Chapter 22

I watched the plain looking man walk nervously from the treetops, smirking. "Found you." I swung down, landing in front of him. He yelped before calming down a little after seeing who I was.

"What do you know, it's just a brat," he muttered, relieved. furrowed my eyebrows. "You took forever to find! It's been days. Where have you been camping out?"

Ignoring me, his eyes trailed down to my badge number. "This must be my lucky day. My target dropped down right in front of me," he said with a grin. "Listen brat, if you hand over your pin without struggling, I'll let you go without any injuries," he offered, stepping forwards.

I almost laughed, covering up my smile. "Really?" I asked, putting on an act. He nodded, staring at my badge. "Then here you go," I said innocently, pulling off my badge and handing it over.

Only to take it back at the last second and disappear from his view. He blinked, stunned and confused. "Did the damn brat escape...?"

Suddenly, he crumpled to the ground, unconscious. "Thank you..." I knelt down and pulled his badge off- 293, my target- "for the badge, mister," I said with a grin, storing the badge away.

At least I managed to find him in time, I thought to myself as I walked away, leaping up to a tall tree. Let's see... where's that beach we're supposed to wait at? Oh, there it is.

***

"So did you find your target?" Killua asked, placing his hands in his pockets. "Or did you have to get three other badges?" I grinned, holding up the badge. "Yeah, I managed to find him. I was starting to get worried, there wasn't much time left. He's probably waking up right about now."

Killua smiled a little, turning around. "Now there's just those three left..." Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember how they passed or when they got here, just that they did. Something about a cave and snakes, though. But that didn't make much sense.

***

"It's almost over... where are they?" I asked frustratedly, frowning and staring at the large forest. "They might not make it," Killua muttered. "No, they did..."

"Hm?" He glanced at me with a confused expression. "What do you mean they did?" I blinked, realizing my slip-up. "I- I mean they will. People like them wouldn't lose so easily, you can tell they have so much ahead of them," I said instead, sweatdropping.

"Well... I guess so, yeah," he agreed. And suddenly, as the ship stopped next to the harbor, I saw the figures of three people running towards us. Is it...?

"Killua! Aki!" Gon's voice called, and I sighed in relief. "Gon, you idiot, you took forever! Kurapika, Leorio, what happened?" I asked, crossing my arms. Leorio smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Well... we kinda got trapped in a cave filled with poisonous snakes, and barely got out in time. But we all got our targets," he said with a grin and a thumbs up.

"If it weren't for Gon, we wouldn't be here," Kurapika said with a smile, glancing at the dark haired boy. A cave and poisonous snakes? Looks like my thoughts were correct. "What's with you guys, always arriving at the last second?" Killua asked, smirking. I laughed. "You're right, they always are!"

The remaining applicants began to board the ship, showing their target's badges to pass. "Hey, besides that, we have to go before they leave without us!" I said, and the five of us boarded the ship.

Looks like we all made it past this round. After this, there's only one more left, I thought grimly, staring at the full moon in the night sky.