Chapter 11

Heavens Arena

Nozomi stared up at the tallest building in the world. Her amber eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as she recalled what Kurapika had informed them...

"Gon... I know where Hisoka is." The blonde teen stated and Leorio immediately questioned him, "He told me after the information meeting."

"But the thing he whispered into your ear after your match is related, right?" Leorio asked, "What exactly did he tell you?"

Kurapika paused, deciding on whether to speak or not but finally ended his silence with a sigh.

"It's about the Ryodan... He told me to meet up with him at York New city at September first."

What?! Why would Hisoka do that?

The twelve year old quietly sighed. "So in the end, they're all going to York New City..."

"Oi Nozomi, we're up!"

She snapped her head up to Gon's voice to see him calling her cover with Killua standing beside him. Nodding, she took a step forward but she was instantly swept back by the massive crowd. When she regained her footing, she made another attempt to make her way though the crowd without getting physical.

Unfortunately, once again, she was shoved back. However, this time the force from the other contestants was a lot stronger that before, causing her to lose her balance and fall. The twelve year old's eyes immediately clenched shut as she braced herself for the impact to find that never came.

"What are you doing, stupid?"

Slowly, Nozomi cautiously opened her amber eyes to meet a pair of blue eyes, staring at her.

"Killua?! Sorry I-"

The silver hair boy cut her off by ignoring her as he slipped into the crowd, leading the girl through the small spaces between as he held a firm grip on her wrist. Nozomi felt her temperature rise but swept the thought away as if it was nothing. Soon met up with Gon at the receptionist and registered their names.

Not long after entering the arena, Gon's number was called up along with another.

"Gon you passed the door test, right?" Killua asked. The other boy nodded and Killua whispered a plan in his ear.

After hearing the plan, Gon still seemed hesitant and nervous. Sensing this, Nozomi placed her hand on the boy's shoulder and gave him a gentle smile.

"Good luck Gon."

A bright grin spread across the young boy's face and rushed off to the face his opponent. Once the audience saw that Gon was facing a large and quite muscular man, they started to tease and calling out to the boy, telling him that he won't win. The referee explained that all they had to do was demonstrate their abilities. The match began and the man was confident enough to think that all he needed to do was land a punch on the boy, but Gon easily dodged the attack and pushed him hard, sending the man to a far away wall.

"Good job Gon!" Nozomi shouted and flashed the boy a thumbs up along with Killua.

Killua's smile immediately dropped when Gon went off to the side. Furrowing his brows, he muttered, "I can do that too..."

"I know you can and its incredible that you can open that huge door by yourself." Nozomi responded as she remembered Zebro mentioning that Killua could open the third door by himself while the rest of them could only open the first. "I believe that you can knock them out in one hit too!"

Little did Nozomi know, Killua's face had turned bright red to her compliment and beliefs. Before Killua could utter anything else his number was called and he was about to rush down to the arena but he suddenly stopped and turned back to face the girl.

"I'll prove your beliefs to be true. Just watch me and only me, okay." Killua proudly declared, the red color in his face was fading but still maintained on his cheeks.

Surprise was evident by Nozomi's expression, but her surprise quickly transformed into a heartfelt smile, "Okay and good luck."

With a nod, the silver hair boy went down to the arena, doing his best to cover up his rush. His match soon began when the referee finished explaining the rules and as promised Killua knocked his opponent unconscious.

Good job Killua.

Next, Nozomi's number was called. The girl leisurely strolled down to the arena to meet her opponent.

"Oh look! It's just a little girly!" One of the audience members announced before bursting out in laughter. "You better run before the big man hurts you!"

He is pretty big... She thought as she stared up to the beefy man towering over her. Okay... Just keep it nice and simple...

"You better forfeit before I accidently kill you." Her opponent mocked

"Let's just start," Nozomi mumbled in response.

The referee signaled the match to begin and the man charged at her. Nozomi stepped aside and bent down to catch one of his ankles, causing the man to fall flat on his face. Still having a good grip on the man's ankle, she got up and started to spin with the man flailing his whole body around in the air. When she let go, the man went flying and crashed into a wall.

"Number 2056," The referee called and handed the girl a ticket, "You can go to the fiftieth floor. Good luck."

Nozomi nodded and rush over to the two boys, showing them the ticket in her hand. Gon praised the girl for her tactics while Killua remained silent and stared at his two friends interacting, a small frown etched on his face. However, his frown quickly vanished when the girl turned towards him.

"You were amazing too, Killua!" The girl exclaimed then hugged him. She noticed him stiffen so she quickly released the boy and shyly smiled.

In her mind, she was scolding herself for her actions and reminding herself that the higher they go up in the building, the closer they will get to Hisoka.

The three kids were lead to an elevator by a woman who also explained about they systems and rules about the Heavens Arena.

"I heard if you pass the 100th floor you get your own room." A voice said from behind the three as they exited the elevator.

Killua, Gon, and Nozomi turned to him and the boy introduced himself as Zushi. The others introduced themselves in return as they walked to the receptionist.

"I had an honor of watching your matches. You guys are great!" Zushi praised and Killua returned the praise, saying that he only had to hit his opponent once to win too. "By the way, which dojo did you come from? Personally, I came from the Kung-fu Shingen dojo."

Killua and Gon simply replied that they didn't go to any school. While Nozomi answered that she didn't go to a school either but her Master was the one who taught her to fight.

"I still have a long way to go..." Zushi stated, more to himself than the others.

An applause suddenly caught the children's ears and when they turned around they saw that it came from a man wearing a pair of spectacles with a part of his shirt untucked.

"That's good Zushi. You follow my teachings well." The man praised and Nozomi noted the fact that Zushi addressed the man as "master" when the boy reminded the man about his shirt.

After sheepishly fixing his shirt he asked who the three kids were beside his student.

"Ah they are Killua-san, Gon-san, and Nozomi-san." Zushi introduced the three.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Wing." The man introduced himself while smiling.

Killua and Gon got into the same stance as Zushi as they greeted the man. Meanwhile, Nozomi just nodded her head and smiled.

"I never thought that I would see other kids like Zushi. Why are you here?" Wing asked

"Well, to become stronger, but... We're broke and we wanted to earn some money." Killua replied.

Gon added that Killua had entered the arena before. Before departing, Wing told them to take care of themselves and their adversaries. The four smiled and nodded as they left. When the four kids entered the other room and were out of sight, Wing adjusted his glasses as he continued to stare at the entrance of the other room.

"Nozomi... She has a very impressive aura. I'm curious about Killua and Gon auras now."