us.
When Hisoka was near me, Leorio and Hanzo stood infront of me again to protect me.
"Tick. Tock. Time Aoi" was all Hisoka said with a wicked smile.
"Hisoka. Where do you think you're going? You still have a match with Kurapika." said Satotsu
"Just consider this my defeat. I need some fresh air. I'll be back for my last match" Hisoka said as he walked out the door.
"Then the winner for this match is Kurapika. The next match will be Kurapika versus Aoi. Before we can start, we will take a thirty minute break. Please take this time to get some fresh air. Otherwise, you can stay here and wait for the next match."
I froze in my spot. I feel like Hisoka whispered the truth about me to Kurapika. It just has to be that. I'm sure of it. There is no way Hisoka would whisper any other stuff to him.
That's it. My life with Kurapika is over.
"Oi. Kuapika. You okay?" Leorio called out to Kurapika.
He was just standing there. Frozen in place too. He was not responding to anyone.
I slowly walked up to Kurapika. Heart beating really fast. How should I react? What should I say? What can I do?
"K-Kurapika?" I called out to him as I stood in front of him.
His eyes were scarlet. He looks like he was lost in his thoughts.
"You okay?" Killua asked
"Kurapika!" Gon shouted
This got Kurapika to snap out of it and his eyes went back to its normal colors
"I'm sorry. I spaced out a bit" Kurapika said
He then looked at me for a minute. A really long minute. The way he was staring at me was not that of a caring person. It felt like he was staring at me with anger, confusion and sadness.
"I..wish to be alone right now. Leorio, can I speak to you privately?" Kurapika said, looking at Leorio.
"Yeah. Sure." Leorio said quietly
With that, Kurapika and Leorio stepped out of the room. Leaving me, Killua and Gon confused.
"I wonder what Hisoka said to Kurapika" Killua wondered
"Yeah. Kurapika's expression was something I haven't seen" Gon said
"Miss Aoi. Are you okay?" Killua asked
"Yeah. I'm fine" I said. Even though I'm not.
"You were quiet the whole time. Is something wrong?" Gon asked
"No. I'm fine. It's just..." I didn't know what to say.
"Are you worried about the next match?" Killua asked
"Yeah. Something along that line.." I said
"Don't worry about it Miss Aoi. I know Kurapika wouldn't hurt you" Killua said with a cheesy smile
"Killua is right Aoi. Kurapika always talks about you! He's basically in lo-" Gon's mouth was immediately covered by Killua's hand
"Shut it Gon! You'll ruin it!" Killua said
"Huh?" I looked at the two kids confused
"Hehe. It's nothing Miss Aoi. I think Gon is thinking of crazy stuff after his fight with Hanzo" With that, Killua dragged Gon somewhere and they both had a talk.
I just stood there and stared at the arena. What's my decision?
The truth.
I'm going to tell Kurapika the truth. I don't care if Hisoka told him before me. I made up my mind. I will reveal who I truly am in front of my friends. I shouldn't be here. I don't belong to have good friends like them. I should just go back with Hisoka. Go back to the Phantom Troupe. Go through whatever it is Chrollo has in plan for us to do.
I turned around and was about to head out of the door to look for Hisoka until an announcement was made.
"Would all exam candidates please report back to the arena. We will be starting the next match shortly."
Damn. I don't have a chance to speak to Hisoka privately.
I walked to the center of the room, waiting for Kurapika. He eventually showed up and took center of the room too.
We were staring at each other. I looked deep into his eyes. I didn't understand his facial expression.
"The rules are still the same. So please do not break them. You can start the match" Satotsu said as he walked away.
Kurapika and I still stared at each other.
What should I do? Do I fight? No. I don't want to fight Kurapika. Give up? Probably.
I looked at my right hand. My glove. All I have to do is remove this glove and reveal my tattoo. Then all of this anxiety would be over. I can go back to my original group and forget about this group that I love so much. I love Kurapika too much to hurt him
"Aoi..." Kurapika said
"Kurapika...I'm sorry...I...I..." I trailed off
I raised up my right hand and was slowly removing my glove, it almost came up to the point where my tattoo can be revealed but Kurapika said something shocking.
"I forfeit the match"