Assassin and Thieves

Chapter 12

Why did you kill the boar for me? Chrome's questions repeated in the assassin's mind as he quickly jogged to the park where the girl would be. Did you think I was too weak to kill it myself? No, never, he thought, maybe should have said. Killua definitely did not think she was weak. What was he thinking when he killed another boar? Was he really thinking that she'll just accept his offer like that? Her anger was real. Her pride was offended.

Killua stopped his jog once he got close enough. Seeing that stubborn girl attempting to sneak up on those massive boars was a bit relieving. Still, she's an idiot for wasting time. They didn't know when the Second Phase would be over. That weird blue-haired examiner probably couldn't even eat that much anyways. So Chrome and Killua would have so little time to attempt and prepare something, and yet she insisted on catching her own stupid pig.

The boy watched over the girl as she discovered the last few remaining boars at the bottom of the hill. There were five left to be exact. Four of them were munching on some of the clumsier applicants who were too stupid and got killed while one was out casted. The smartest move that Chrome could make is to isolate that one boar from the rest, so she wouldn't have to take on all five of them at the same time. It should be difficult for her to take on all five due to the fact that she doesn't know their weakness: the forehead.

Though, it seemed that the girl had the same idea as Killua: lure only one boar away from the pack. The boy watched her from a distant hidden in the bushes, hoping she wouldn't see him. Chrome found a tree branch low enough to snap off and used it as an attention grabber. Once she walked down the slope, Chrome waited by a thick bush, so thick that even Killua couldn't see her in it. However he didn't move down the hill with her; instead he waited at the top of the slope with a good view of the situation. What is she going to do with that stick? Come to think of it, she also used a branch to kill that frog an hour ago. Killua frowned, thinking that she'll attempt to stab the boar just the same as that frog. There's no way it'll work on these animals. Their skin is too tough, but Chrome doesn't know that. Any sound he makes would alarm the boars. No way will he let that happen.

For the next few minutes, Killua couldn't see Chrome, not even a shuffle in the bush as if she was completely still. Yet, he heard a sharp whistle. The loud whistle had all five boars lifting up their head as an attempt to track down the source of the noise. However, the four boars feasting quickly shifted their attention back to the food. The lone boar was a different story. Its head was stuck up in the air for a little bit longer period of time, more interested in that sharp quick sound of whistle. The pig's movement became more tense and stiff as it became more alert. Slowly it walked towards the bush where Chrome was, but was uncertain if the whistle came from there.

Killua's mouth curved downwards. Why is she luring that pig to herself? He questioned Chrome's motive as he heard a softer whistle that only the lone boar and himself heard. His question would be answered soon as the enormous pig investigated the sound that's coming from Chrome's bush. It almost had its nose deep into the foliage until it realized a human girl was in there, but it was too late to retreat. Chrome started her swift attack first. Stick stabbed right into its eye as she locked her left arm around its snout to refrain it from thrashing in shock. Quick and swift, like an assassin. She had the tree branch tilted so it got the eyes and the brain. A quick death for the enormous boar.

Once the boar dropped lifelessly, Chrome's head turned to check on the four remaining mammals to see if they were aware of the two children's presence. With a sigh of relief, she took out the stick and picked up the boar over her head. Killua just watched at the top of the hill, waiting for her. It didn't take too long for her to realize that he had come back. He noticed the flashes of expressions on Chrome's face from shock to happy and then to upset. It wasn't hard for him to guess her trail of thoughts in the past two seconds. Shocked that he had returned, happy that he had returned, and upset that he had returned.

Her frown remained when she reached the top of the hill and stood in front of him. "What are you doing here, Killua?" That frown deepened; clearly, she upset about him waiting for her and wasting time. "Shouldn't you be cooking?"

However, Killua didn't share the same concern as her. Instead, he avoided the question, "That pig could eat a lot," he referred to Buhara, the second examiner.

Chrome was about to object his answer, but decided against it; instead, she asked a strange question, "Where's your pig?"

Out of all things to worry about, she worried about Killua's boar. "I dropped it by the gate before coming back," the unconcerned boy turned towards the examination area and started walking. He didn't want her holding the oversized boar for more than necessary. "Come on, we should get going."

Chrome followed behind him, but her frown was still present. "You should take the pig that you killed for me," she suggested as they walked closer to the unconscious boar. Killua was about to asked why, but she answered his unasked question, "Someone probably had taken yours by now, so you should take it." She smiled at him as Killua turned around to meet her face, "you know, just in case."

Chrome predicted it correctly; Killua's first boar was gone by the time they were by the gate. It was a good thing Killua had taken his second boar back. When the two children returned back to their cooking station, Killua saw half of the examiners were lined up for their food to get…rejected at this rate. Gon and his two friends were on line with strange looking dishes. He couldn't judge them. Killua definitely did not know how to cook unless it's just roasting some animal over a fire. He could do that… at least. It didn't take too long for him to set up, so he was spinning the crank before he knew it.

While mindlessly rotating the roasting pork, he watched his friend at work. Chrome seemed to be hard at work. She actually chopped up the pig with a butcher knife she got from the drawer on her right. She managed to get a poorly cut rack of the ribs. Although, he doubted that she knew exactly what she's doing. Her face wrinkled in utter confusion and frustration as she looked at the rest of the pork and at the bowl of vegetables. After she finished cutting up some of the ingredients, lettuce, tomato, and onions, she turned up the heat on the grill and placed a skillet on it instead of using it to roast the whole pig. That is really a smart idea. She actually looked like she knew what she's doing as she poured oil on it.

No matter how good Chrome seemed to be in cooking, it didn't matter anymore. Menichi announced that the Second Phase of the Hunter Exam is over with no one was passing. Anger erupted from majority of the applicants. Gasps and hateful comments probably fueled her happiness secretly. The Hunter Exam didn't matter too much to Killua, but he knew it meant something to Chrome. He glanced over to her cooking station to see how she was holding up. Her grill was turned off. Her kitchen knife was held tightly in her hand, shaking in place as she tried to calm her anger. Was she really thinking about attacking the examiner with it? It didn't seem to be the case when she stabbed it into the counter, and Killua swore he heard a growl came from her throat. At least, she's not planning on doing something stupid, unlike one examinee who tried to punch the blue haired examiner.

Watching her for a few more minutes, she seemed to have calmed down. Her breath got steadier and deeper, and her arms relaxed at her side. She couldn't take the ridiculous arguing that the examiner and the examinees are having, so she turned towards Killua and walked towards the familiar face.

"Completely stupid!" Chrome barked out as she sighed in defeat, "My dish probably could've passed…maybe. It's better than everyone else's." Her lips pursed into a pout as she stared angrily at Menchi. "Just a few more minutes, that's all." Her voice almost turned sad at that point, but was cut off by a landing aircraft.

It turned out that this ridiculous Second Phase was nulled and was given a second try. Before all the examinees knew it, they were peering down a cliff, expecting to jump off of it. The demonstration that the examiner gave was good enough that Gon and Killua jumped down at the very second they can, but not for Chrome. She stood back and watched as roughly fifty people grabbed onto the thick spider web. Without Gon's help, half that number would probably had died during this phase, but luckily he was there. Forty people came back alive with an egg in their hands.

"Chrome!" Gon approached his friend with an angry pout, "Why didn't you jump with us?"

"Don't worry about it," she replied back, "I'm going now. If I had jumped, then the web would had snapped," she pointed it out with a smile on her face as she peered down the cliff once again. Acknowledging that she still had her 200 kg book bag on, Chrome took a deep breath and jumped.

Wait! Your book bag! Killua wanted to scream out, but kept it inside. Instead, he just watched as she grabbed hold of a thread of web. Everyone leaned over the cliff and watched her performance. Only he knew about the heavy weights that threaten to snap the string. The cliff was silenced except for the sound of boiling water. Everyone nearly held their breaths as the girl waited for the first wind of the draft. Only she can sense of upcoming wind. She knows what she's doing, I hope, Killua thought as Chrome let go of her life line. He swore that even the boiling water became silent as everyone waited for her body to ascend back to the surface when the strong draft blew up.

As the wait became unbearably long, some of the examinees sighed in defeat as they turned around once the draft stopped. The assassin felt his heart dropped and turned towards Gon. "She'll come back," his companion in green assured Killua as he stared into the void intensely. But the weights, Killua frowned.

A few more minutes passed with no sign of Chrome. Leorio placed a hand on both Gon and Killua's shoulder as he shook his head in silence. Silence dragged on as the two boys turned away from the cliff with hope lost. Even Menchi approached them with a sullen look. "I'm sorry," she whispered to them. Killua couldn't even stomach his hardboiled egg. His face wrinkled in disgust. He should have stopped her. He should have grabbed onto her book bag when she jumped. He knew it was too heavy. He trusted her.

"I'm still here, just so you know." A voice came from the cliff. Chrome! Everyone's head couldn't have spun around any faster as Chrome pulled herself up from the edge of the cliff.

"Chrome!" Gon ran fast to her side and helped pull her up from crack in the mountain. "I thought-I thought-" Tears filled up in his hazel-brown eyes. Once she wasn't in danger of falling off the cliff again, Gon's arms embraced her. A bit dramatic, isn't he? Chrome looked confusedly at Killua. In response, he shrugged.

"I'm here. I'm here" the survivor assured the teary boy. "My book bag was a bit too heavy. That's all." That's all? Killua frowned at her words. She's so stubborn! That book bag had nearly cost her life. It's all because of her father who told her not to take off the book bag. Once Gon calmed down, Chrome walked pass Killua with a smirk, taking her egg out of her book bag and placed it in the pot of boiling water. "The egg better be worth it!"

"H-how did you-" Leorio, Kurapika, and half of the remaining examinees stood in utter shock.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Chrome stuck her tongue out playfully as she teased the adults.

It didn't matter to Killua. He's just relief that she's back on solid ground. "I knew she'll be back!" Gon stood next to him with a wide smile on his face. "Come on, let's eat some eggs!"

Author's Note: Thanks for reading Chapter 12 of Assassins and Thieves and sticking around! Sorry for making you all wait so long, but this chapter was really hard for me to write. Alas, I still wrote it! How did I do this time? I hope Gon and Killua remained in character. I wanted to try to write in Killua's POV, but I'll be switching back to Chrome's. See you in Chapter 13, and always, please review! (Do anyone actually read these? Virtual cookies for those who do!)