A/N: Thirteen people passed now, because Luciano, Hakou, and their two opponents had to be added. Also, the conversation with the examineers is by the book. I didn't realize they didn't talk about the candidates until I finished, and then it was a waste to delete it. XDXD

If you have not guessed, this is all by the manga.

Translations:

Teino sha-Imbecile

Chijin-Idiot

Also, sorry for the delay. My dog died, so I'm really sad. :'(

RIP Maxwell. You lived a happy life.

Hide and Seek

The Final Test

"362, where are you?" Hakou muttered, angrily eating some berries he had deemed safe. Unfortunately for him, three days had gone by, with not a sighting of Number 362. He had located and identified each and every person besides Luciano, Joker, and 362. Really, how many places can this person hide? He thought despairingly.

He continued to walk along, muttering and munching, before all of a sudden he felt someone ram into him, knocking him on his back. Rubbing his head, he was about to demand an apology, when the man ran off.

Getting up off the ground and dusting himself off, Hakou looked around and tried to locate what the man was running from. However, as he put his left foot down, he heard a strange crunching noise coming from below. Perplexed, Hakou looked down to find that he had stepped on a number tag that the man had dropped in his haste.

Hakou picked up the tag, and to his complete shock, he found that the split-in-two tag bore the number '362.'

Shrugging his shoulders, blaming it on the man's karma, Hakou continued to tour the island.

Number 34 lay before Luciano, beaten up and shell-shocked. Luciano was surprised as well, at his good luck and the state of the man before him.

"I don't know what happened, but I must say this is A-OK for me," Luciano commented, grinning. He quickly searched the man, and found his tag in his hood. Smiling in relief that the attacker did not want to take 34s' tag, Luciano ran off towards where the airship would be, and a place to stay for the next two days.

"In a while, the fourth round of the trials will end. All participants are invited to come back to the starting point of the test. The participants must make themselves known in the time of one hour. After this delay, the ones who haven't shown themselves will be disqualified. Please pay close attention to this information. Tags stolen from now on will not be counted. Verifications will be made, and people who break this rule will be disqualified." A mechanical voice sounded, and thirteen people gathered on the beach from their hiding places.

"Hakou!"

Hakou looked to his right, and his eyes went wide. Quickly, he dove forward, just in time to escape a possibly life-threatening bear hug from Luciano. "Teino sha!" Hakou cried, and proceeded to run around the beach, an energetic Luciano running after at top speed.

Others watched in amazement and amusement as the two seemingly unaffected boys ran around. The airship drew closer.

"Out of the thirteen left, we have eight new guys?" Netero exclaimed heartily, "Hohoho! This year is a new year!"

"Does that often happen?" Buhara asked, a mouth full of cake.

Netero shook his head. "No, not really. Often, there's a gap before this. Ten years pass without any new guy succeeding. And suddenly, we have a lot of new guys with a great future head of them! It's the fourth time it's happened since I've been president." Netero said energetically.

Menchi got an incredulous look on her face. "How old is the president?" She asked the blob man.

The blob man put on a clueless look and whispered, "It's been almost 20 years that he's' been telling me he's 100 but…"

"By the way, what are we going to do for he last round?" Satotsu asked in between a bite of cake.

"That's true, we've been told nothing!" Buhara said thoughtfully.

"It's wonderful to talk about the great newbies, but the last round hasn't begun yet." Menchi said, arms behind her head.

"Yes, but… I'd like to make them hold unusual fights," Netero began, to the others confusion. "To set up this round… I shall begin by meeting them one after another."

Once again, Menchi asked blob man, "What does he mean?"

Blob man shrugged, and said "That… Even I don't have a clue about what the President is thinking."

Hakou sat down, defeated by Lucianos' antics. He half-listened to the announcement that stated people would come into the reception room one by one. He just sat there, next to the strange bubble of energy, wishing he wouldn't be called any time soon.

He took up Luciano's' position of leaning back against the wall, sitting pretzel-style, and whispered to his companion, "You're overdoing it. You're upset about something. What is it?"

Luciano looked at him with an innocent expression on his face. "Whatever do you mean? I'm fine…" He trailed off at Hakou's' look, and shifted his eyes away. "I… I don't want to talk about it."

Hakou nodded. "As long as you tell me the truth, not place a stupid energetic mask on your face."

"Candidate #2."

Hakou left Luciano leaning against the wall, and did not look back.

Hakou sat silently in front of Netero, waiting for him to begin.

Netero finally broke the silence, slightly unnerved by the azure eyes that gazed at him with such single-minded intensity. "Above all else, why do you want to become a hunter?"
"Being a hunter unlocks a lot of doors." Hakou replied immediately, not breaking eye contact.

"I see. Among the other twelve candidates, which one retains the most of your attention?"

Hakou thought for a second. "I'd say #44. He's really dangerous. Of course, #1 retains my attention, but I've been with him for a while, and I know him through and through."

Netero nodded. "Last question. Among the twelve other participants, who do you want to fight against the least?"

"#44. I am not strong enough to beat him." Hakou answered.

Netero scratched his head. "Good. You can go back."

Luciano fidgeted at the silence, and forced himself to break the awkwardness. "So... What is it?"
"I am just going to ask you a few questions. Now, why do you want to be a hunter?" Netero asked, as if the awkward silence never happened.

"Same as Hakou… Er… #2."

Netero raised his eyebrows. "You know how he answered?"
"Yes, we've been traveling with each other for a while."

Netero nodded and continued. "Who do you want to fight?"

Luciano scratched his head, thinking. "Hmm… I'd say that I want to fight #2 again, to get even with him. But… I'll say that I want to fight #403, as I think I can compete with him."

"Okay… Who do you not want to fight against?"

"I don't want to fight #44."

"Very good. You may leave."

"Note for the candidates! We'll arrive in a while at the place where the last round stands. If you win, you'll become a 'Hunter.'"

"I hope everyone has rested well. We are here in a hotel managed by the committee. Until the end of the final round, this place will be yours. The last trial will be in the form of duels of 1 vs. 1. The groups are the following." Netero removed a cloth that had been covering a canvas board to reveal two strange-looking charts.

On one, there were two brackets, in which the majority of the remaining contestants were. The other chart held only four:

1 vs. 2

Winner of the first round versus 310

Winner of the second round versus 29

Netero began to explain the two charts. Apparently, only two people would fail, unless you were disqualified. Disqualifications add to the people who do not pass. Basically, don't kill someone, win your match, and you're good to go.

Meanwhile, Hakou and Luciano sat next to each other in the back of the room, whispering furiously. Luciano had recovered, as proven by the rapid speed of words pouring out his mouth.

"We don't know how 310 fights. The person you are right now is strong, and I'm fast. So we don't know who should give up, and fight 310. Hakou… What should we do?" Luciano whispered, panicked.

"Relax. I have an idea." Saying so, Hakou got up and walked behind 310 stealthily. He put his hands around 310s' neck.

310 reacted violently, and flipped Hakou. He lay there, dazed. 310 looked at him with inflamed eyes. "What were you doing?" 310 demanded

Smiling nervously, Hakou got up and backed away. "Nothing, nothing. Sorry 'bout that."

Then, Hakou walked over to where Luciano was. "I'll forfeit, okay?"

Luciano nodded. Hakou was best at evaluating people's strength, after all. Even though he didn't follow how Hakou came up with that decision, he trusted him.

"You must admire Gon's perseverance." Hakou commented.

"And you must admire that Joker is quite in the know." Luciano said.

Both of them nodded, and they stepped onto the stage.

Luciano waved to the one who had looked over him, and the man waved back. Then, he turned to look at Hakou. Both of the stared at each other, Luciano with some trepidation, Hakou with an icy, unwavering gaze.

"Third match, start!"

"I give up."

Everyone stared at Hakou in shock, and, hands in his pockets, he walked off the stage. His bored, but icy expression never left his face. Luciano shook his head, grinning. This guy sure knows how to put up a show.

Killua's point of view

I looked on at their match in anticipation. Something about those two drew me, and their match was sure to be interesting, right?

Well, apparently not. I thought dryly. Then again… What was I expecting? Certainly not this. They are probably up to something… Something to do with that attack on the other guy earlier. Ahh, I shouldn't be worrying about them. Gon is seriously injured. I still have my match.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I would get to see Hakou's' next match anyway. I focused on the matches once more, with slight impatience.

He won't give up this next one, right?

Hakou sighed. He was truly in a bad situation. 310 was a better opponent for Luciano. But I know how shook up he gets because of these. He thought ruefully, shaking his head slightly.

He stared at his oversized opponent, who had already been advertising victory to everyone else. He put on his best 'I don't care what you think let's just get this match out of them way' look, while changing his stance from a carefree, hands-in-pockets stance to a fighting one.

"Match, Hakou versus Gimpkin! Start!"

"Gimpkin? What kind of name is that?" Hakou taunted, while Luciano, sitting in the audience, began to laugh loudly, rolling on the floor. Hakou glanced at Luciano with a slight smile on his face, before turning back to his red-faced opponent, who had just been standing there.

"Oh?" Hakou said, eyebrows raised. "Weren't you going to 'pummel me in three seconds flat?' It's been thirty seconds already, and I'm wondering when you are going to start."

"Why you-!" Gimpkin roared, and charged straight at Hakou.

Hmm… In this disadvantageous situation, he would probably use his smaller stature to get around this bull-man. Maybe the situation isn't as bad as I thought. Hakou thought, frowning slightly. At the last second, he ducked out of the oncoming man's way, and let him snatch empty air, before he slammed his elbow into the back of the man's neck.

Hakou thought the man would be dazed, but he showed no signs of being affected. Whirling around, Gimpkin snatched the arm that Hakou had used to hit him with. Hakou's eyes widened, as he realized the situation he was in.

Okay, calm. Hakou would use this to his advantage and get closer… He would get the man's grip off his hand.

Quickly, Hakou bit the inside of the man's wrist, right on the giant vein. Already accepting the inevitable, he braced himself for the knock to the head the man was sure to give him.

Wham! Hakou felt a little dazed by the furiosity behind the punch, but he held on. A few punches and kicks later, the man shrieked and let go of Hakou's hand.

Hakou skipped back, out of reach, and spit out the man's blood that was in his mouth. "You know," He began dryly. "You could have just broken my arm there."

The man twitched when he realized his mistake, but covered it up with a huge bluff. "I just didn't want this match to end so soon… Your snarky comments from before really ticked me off, ya know?"

Hakou didn't reply, and shot after the man. Gimpkin tried to grab Hakou's arm again, but this time, he was ready. He dodged, and hooked his feet around the larger mans, causing Gimpkin to fall over and hit his head on the hard floor.

Hakou leaned over Gimpkin. "No, I don't. You can't be a good fighter if you let comments like that go to your head, Chijin."

Hakou stuck his hands in his pockets and walked off the stage.