I decided to draw Mishka! Sorry about the poor quality picture, I'm too poor to afford a printer/scanner (as in I barely make enough money to keep myself above the bread line). To find said link go onto my profile because due to policies etc I can not post it in the actual story. Anyway, enjoy!
Let's get the legal stuff out of the way first. I do not own Hunter x Hunter or Hunter x Hunter 2011. All rights and ownership go to the following: Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Shonen, Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Nobuaki Kishima, Nippon Animation, Viz Media, Fuji TV, Funimation Channel, Satoshi Saga, Yukihiro Matsushite, Makoto Sato, Hiroshi Kojina, Atsushi Maekawa, Tsutomu Kamishiro, Madhouse, NTV, Yuzo Sato, Shoji Yonemura and last but not least Keiichiro Kawaguchi. Whew.
Leorio is badly poisoned and it's our entire fault…
I'm sorry…
We watched as the vipers slithered on their bellies at the front of the entrance. I furrowed my brows as I stayed close to Leorio, Gon and my brother. They trapped us, meaning Leorio would die and we would too long after him.
"The one who set this trap is dead? How?" I heard Kurapika ask Ponzu, he sounded frustrated at the situation. It was a normal one after all, and there were too many snakes for us to kill easily. I looked at Ponzu as well, wondering how exactly Ponzu died.
"Did the snakes turn on him?" I asked her worried. If that was the case, then they would show no objections trying to bite us.
"I killed him." Ponzu said simply, keeping her eyes fixed on the other side of the cave wall. I looked at her shocked; she killed him? Why would she do that?! Gon and Kurapika looked at her shocked as well. She brought her head up, looking at the four of us.
"I won't tell you how." She said simply. If I was honest, I don't think I wanted to know. I looked back at the vipers; they stayed at the cave entrance. I thought it was strange; their master was dead so surely they could just do what they wanted to do, right?
"Gon, Mishka, take Leorio." Kurapika said making me nod my head. A placed the suitcase down onto the floor slowly, never taking my eyes off the vipers and stand slightly in front of my brother. I helped put Leorio's arm around my shoulders and held onto Leorio's wrist with one hand and placed my other hand onto his back holding onto his shirt tightly.
Kurapika started walking toward Bourbon. Gon and I watched as he walked up to the corpse. I bent down and slowly put his hand towards Bourbon. Snakes fell from the ceiling above the snake charmer; their fangs bore making my brother pull away at an instant so he wouldn't get bit himself. Gon and I watched with shock written on our faces. The snakes obeyed him, even when dead. That was dedication. The vipers hang around Bourbons shoulders, in his lap and even over his arms as they hissed at my brother.
"It's no use. You won't be able to search his body. The snakes are trained to attack the moment anyone tries to touch their master or to leave the cave." Ponzu said, looking at my brother with a small glare. Kurapika looked between her and the body. I couldn't see what my brother was looking at exactly; I don't think I wanted to see.
"So you used poison to fight poison. Judging from his wounds, you must have used Neurotoxic Bees. He probably died from anaphylactic shock." He said, looking at Ponzu once more. I shivered at the thought of bees. I was allergic to them and had discovered that when I was about five and got stung by one. I came out in a terrible rash and terribly swollen around my throat. The thought of Ponzu using bees just made me cringe to know end.
Me and Gon looked at each other and nodded our heads. We carefully placed Leorio back down onto the floor, resting him up on his knees while keeping a hand on his back.
"Anaphylactic shock?" Gon asked, making my brother nod his head.
"When a bee stings a human, the human produces antibodies to counter the venom. But if that human is stung again by the same kind of bee, they experience an allergic reaction. An extreme allergic reaction is known as anaphylactic shock. Depending on the circumstances, it can be fatal." Kurapika explained to Gon. Ponzu closed her eyes with a small smirk on her face, as if proud to hear the explanation.
"You got me. That's exactly what happened." She said making Gon and I look at her. My face grimaced, she did have bees; but where were they? More importantly did I really want to know?
"So you used bees to kill him?" Gon questioned as I furrowed my brows.
"That must have been so painful to die like that." I said looking between Bourbon and Ponzu once more. Ponzu looked up and looked back at us.
"Bourbon was my target. After confirming that he'd entered the cave, I sprayed sleeping gas into the entrance, and waited until it was safe to answer. Bourbon was sound asleep, but he'd already set his trap. The sleeping gas didn't reach most of the snakes that were hiding in the cracks at the back of the cave." She said, sighing to herself. Her eyes never left us as she continued her story.
"Well, I jumped back in time, so I wasn't bitten by snakes. But that triggered my attack switch." She said and lowered her head slightly as she tapped on her hate.
Bees started coming out of her hat and flew around her. Gon gasped in surprise and I clamped my hands over my mouth in shock and took a small step back closer to Gon's side.
"You keep bees up there?" Kurapika asked her in shock himself. Ponzu smiled at us as she watched the bees and us. None of us dared to move.
"If I scream or collapse, they'll attack any nearby humans. I didn't expect him to die. How could I have known that he'd already been stung once? And I couldn't help him because of the snakes. Well, it was beyond my control anyway." She said. Ponzu raised a hand into the air and began waving her finger in small circle like motions.
"You can come back now." She said to the bees gently making them turn back around and fly back into her giant hat. At least I understood why her hat was so big now; it was because of all of bees. I relaxed when the final bee disappeared back into her hat.
"The problem is that he's dead, but the viper trap is still active. And we can't ask him or look for a way to disarm it. We're trapped with no escape." Ponzu explained to us.
I furrowed my brows and heard Leorio groan slightly in pain. I walked to his other side and sat on my legs rubbing his back slightly; it was supposed to make people feel better. I did that lightly, considering the amount of times he had been bitten.
"Leorio…" Gon said, placing a hand onto his back as well.
"I've already given up. We just have to wait for the examiners to come and save us." She said, closing her eyes once more as if it was a widely known fact. I looked at her questionably as my brother moved slightly.
"The examiners? You're saying that they'll rescue us from this cave?" Kurapika asked Ponzu. Ponzu opened her eyes and turned her head slightly to look at my brother, a slight glare on her face as she did.
"You didn't know? Out ID tags contain a tracking device. The examiners can locate each applicant. If someone hasn't returned by the deadline, the examiners will look for them. Though this won't work if you lose your tag or if someone takes it from you." Ponzu explained to him and closed her eyes once more, looking away from him again.
"Fortunately, there's only one day left. The best course would be to give up for this year and wait for help." She said to us. Kurapika started walking back to us. I continued to rub Leorio's back lightly, hoping it was doing something although I began to think it wasn't.
"We cannot do that." Kurapika said and came to stand next to me and Leorio. He kneeled down behind me and placed a hand onto Leorio's back as well.
"Leorio's condition is worsening. We must take him to a doctor immediately." Kurapika said to her. I stopped rubbing Leorio's back and sighed slightly to myself and dropped my hand back into my lap.
"The examiners won't move until the deadline passes. If you don't have your tag, you'll basically be left for dead. It's his own fault. I warned him. All you can do is pray that he holds out until help arrives." Ponzu said to us making my brows furrow. We couldn't wait out for that long. I gripped the fabric of my dress tabard and sleeves tightly in my hands as I looked angrily at my lap. If we had listened to him for a little bit longer, this wouldn't have happened.
"Kurapika, Mishka. Look after Leorio." Gon said making me and Kurapika look at him in question.
"Gon." Kurapika asked.
"Why? What are you doing?" I asked him, furrowing my brows. I wondered what Gon was up to, I didn't want him to get bitten as well. Gon turned his head and smiled widely at us.
"I'm sure we'll find some!" Gon said to us making me and my brother look at him in surprise still.
"Gon…" Kurapika trailed off. Gon started walking towards Bourbon. I stood up and turned my self around walking to my brothers' side as I wondered what Gon was doing.
"Hey, Gon!" Kurapika stuttered as Gon stopped in front of Bourbon.
"Wait, what are you doing? Didn't you hear what I just said? Hello?" Ponzu said to him, starting to get desperate for Gon to listen to her.
"Y-You're not going to touch Bourbon are you?" I asked myself, worry evident in my voice as I stared at Gon's back with the snakes hissed at Gon. Gon started reaching his hand out, making both me and Ponzu gasp in fear at what he was doing.
The snakes started throwing themselves at Gon, their fangs bared and then they started biting him. I couldn't help but cover my eyes with my hands and closing them shut tightly; I didn't want to watch there was no way I could.
"Gon…" I heard Kurapika mutter and trail off as I shook my head.
"It's not happening, he's not doing it!" I said shaking my head more with my eyes covered by my hands.
"H-he's crazy…" Ponzu stuttered herself. The snakes continued to hiss and bite at Gon. I moved my fingers slightly to peek at what was happening and instantly closed them once more. Gon was covered in vipers. They covered his entire body, I couldn't tell how badly bitten he was nor could I see any part of Gon.
"Found it!" Gon shouted making me peek through my fingers again. I saw Gon's arm, holding a vial full of red liquid and two syringes. Kurapika and Ponzu looked at him in shock at what he had found.
"Kurapika!" Gon shouted once more and threw the bottle with syringes towards my brother. He caught it with one hand and stood up himself.
"Gon!" Kurapika yelled. Gon fell backwards, the snakes no longer covering his entire body. The last of the snakes slithered away from Gon and off to somewhere else. Where exactly I didn't know.
"Use it on Leorio quick…" Gon said quietly to my brother. My brother held the bottle upside down and pushed the needle just far enough through the covering of the vial to draw out some of the liquid. I watched him carefully, it always amazed me at how my brother knew exactly what to do, how much was needed. Then again he did read a lot of books and a lot of it he learnt when we were travelling.
He passed the other syringe and bottle to me.
"Use it on Gon." He said as I nodded my head quickly and copied what my brother did. Filling up the needle to where my brother had done so on Leorio's I walked over to Gon and sat on my knees. I pulled up his jacket sleeve and gently slid the needle into Gon's forearm, then pushed down the top of the syringe to inject the liquid. Ponzu watched as I slid the needle back out again carefully, trying not to hurt Gon.
"I don't believe it… He jumped into a nest of poisonous snakes to search for an antidote, not even knowing if he had it?" Ponzu said as I held the needle carefully in one hand and pulled down Gon's sleeve gently with the other, trying not to poke myself or him with the needle again.
"The odds were in his favour. If you're going to poison someone, you'd need the antidote at hand, as a bargaining chip." Kurapika explained to her as he walked over. I looked back up at him and smiled slightly to show I didn't have any problems and I was finished.
"That's true, but…" Ponzu said, trailing off midsentence. I looked between both Gon and Leorio. It seemed like they were sleeping with the way their breathing was going. My brother looked at Leorio as well, the stern look never leaving his face.
"Leorio's condition is stabilizing. He should be fine." Kurapika said making me smile to myself. I was glad to hear. I carefully placed the needle onto the floor a bit away from us so none of us wouldn't accidently stand on it or pierce our hand with it.
"You must be really good friends." Ponzu said making me smile even wider. She was right, I thought we were really good friends.
Gon sat up making Kurapika, Ponzu and I look at him. He rubbed the back of his head. One of his eyes was purple and swollen; it looked like he could only see half way out of it. It must have been sore from falling backwards onto it. I couldn't help but smile widely at him, glad to see him awake.
"Hey, do you have any sleeping gas left?" Gon asked Ponzu and turned his head to look at her.
"I do…" She said looking at Gon questionably.
"Would you trade it for this?" Gon asked her, holding out an ID tag. Ponzu gasped and jumped slightly at the sight of it. It said number one hundred and three on it.
"That's Bourbon's!" She said as Gon lowered the ID tag, a smirk splattered widely across his face.
"This gives you six points, right?" He asked her.
"Yes, that's right. But what are you going to do with the sleeping gas?" She asked him, lowering her head slightly. I had a thought about it myself and jumped slightly when I came to the answer. He was going to put the snakes to sleep! That was the only reason why I could think that Gon would want sleeping gas.
"Put all the snakes to sleep, so we can escape." Gon said, confirming my thoughts. Ponzu furrowed her brows at him as she brought her shoulders up a little bit; unsure about Gon's plan.
"It'd be more effective than when I sprayed the gas from outside. Within five minutes, the entire cave will fill with gas, and the snakes will be asleep. But it'll take five minutes! No one can hold their breath for that long!" Ponzu said making me sigh slightly as I furrowed my brows. She was right, no one could. I could only hold my breath for two minutes on the dot, let alone five. There must have been another way we could get out of the cave.
Gon stood up and laced his fingers together then lifted his arms above his head, stretching himself out. It didn't seem like he was listening to Ponzu's explanation at all.
"There's no point if we put ourselves to sleep in the process." Ponzu explained to him as Gon continued his stretching.
"Nine-minutes and forty-four seconds." Gon said, making us all look at him in question. He looked back at Ponzu again, smiling widely and holding out his hand.
"That's my record. I'll hold my breath and carry everyone out of here." Gon said making me look at him in shock. He was only a little taller than me, and Leorio was the tallest out of all of us! How would Gon manage that? I opened my mouth to ask him until Ponzu spoke again.
"I can't trust you. You might escape by yourself." Ponzu said to him. I couldn't help but try to glare at her a little bit and shake my head.
"He wouldn't do that!" I said to her making her look at me with a questioning look. Kurapika moved forward himself, looking sternly at Ponzu.
"You really think he'd do that, after jumping into a nest of poisonous snakes to save Leorio?" Kurapika asked her. Ponzu looked kept her defence though, she didn't want to trust Gon and it didn't seem like anything we said would make her change her mind. But it was the Hunter exam after all, in a way I couldn't blame her; but at the same time it was wrong to just accuse Gon of leaving by himself when he jumped into the snakes nest.
"Trust me. I'll get you out of here!" Gon said to her, smiling widely. Ponzu looked at him for a few seconds and then closed her eyes, sighing to herself with a smile and furrowed brows. She was finally talked into it.
Ponzu placed the canister onto the ground. It looked like a flask with extra bits on it to stop it from touching the ground. It was silver in colour with the metal bits around it being yellow. Kurapika and I had one of Leorio's arms around each of her shoulders. I held onto Leorio's shirt tightly to help keep him up as Kurapika had a hand laid onto his back.
"It's ready." Ponzu said, looking at Gon sternly.
"On my signal, release the gas." Gon said to her.
"Got it." Ponzu said to him nodding her head. Gon sighed to himself and then suddenly took a big breath of air and shut his mouth tightly, his cheeks puffed out with air. He gave Ponzu a thumb up, letting her know to release the gas. Ponzu nodded her head and unscrewed the top. Gas flew out from the bottom of the flask like canister and sprayed the entire room. The last thing I knew was my right side hitting the ground and everything going black.
I woke up to someone lightly shaking me. I closed my eyes tighter and slowly opened them only to be blinded with sunlight. Sunlight? That meant it was day; that also meant the gas had made us sleep all the way until morning. I looked at the person who shook me and saw it was brother. I sat up groggily and rubbed my eyes with my arm before smiling widely at him. Gon and Leorio were talking to each other. I looked to my right and saw that Ponzu was still asleep. I turned my head to say something to my brother but he placed a finger on him sleeps signalling me to keep quiet. I nodded my head and stood up, stretching my arms above my head. We walked over to Gon and Leorio. Gon's eye was no longer purple or swollen, it must have either gone down over night or Leorio gave him something to reduce the swelling. I smiled widely at Gon who smiled widely back me. We all walked quietly away from Ponzu, careful not to wake her up and began making our way back to the starting point. Leorio had gotten his tag; turns out Gon took it out of her bag when she was asleep as a fee for carrying her out of the cave. I couldn't help but smile widely at that.
We made it to the starting point. The ship had docked next to the island. We walked out of the forest area. I stood next to Gon with Kurapika behind me and Leorio behind Gon.
"Gon. Mishka." I heard Killua say making me and Gon look over to him once we stopped walking.
"Ah, four more arrive at the last minute." Khara said, looking down at her note pad. Killua gave us a thumb up with a wide smile on his face. I guess he was happy to see we had made it.
"Killua." Gon said quietly giving him a thumb up back. I smiled widely at him and waved at him. The four of us looked back at Khara, who seemed as happy as ever. I looked over the other contestants. Kai was among them. I couldn't help but shiver slightly. He looked up himself and glared at me, but stopped instantly and looked forward again once I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked at the hand before following the arm slightly, I knew who it was and looked back forward once more.
"And now for the last few members…Number four hundred and four, Kurapika." Khara said as Kurapika help out his two tags to show he got them all, a stern look on his face.
"Number four hundred and three, Leorio." She said as Leorio did the same, a wide smirk on his face. He still seemed a little bit out of it from the poisoning and sleeping gas.
"Number four hundred and five, Gon." Khara said as Gon showed his two tags.
"And Number four hundred and seven, Mishka." She said as I held out my two tags as well.
"These eleven applicants have passed the Fourth Phase of the exam!" Khara said, throwing her hand into the air and pointing at the large airship that flew above us.
We all boarded the air ship. Me, Gon, Kurapika and Leorio found an empty hallway and stood there. Gon leaned on the window seal. I stood next to my brother looking out of the window as well as Leorio had his back turned towards us. Kurapika watched Gon carefully.
"Pathetic…" Leorio began saying making us turn our heads to look at him.
"I needed the three of you to do everything for me during the Fourth Phase. I promise I'll return the favour. So…" Leorio began saying before getting embarrassed and turning his head away slightly from us.
"Thanks." He said simply, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets. The three of us smiled widely at him, happy for the thanks even if he was embarrassed to say so.
"I have an announcement for all applicants." Beans said over the intercom, making us all look at the microphone above us.
"The chairman wishes to interview the remaining candidates." Beans finished.
"Interview?" Leorio asked us.
"Maybe the interview is the Final Phase." I suggested to them, wondering myself if that was the case. In a way, I really hoped it was. We had already done a lot of challenges and by the sound of it some more extreme than others. So an interview to see why we would like to be a Hunter seemed nice, almost too promising.
"When your number is called, please come to the first reception room, on the second floor. Then we will start with number forty four, Hisoka." Beans said, ending the announcement. Gon looked away at Hisoka's name. I looked at him with furrowed brows as my brother looked at him concerned as well. I wondered what happened when Gon got his tag.
I heard my number get called out and turned to Gon, my brother and Leorio.
"Guess I'll see you soon. Bye bye." I said to them waving and started making my way towards the reception room on the second floor of the air ship. The reception room was small. It had bright yellow walls and tatami mats on the floor. The pillow in front of the table was dark blue with a white box around the middle.
"Well, have a seat." The chairman said as I walked into the reception room. I nodded my head slightly in thanks and walked closer to the table. I sat down onto my legs with my hands in my lap in front of Chairman Netero.
"Excuse me, Chairman Netero. Is this the Final Phase?" I asked him looking at him questionably. He didn't shake his head, but he also didn't nod it either.
"It has something to do with it. I'll be asking you a few questions." Chairman Netero said to me, picking up a note pad and holding a pen brush in the other hand. I nodded my head slightly again, showing him I understood.
"First, why do you want to become a Hunter?" Chairman Netero asked me. I couldn't help but fidget slightly on my legs and fiddle with the sleeves of my shirt with my fingers. I furrowed my brows slightly before taking a deep breath and looking back at Chairman Netero a determined look on my face.
"I want to become a Black List Hunter." I said to him simply, coming to the conclusion that if he wanted to know why he would ask so.
"And why is that?" The chairman asked me, making me fiddle with my clothing once more. I looked away from his slightly before looking back up once more.
"My clan was wiped out by a group of people. Only my brother and I are left. I want to track down the people that did it with my brother and put them to justice." I said to him, a determined look back on my face again. I felt it better to leave out who the group was as I didn't want to hear the Chairman say things about them that I had already heard on the boat to Dole by the captain of the ship. I wasn't trying to be rude; I just didn't want to hear it again.
Chairman Netero jotted down my answer on his note pad, looking up occasionally back at me.
"Okay, next question. Which of the other ten applicants are you keeping an eye on?" He asked me, scratching his chin and then writing down the question he had asked. I had to think about my answer, not really getting what he meant. I furrowed my brows slightly and smiled apologetically at him.
"I'm keeping an eye on number four hundred and four because he's my big brother. Number four hundred and five, number four hundred and three and number ninety nine are my friends, so I'm keeping an eye on them too. I'm also keeping an eye on number four hundred and six because he's really scary." I said to him, continuing to fiddle with the sleeves of my shirt in my lap. I watched as Chairman Netero wrote down my answer once more.
"One last question. Which of the other ten applicants would you least want to fight?" He asked me. I instantly knew how to answer that question.
"I definitely don't want to fight number four hundred and four. I don't want to fight number four hundred and five, number four hundred and three and number ninety nine either, I couldn't do it. I don't want to fight number four hundred and six either he's really scary!" I said to him, shaking my head quickly whilst gripping onto my dress tabard through my shirt sleeves. Chairman Netero wrote down everything that was said and looked between his notes and me.
"Nice job. Okay you're excused." He said, looking back at his notes. I nodded my head slightly and stood up, patting down my dress tabard once more and quickly turned around to walk out of the room. I don't know why, but that interview made me so nervous.
I had met up with Gon again at the window we were all standing at previously. The sun was setting, meaning that soon it would be night fall and we could have one good night of sleep before landing tomorrow. Gon leaned with his arms crossed on the window seal as I stood with my hands behind my back and held my hands together lightly. We just watched the sunset. I sighed slightly to myself.
"So, tomorrow's it. Tomorrow is the last Phase so we can become hunters." I said to him, never taking my eyes off the window or the sunset.
"Yeah." I heard Gon say, his eyes never leaving the window either. The silence between us was comfortable, it wasn't disturbing or uncomfortable; it was relaxing. The last few days had been anything but, so this was a nice change.
"Hey, Gon." I asked him as I saw his head turn slightly from the window from the corner of my eyes.
"We'll still be friends once this is over, right? Me, you and Killua. It's been really fun doing the Hunter exam with you two…so, will we?" I asked him, turning me head to face him fully a small smile on my face. I was glad I had met him and Killua. They were my best friends and I didn't want to lose touch as soon as the Hunter exam finished. Gon smiled widely at me and nodded his head.
"Yeah. It's been fun doing the Hunter exam with you as well. We'll still be friends." He said to me, smiling widely as I smiled widely back at him and turned my head back towards the window with Gon doing the same.
"I'm glad." I said quietly, a small happy smile on my face.
The silence came between us once more. Gon had begun thinking to himself over a few things; what I didn't know, but it seemed to be troubling him. It made him sad, I could see him looking out of the window sadly.
"Gon, Mishka." We heard a voice say and turned our heads to see it was my brother. We walked towards us with a smile on his face and stopped in front of Gon.
"We've reached the Final Phase of the exam." He said as Gon and I nodded our heads, smiling up at my brother.
"Yeah." We both said to him, me slighter happier than Gon. I was glad to have got this far, never in my life did I think I would get this far. I didn't even think I would pass the First Phase nearly two weeks ago, and here I was waiting for the final Phase. Gon turned his head back towards the window again, the sad look on his face once more. I looked at Gon concerned and furrowed my brows, wondering what could be making him so sad at a time like this.
The three of us stared out of the window again. Gon and stopped leaning on the window and kept his hands to his side as I kept my hands behind my back still, lightly holding them together.
"Gon… Did something happen during the Fourth Phase?" Kurapika asked him. I couldn't help but look at Gon as well, wondering if something did. Gon didn't seem to react to his question.
"When we met up, you were acting a little strange. And you've been somewhat subdued since we left Zevil Island." Kurapika finished. Gon brought his head down slightly, but continued to look out of the window. I furrowed my brows as I looked back out of the window again myself.
"My target was Hisoka. I waited for the perfect chance and stole his tag, but someone else was tailing me, and he got me with a poisoned dart. Soon after, Hisoka took back his tag from the person who got me, and he left it with me. He said that I owed him now." Gon said making me looked at him concerned through furrowed brows. I wouldn't want to owe Hisoka anything, it would terrify me, make me think I had to constantly watch my back in case he was following me. Kurapika looked at Gon concerned himself as he listened to his tale.
"Hisoka said that?" Kurapika asked, wondering if it really was Hisoka. I had to admit, I wondered myself; but Gon, much like my brother, wouldn't lie about something. Gon's shoulders hutched up slightly as he clenched his fists.
"I told him I didn't need his help, and he sent me flying. I was so mad that I couldn't do anything against him…" Gon said as tears began to leave his eyes. That's what shocked me the most, not his story; but Gon crying. I had never seen him cry and it made me sad.
I looked at him sadly, not entirely sure how to help him. He gritted his teeth together as he hunched his shoulders up a little bit more, trying to keep himself calm. The only think I could think of doing was rub his back slightly, so I did. I gently put my hand onto Gon's back and rubbed it. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve his jacket and furrowed his brows with a sad smile, his eyes still closed tightly.
"After that, I was pretty miserable and lonely. I felt so helpless, I wanted company… I wanted to help someone, I guess. That's why I was looking for you three." Gon said as he opened his eyes and looked down, pushing his thumbs together as he held the same sad smile. I stopped rubbing his back and instead just left my hand on it before taking my hand off and letting it slip back down to my side again.
"Gon. Leorio, Mishka and I have only been able to make it this far because of you. We're truly grateful." Kurapika said, looking at Gon with a smile on his face. Gon looked over at me and I nodded my head with a smile on my face as well.
"You have helped me a lot since we first met. From the First Phase all the way to the Fourth. I'm really glad you have." I said to him, smiling widely at him. Gon smiled back at the both of us after I finished speaking.
"I'd also like to thank you." Gon said to the both of us, looking at us with the determined look again. I couldn't help but smile wider, seeing the familiar look on Gon's face instead of the said one that was on it a minute ago. I didn't like seeing Gon sad, it didn't look right.
We all looked back out of the window again, waiting for the next day, waiting for the last, and final stage of the Hunter exam.