Chapter 15- The Final Phase of Hunter's Exam

Sachiko came back to hunter x hunter world after 24 hours are up. She got up and stretched lazily.

"I wonder what others are doing."

When Sachiko go find them, she found them staring at the scenery from the windows.

"Sachiko!"

"Eyepatch lady!"

"So, are you guys just looking at the scenery?"

"Yep, and talking too." Gon replied with a smile.

"Oh, about the exam?"

"Yeah." Gon replied.

"What were you doing, eyepatch lady? We kinda never see whenever we get a chance to rest."

"I am a girl. I need time to wash up and stuff like that, you know. And I need some quality rest so yeah." She said.

"Are you saying you can't get quality rest around us?" Gon pouted.

"That's what she said." Killua said with an annoyed look.

"Are you sad?"

"Of course not, eyepatch lady. We're going to annoy you to death." Killua said with a smug cat face.

"Oh no!!!"

----------

Soon, they were brought to be interviewed by Netero.

"Applicant number 44, Hisoka Morrow."

"Why do you want to be a hunter?" Netero asked Hisoka.

"Because hunter's license is really useful."

"How so?" Netero looked interested.

"For example, you can kill without having to fear legal restrictions." Hisoka grinned.

"I see, next question is who interests you the most?"

"Hmm, number 406, number 405, number 99. I want to face number 406 the most and see what becomes of number 405 and number 99."

"Last question is who do you not want to fight?"

"Number 405, number 99. But if I have to choose one, it is number 405."

"I see. That will be all."

----

"Applicant number 53, Pokkle."

"I'm keeping focused on number 404, because he seems well-rounded. And number 406, it's hard not to notice her when she suddenly appeared took my badge in the third phase."

"I don't want to fight number 44 because I don't think I can beat him."

----

"Applicant number 99, Killua Zoldyck. You may enter."

"Who interests me the most? It's Gon and the eyepatch lady, Sachiko. Gon and I, we are the same age. And I think eyepatch lady is interesting."

"Who I don't want to fight? It is number 53. I don't think it will be fun." Killua answered.

------

"Applicant number 191, Bodoro."

"Applicant number 44, you can't help but notice him."

"Applicant number 99 and number 405. I simply won't fight children."

-----

"Applicant number 405, Gon Freecss."

".Number 44 is mostly on my mind. Number 406 is second. I think she is really strong."

"I don't want to fight number 99, number 406, number 404 and number 403. Because we are friends."

-------

"Applicant number 294, Hanzo."

"Number 44, he's obviously the most dangerous applicant. Number 406 , too. There is something about her."

"I don't want to meet number 44 in battle."

------

"Applicant number 404, Kurapika."

"Number 405 positively, number 44, negativeky, number 406 for unknown reasons. I will fight as long as there is reason to fight. If there is none, then I rather not fight."

-------

"Applicant number 403, Leorio Paradinight."

"Number 405, I owe him and hope he passes. And number 406, even though she seems to like playing around, I feel like she is someone who we can rely on if we are truly in trouble."

"I don't want to fight number 405 at all because I owe him."

--------

Soon, it was Sachiko's turn.

"Applicant number 406, Sachiko Nakamura. You can enter now."

When Sachiko entered the room, she saw Netero sitting on a tatami mat.

"Make yourself comfortable."

Sachiko sat at the opposite side of the tea table.

"So, why do you want to be a hunter?" Netero asked.

"Well, money and adventures, I guess. Hunter's license is really useful, too. I can get a lot more privileges and more chances to be a part of exciting adventures."

"Very well, moving onto the next question, out of the eight applicants, who do you want to fight?" Netero asked.

"No one in particular right now. Maybe Hisoka but if I have to fight, I don't like the timing yet so, not that much."

"I see." Netero noted down on his book, "Next question is out of the eight applicants, who do you not want to fight?"

"Well, that would be number 405, Gon. He's not the type to give up so it is a bit troublesome." Sachiko replied. "And if he is a stranger, it would still be okay. But as a friend, it's not good to go to extremes. Right?"

"I see, that's how it is." Netero noted down again, "That will be all."

After Sachiko left the room, Netero laughed, "Interesting. Interesting."

----------

"So, what did he ask?" Leorio asked.

"Why I want to be a hunter, who I want to fight and who I don't want to fight." Sachiko answered.

"He asked us all the same questions, huh?" Leorio said.

"It makes sense. This is an interview after all. Maybe he asks that for the final phase." Kurapika said.

"We probably have to fight." Killua said.

"Oh no, I told him I am interested in Hisoka!" Gon said in a panic.

"Don't die, Gon." Killua said.

"I won't!" Gon replied.

"He probably won't kill Gon. He looks kinda obsessed with him." Sachiko told him.

"But, I think he is more obsessed with you than he is with Gon." Killua said.

"Huh, what do you mean by that?"

"I saw those creepy disgusting look on his face when he was talking about you." Killua started.

"Oh no, stop, Killua. Don't say another word." Sachiko almost shrieked.

"He was talking with someone on the phone. He was like licking his lips.."

"No sh*t!" Sachiko lost it. "Imma kill him."

"Good luck with that." Killua laughed. "I don't know why but that look haunted me. So yeah, you have to live with it now."

"No fucking way!" Sachiko slammed her head on the glass window, hoping to stop her brain from imagining Hisoka's look.

Unfortunately, her efforts were futile.

She saw a creepily smiling Hisoka licked his lips and then moaned.

That image was needless to say very disturbing.

Like very very disturbing.

She wanted to jump off the ship right now and touch some grass so that she could stop whatever is in her brain.

Killua looked at her eyes devoid of color and said, "Gon, go ask for some help, eyepatch_lady.exe has stopped working."

-----------

"So, everyone has rested up?" Netero started , "For the final phase of the exam, you'll be competing in a one-on-one tournament."

A tournament match table was shown to the group, the names were still covered by a sticker so the group didn't know who was against who yet.

"No, the winners will be the ones who drop away while the losers are given more chance to win. You only need one win to pass the exam, meaning only one will fail." Netero said, pointing to the top of the chart. "And that's the one who will finish here."

"Here is the bracket we put together." Netero pulled the sticker off so that everyone could see the line-up.

On the left side with five matches, Sachiko and Gon were at the bottom, then Killua, Hanzo and Bodoro. On the right side were Hisoka vs Kurapika, then Pokkle and Leorio.

Gon looked excited at the line-up but Sachiko laughed dryly. If her memory served well, she told the old man Netero she didn't want to fight Gon. But no, he had to put Gon with her.

"Sachiko, I'm so excited for our match!"

"Yeah? I'm really unhappy about it." Sachiko sighed.

"Huh? Why?"

"Just listen what old man's gonna say." She said.

"Okay."

"This bracket is carefully assembled based on each of your performances throughout the hunter exam. To put it simply, ones who are rated highly in the exam get the most chances to win." Netero explained.

"I'm not convinced." Killua said, it didn't make sense that Gon was rate more highly than him. "Can you tell us exactly how you score our performances?"

"No."

"...."

"But, we can tell you the basic criteria. There's physical strength, mental acuity and lastly overall impression. We're more concerned with your overall impression."

"Basically a shounen anime protagonist type." Sachiko told Killua.

"I see, that sucks." Killua replied.

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I think we're going to meet in a match later." Sachiko said with a laugh.

"Huh? Why? It's not like Gon can win against you. There's just no way he will be stronger than you." Killua exclaimed.

"You will see." Sachiko said with a laugh.

"The rules are simple. Weapons are allowed, cheating is forbidden and if your opponent admits defeat, you win." Netero explained.

"However, if you kill your opponent, you will be disqualified instantly!"

"See? Gon's not gonna admit defeat." Sachiko shook her head. "And I can't even go all out because it is Gon! So frustrating. Imma kill the old man Netero after this."

"Or later. Yeah."

Killua laughed at Sachiko's frustration.

Shouldn't siblings be like this ?

Wait, siblings ?

Seems like he got caught up in eyepatch lady's actings again.

-------------

"Let the final phase of exam begin."

"First match : Sachiko vs. Gon. Enter."

Sachiko entered the area, praying that Gon would abandon his shounen anime mc's traits for a while, just because it is so troublesome for her.

Gon looked at her with sparkles in his eyes, clearly so excited for the fight that had not even started.

'God, why did I have to jinx myself again?' Sachiko wanted to cry.

"I'm Masta, I will be serving as a referee at ths tournament."

"Now, time to start." Masta said as he backed away.

Gon immediately got into a fighting stance while Sachiko, well, stood there.

Gon charged towards her with his speed and Sachiko dodged it before kicking him in the guts with her legs, strengthened by cursed energy.

Gon stood up slowly despite the pain and charged towards her again.

She kicked his face this time but that didn't stop him.

"Just stop!"

"No!" Gon showed his face full of determination.

She kicked him in the knees.

"That hurts." Gon said.

"Then stop!"

"No!!!" Gon shouted as he got up again.

Sachiko made a whole set of net made by cursed energy and then bind him into it.

"Let me go!"

"Then admit defeat!"

"No!!! I can't!!"

"Then stay like that!"

"I will!"

"You will not!"

"I will!"

"What if you get thirsty? Or hungry? I won't let you go until you admit defeat!"

"But I won't admit defeat!"

Sachiko was about to lose it, "Imma squeeze you death with that net. Then Imma go to Whale Island and tell Mito that you were not coming home!"

"You can't do that!"

"I can, and I will. So, admit defeat. Damn it."

"Nooo!!"

The onlookers didn't know whether to laugh or feel pity. Why was this scene so....funny to watch?

"If you don't admit defeat, I will tell you how Hisoka looked when he was excited about you!"

"Nooo! Not that!!!" Gon yelled.

"Then say it now. Or I will start telling.."

"No!!!!"

"Say it, Gon. Damn it."

"I won't!!"

"Okay, so Hisoka stood under a tree...."

"Oh my god! No!!!!"

"Say it. You won't want to hear the part I was about to say."

"No!!!"

"He called your name..Gonnnn..."

"Please stop!!!" Gon was about to cry.

"Then, he had this weird creepy..."

"Please stop her, someone." Killua said in horror, "I'm starting to picture this in my head.

"Who isn't at this point?" Kurapika said, he wanted to close his eyes because the chaos in front of him was too much, but then he would picture it too clearly if he closed his eyes. He wished he could turn his ear off instead.

"We're cursed by hearing all this." Leorio said.

Netero didn't know what exactly was that bit he felt goosebumps just as he heard this. And he didn't even know the full picture.

But, Hisoka looked so proud being a weapon like that.

"Say it, Gon or you will be cursed by this image for the rest of your life!"

"I can't!! I can't say it!!!" Gon cried.

"You can. Just...say..it."

"You think he will say it?" Leorio asked.

"Nah, he would rather get cursed by that image than admit defeat." Killua replied.

"That's like his power, the determination." Kurapika sighed. "Now, we are all gonna be cursed."

"True."

"No, I can't say it!!!" Gon shouted. "If I lost then, I won't be able to meet my dad anymore."

"That's bullshit! If he doesn't acknowledge you just because you failed an exam, then he doesn't qualify to be your father!"

"But he is my father!"

"No, he is a sperm donor!"

"Don't tell that to my father!" Gon got so frustrated that he escaped the net and punched Sachiko in the face. Sachiko barely managed to dodge it in time.

She kicked him in his chest.

"Say it, Gon."

"No!"

"Fine, you fucking win, alright?" Sachiko said, getting tired of this crap. "I surrender."

"You can't!" Gon yelled again.

"I can and I say no more to this crap!" Sachiko knocked him out with a cursed energy ball. "Thank god, this is over now."

"No way!?" Killua was surprised to see the outcome.

"Why?" Killua asked as soon as Sachiko returned to her place.

"Huh?"

"Why did you surrender? You could've done a lot of things. I know you are capable of torture. But why..."

"But why didn't I use it on him?" Sachiko finished the question for him.

"Yeah."

"It wouldn't have worked on him. I can do whatever I like, break his limbs or cut them off, he wouldn't have surrendered. I just know it." Sachiko then said with a sigh , "And I wouldn't be able to do that, you know. The torture. I don't have a reason big enough to do that to someone I'm close to. So, I wouldn't have been able to do it at all."

"I see," Killua nodded.

"But it's okay this type of match doesn't work in real life, anyway. You just can't be too determined without strength to back it up. If Gon had met a real psychopath instead of me, he would've got tortured to death or at least, end up with his limbs getting cut off so badly that they can't reattach. He could've been broken forever while the psychopath would've gotten away with being disqualified for a year." She said. "That's why I think this whole phase is a crap."

Killua laughed at that. "Yeah, probably."

​Netero coughed, do they not realize he can hear what they are saying?

"Oh I do realize you can hear what I'm saying. I just don't give enough crap to hide it." Sachiko said with a straight face.