Assassins and Thieves

Chapter 15

The morning sun shined into Chrome's closed eyes, but was effective in disturbing her sleep as she turned onto her left side to ensure that the blinding light was to her back. Instead of going back to sleep, her eyelids fluttered opened, attempting to adjust to the bright yellow wall of the Hunter Committee's aircraft. She was in no haste to rush, so she took in her familiar surroundings. Her body spent the night sleeping on the bench that fit her height perfectly. She glanced the floor and saw her friend's silver hair, leaning on the side of the bench. Killua slept on the floor? Beside him was her book bag. Did he remove it when I was sleeping, and I didn't even notice? I must be really tired last night.

Propping herself up, she saw Killua's dark blue shirt covering her sleeveless arm. Aww, how sweet, Chrome chuckled at the thought of the flimsy shirt trying to shelter her from the cold. Tilting her head to the side, she saw her friend wearing his second shirt, the lavender short sleeve one. The V-neck collar was low enough for Chrome to see his pale chest once again. Immediately turning away, she felt her cheeks heat up a bit. Both her legs swung over the edge of the bench, avoiding her friend's head, and sat up straight. She took her heavy book bag and placed it on her lap to look for her phone, the time. Huh, it's 8:30. They're supposed to be at the Third Phase by now. It didn't matter; they'll be there sooner or later. Maybe, she should go to the dining hall to get some breakfast before they land. Chrome placed Hisoka's deck of cards that was placed neatly beside her and her phone into the side pocket of her book bag and flung it over her back. Now, should I wake up Killua or not?

Before she could decide, Killua answered for her. "Finally awake?" His head tilted upwards to look at her.

"Good morning," she replied.

"Do you know you talked in your sleep?"

Chrome's squinted eyes met with his blue one as she looked down at him. "You do know there are other benches, right?" Completely avoiding the conversation he's trying to make. Clearly she was hinting that she does not want to talk about it.

"Couldn't even sleep at all!" Killua turned around, so his legs were tucked underneath the bench and his arms resting beside Chrome's thigh.

"Why did you even sleep on the floor?"

"You kept whispering, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'"

Her frown pulled her cheeks downwards as she glared down at Killua who had a smirk on. "Stop it," warned Chrome as she took Killua's long sleeve shirt and tossed it at his face. "Just stop it!"

It fell down from his face and landed in his hand, and Killua thought nothing of her warning. "And, I think you cried too!" Killua smirked as he knew he was getting to her. He knew she was getting upset. He knew that he might be pushing her too far. "A tear or two dropped down when you were sleeping."

"Shut up!" Chrome immediately stood up, furious at the boy who pushed too far. "Don't talk to me," she hissed out at him before walking away.

"Stupid, bossy, and touchy," she heard him mumble under his breath. He's not worth my time.

The aircraft finally arrived to the Third Phase of the Hunter Exam at 10:00 am. Before exiting the aerial transportation, Chrome spent some time alone, honing her card throwing skills in silence. Continuously, cards were being thrown one by one at the plaster wall, hopefully damaging the wall in one way or another. Most of the case, they fell down. Only twice, it managed to stick, but quickly fell after. Each card she threw was thrown harder than the previous one; as her thoughts were absorbed in anger. Chrome knew she was overreacting, but Killua pushed too far. You kept on whispering 'I'm sorry'.

Chrome remembered every detail in that dream. She remembered the darkness. She remembered her dilemma: Papa or her new friends. She remembered her choice. She remembered those hot tears that slid down her face, and she remembered that dark abyss. Papa…

Once everyone was off the aircraft, the green jellybean person from the beginning of the Hunter Exam started to explain the new goal for the Third Phase: reach the bottom of Tricky Tower within three days. Clear and simple, but there's just one problem. There's no entrance to inside of the tower, and one of the participants eagerly showed everyone that climbing down was a no go.

Chrome didn't spend her time waiting for the group to figure out how to enter the tower. It was quite simple to find a trap door. The tile should be long and narrow since only one person can fit in it and also flip over. The rest of the tiles were large and wide, so they were ruled out easily.

Once Chrome found a trap door she favored, she called out to Gon who was at the edge of the tower with the others. "Gon," she yelled, attempting to grab his attention. The whole group turned around to meet her gaze. "I found one, so I'll be going first, okay?" Chrome glanced at Killua with a frown, but smile back to Gon. "I'll see you at the bottom!"

"Okay!" Gon replied with a big wave of his right arm, "Be careful!"

"Same goes for you, too!" Chrome looked at Killua once last time before activating the trapdoor. Stupid, bossy, and touchy, her thoughts mimicked the way Killua insulted her. Pushing one foot down onto the tile activated the trapdoor. The tile spun, making Chrome drop down into a dimly lit room.

Third Phase had officially begun.

The fall was longer than what Chrome expected. The height was definitely taller than the hole back at the Tanuku's trap, but this time she managed to land on her feet. She was prepared for this fall, not when Killua had pulled her down. The height of the fall was roughly 20 feet, about the height of a two story building. The room Chrome fell in was dimly lit, but she saw a tall figure leaning against a wall.

"Oh, Chrome, huh?" the voice hummed with a smile, "This should be interesting."

A gasp filled Chrome's lungs as she recognized who was waiting for her, "Hisoka!" But before she could eagerly walk up to the magician, he pointed towards the only door in the room. Next to the door was a sign with writings on it. Below it there was a podium with two watches and a handcuff. What the…? Trying not to jump into conclusion, Chrome read the sign out loud, "The two of you must pair up and survive together to reach the goal." She looked back at Hisoka who approached her and wore one of the watches. It said 71:21:01. Taking the other watch, Chrome followed his example, but look confusingly at the handcuff. "Are we supposed to…?" her question trailed off.

"That is correct! You two are to wear the handcuffs together!" the loudspeaker rudely interrupted her obnoxiously loud. "I am Lippo," the Third Phase examiner introduced himself; even though, neither Chrome nor Hisoka asked for it. According to this prison warden, there were multiple routes to the bottom of the tower, and Chrome and Hisoka had chosen the path of pairs. "I would like to call it Partners in Crime."

Chrome and Hisoka lightly chuckled at the name of this route. So ironic. "If you two wish to clear this phase of the exam, your partner must not die! Also, the handcuffs are not to be taken off unless instructed. Best of luck, you two!" With that, Lippo the prison warden signed off the loudspeaker, leaving the pair in silence.

"Shall we, then?" Hisoka took the pair of handcuffs and locked Chrome's left wrist to his right one. Luckily the chain was approximately a foot long, so their maneuvering was not completely hindered. Once the link was in place, the metal door slid open automatically. The door was unfortunately too narrow for the two to walk through shoulder to shoulder, so Hisoka took the first step through with Chrome trailing behind him.

The next room was a long corridor with prison cells on both the right and left side and a door at the end. Having a rough estimate, Chrome guessed that there were ten barred cells on each side, making it twenty in total in this corridor. The worst part of getting through this room was the actual prisoners inside their cubicles. Hands were sticking out of each of them, but there were not enough room for Chrome and Hisoka to get through untouched. All the prisoners howled, screamed, yelled, and shrieked. No doubt, their disgusting hands will attempt to grab the duo.

However, Hisoka made it loud and clear that no one is to touch either of them as he sent out a malicious tension into the room, making all the prisoners whine and whimper. The atmosphere in the air was so thick that Chrome had difficult time breathing. "No one is to touch the girl, okay?" Hisoka commanded with a light purr. Dead silence loomed in the atmosphere as every prisoner's hands retreated back into their cells. "Good."

Chrome looked at her partner as he lead her deeper into the corridor. Was that really necessary and why was he being so protective? Questions raced through her mind as she tried to figure out what's going through his mind. Though, she probably shouldn't complain since now she could walk through the hallway without their disgusting hands touching her.

Once they reached the metal door, a hand stuck out of the last cell and grabbed Chrome's right arm. Before she could even react, blood surged from the arm. Hisoka sliced the hand off. A blooded card was in his left hand, and the prisoner's severed hand plopped onto the floor as the criminal looked at his bleeding wrist, screaming. "What did I just say?" Hisoka frowned, looking down at the crouched figure before exiting the corridor with a confused girl behind him.

The next door led to a spiraling staircase. Hisoka slowly continued downward without explaining himself to Chrome. "What was that, Hisoka?" Chrome frowned as she walked next to her partner.

"Oh, you rather have their dirty hands all over you?" he answered with a question, a question that sent a shiver down Chrome's spine at that thought.

"I guess not," Chrome replied with a sigh, knowing that she won't be able to get her answer out of him, but it still frustrated her that Hisoka was being protective. She wanted to know why. Looking down at her non-cuffed wrist, Chrome read the stopwatch as 71:15:39. Less than an hour pass.

The spiral stairs stopped after they made three complete spirals and lead them to a metal door that slid open as they approached it. Chrome and Hisoka sighed simultaneously at their new obstacles. They faced a hallway: a wide, long, and most importantly empty hallway.

"How boring," Hisoka breathed out as he stepped forward.

There was no doubt that this whole hallway is littered with traps. Hisoka knew that, of course. That's what made it boring for him. No fighting, just running and dodging. The only challenge here is to have Hisoka and Chrome coordinate together since they are linked by a 12 inch chain. However, Hisoka quickly found a solution that problem.

"Pardon me, princess," he smiled as he swept Chrome off her feet and into his arm in a bridal style carry. Princess? No! Chrome refused to let Hisoka carry her way through the Hunter Exam! Did he think she'll be a burden to him in this trial?

"Hisoka!" Chrome's elbow pushed his chest as her body squirmed out of the man's arm. "What was that for?" Was he being protective again? Why is he doing this?

The magician looked down at her displeased by her reaction, but still understandable. However, he gave no explanation on why he's behaving this way. Instead, he motioned her to lead them to the door. Looking closely, Chrome saw many typical traps and gimmicks littered on the floor: thin wires, red lasers, and pressure plates. There were too many traps to actually avoid every single one of them, so Chrome had a brilliant idea. "Let's just run through them." She turned to Hisoka with a smile.

Hisoka's frown turned to a forced smile as he replied with, "Of course, after you, princess."

He called me princess again. He never called her that before. Shaking those unnecessary thoughts out of her mind, Chrome took the first leap through the hallway. The first trap she set off was triggered by a thin wire, but it didn't hinder her flight. The wire triggered arrows to be shot from left to right. However, Chrome and Hisoka, who is in tune with her speed, passed that area already. Next trap was set off by a pressure plate that released some toxic gas from the beginning of the room. No worry there. Halfway there, Chrome noted. Hisoka kept up with Chrome's pace as he ran beside her, attempting not to move his right arm too much. If the cuffed wrists were not in sync, the run would be slightly more difficult and annoying.

Traps were continued being triggered as all sorts of projectiles came hurtling at them; arrows, axes, knives. None of them were able to injure the running pair as they duck and avoid them. The triggers were repeated. Pressure plates were stepped on. Wires were pulled on. Laser were passed by. None of them were even a nuisance. Finally at the end of the hallway, Chrome and Hisoka reached the end of the hallway, but the metal door didn't slide open for them. Beside it was a big red button that was labeled Do Not Press in big red letters. The girl looked up at the adult with hopeful widened eyes.

Hisoka's neutral frown reverted back into a smile as he noticed how she's asking for permission to press a button, but he complied with her wish and simply nodded at her. Hisoka swore he heard a squeak from the girl as she nearly jumped in excitement over the big red button. Instead of pressing it with one finger, Chrome punched it with the side of her fist eagerly. Disappointingly, the button only caused the metal door to slide open.

Chrome clicked her tongue in utter disappointment as she angrily stomped through the door with an amused Hisoka trailing behind her. "Why did it have a warning on it then?" the girl mumbled to herself as the door behind them closed, leading them to another spiral staircase. "Tricky Tower, what a joke. They could've put anything! Maybe a rolling boulder, maybe it could've locked the door instead, maybe it could've triggered an alarm. Anything, but opening the stupid door!" She let out a frustrated growl before calming down. It didn't matter anymore. They had advanced. Chrome and Hisoka had reached a new set of staircase. Time left is 70:59:03.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading Chapter 15 of Assassins and Thieves! What cha think? Pretty good, huh? Huh?...No? Not good at all... Well then, I just have to keep on trying. Criticisms and feedback, anyone? Honestly, I can see Hisoka as an overly protective brother...maybe it's just me. What do you think? Anyways, please review! And as always, see you in Chapter 16!

PS This story is going through a mid-life crisis with a new title, new summary, and maybe a new cover! I'll be changing it next week... unless, you really do prefer this story to be called Assassins and Thieves. What do you think?