Chapter 6: Game X Of X Difficulty

SECCO RASVIN

"Gon, let's explore this airship," Killua suggested as he stood up while Gon nodded in agreement and also stood up.

"Secco, are you coming?" Gon asked me and wait for my answer. My eyes begin to sparkle excitedly and nodded happily with a huge smile.

"Let's go!~" I yelled happily and raised my arm in the air.

"How come they have so much energy?" Leorio said exhausted because of what he did during the last phases that really tired him. "I'm so tired."

"You can say that again." Kurapika agrees who is also exhausted during the Hunter exam. They decided to sleep for the rest of the hours while we decided to explore the airship.

We are walking in the hallway of the airship until we passed a door that leads to the airship's kitchen. "I'm starving, let's get some food," Killua suggested while Gon and I both nodded at the same time.

We sneakily entered the kitchen to get some food when suddenly, we all being thrown away outside. "You're not allowed here, kids! Go and eat at the dining hall!" the head chef shouted at us and violently closed the door. I laughed as hard as I can because of what happened to us.

"Well, at least we've got some," Killua said as he was carrying a bag of chocolates while Gon got a box of whole strawberry cake. They're really sneaky, being able to get that large amount of food while I didn't get a single thing.

I stood up and was about to walk away when suddenly Gon called my name. "Secco, are you leaving?" he said while he is approaching me. "Oh! You didn't grab any in the kitchen!"

I rubbed my back head and fake a laugh. "Hehe. I just don't want to go watering while you two are eating the food you've got.~"

"Well, I can share mine." Gon said smiled at me widely, making my eyes go sparkle again.

"Really?! Yay!~" I jumped for joy and we all sat and eat the stolen food on a bench beside the window.

Killua talked about his life as an assassin which made me very shocked and amazed at the same. I knew he was really amazing! He's living in a family of assassins but he didn't want to be an assassin like his family so he ran away from home.

"Well, how about you, Secco? What's your life like?" Gon said to me when I spaced out.

"E-Eh?" the only response that I can say to him. Even Killua looked at me in curiosity. They are both waiting for me to speak my first word. W-What should I do? If I tell them about my life, about that thing, they might hate me.

I was saved from the situation when we felt someone was watching us the whole time and it was actually Chairman Netero.

"Would you care to play a game with me? If you win, I'll let you ... become hunters!" the chairman said which made us exclaimed and surprised.

"Really?!!!" we all shouted in unison and accepted it with no hesitation.

He explained to us the mechanics of the game. We will just have to catch the ball Netero was holding in his hand and that declares the winner.

"That was easy! You call that a game?" Gon shouted to the old man.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Netero said, his smile is still stuck in his face, confident that he will win this game. But... the chairman of the Hunter Association is our opponent in this game so maybe we will not end so easily.

Killua was the first to try to catch the ball from the chairman. He even used a technique that can make many Killuas hallucinate his opponent but when he gave him a kick in the leg, it's not Netero who was in pain but it was Killua, which means his leg is really strong for an old man.

Next is Gon's turn, he jumped really high to capture the chairman but he didn't notice the ceiling above and hit his head. At first, I was so worried that his skull might break but he was fine. Killua even yelled at him for his reckless actions.

Now it's my turn. I don't know if I can do it. I didn't fight physically to anyone before and I don't know how to attack. Even my strength and speed couldn't even compare to those two boys.

But thankfully, I didn't have to fight the chairman but just to steal that ball from his hand.

I just rushed towards him with great speed but he jumped really high and kicked me on the back, strong enough to stop me but not to kill me.

"No good." Because I increased my speed to the maximum level as I can run so fast, I completely lost some of my energy and strength.

"Why don't you all attack simultaneously?"

"Let's go!" Gon shouted as the three of us started to run after him. I still have strength left, I can't give up now! We all attacked him but it was still useless, he dodge our every attack. Even we performed teamwork and we almost got the ball, but he is still the first one to catch it back.

I was so mad at the time and was really getting serious, but when I saw Killua's eyes like he was really wanted to kill Netero with his bare hands, I lost control of gaining the ball and just focused on his dead eyes staring at the chairman.

And also on that moment, even just my subconscious mind, I felt that I must protect myself from Killua, causing my heart to beat so fast and I can feel my bandaged arm in just a mile-second, thankfully I stopped it.

"Forget it! I lose!" Killua shouted.

"Eh? But we almost got him." Gon said. I just watched them talk.

"Jeez...You don't understand anything, do you? He just barely used his right hand and his left leg." he said that made me think of it. Now that he mentioned...

Killua left the room while Gon decided to not just get the ball because of the time limit and just made him used his right hand.

"Gon, I'm also tired! Good luck with your game!~" I said happily with a great wide smile and left the room.

I saw Killua walking quietly with his head lowered down. I decided to follow him secretly on where he was going, curious of what I saw earlier.

I tip-toed while walking just not to be noticed by Killua who was just walking like a dead man. I wonder what happened to him. Did the chairman really piss him off? He is really mad right now and you don't want the assassins to get mad.

Then suddenly, I saw him bumped with the other two applicants but he just ignored them, which made those two very pissed. "Why are you ignoring us, brat?!"

The next thing I knew, the two men already got killed and their blood spread around the hallway where there's no one to see the crime he did.

At the same time, I felt my heart started to beat so very fast, and my mind was filled with anxiety, scared that Killua might kill me too if he finds me here.

Eh? This feeling... this felt like... before...

That time...

That incident...

I don't want to remember it! I also feel my arms but thankfully, the bandage still lasts.

"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice brought me back to reality and I can felt my arm no more. I looked up and it was actually Killua. But there is something different about his eyes. His eyes were clouded and were filled with darkness that makes me shivered in my position. What is this feeling? My heart started to beat faster than ever, I can also feel my arm again. I had a feeling that... he's going to kill me!

"I-I'm sorry! I won't tell anyone!" I said as I bowed at him and a tear fell from my eye. My heart still beating so fast, still feel my arm, and my bandage can't hold it anymore in a minute. Please forgive me!

I heard him let out a sigh. "Raise your head. I'm not a God to be bowed," he said so I followed him and raised my head to see his face. His eyes are no longer dark, he came back to his usual self.

"Don't worry...I can't kill you, Gon will get mad at me... and I don't want that," he said, resting his head on his folded arms, and started to walk away. So I was thankful for Gon, huh? I was about to start to walk when I felt that the bandage wrapped in my disgusting arm was almost loose so I tried my best to hide it in my back from Killua.

"W-Wait! Where are you going?" I shouted as I'm having trouble hiding my bandaged arm.

"To sleep!" he said and walked further and further away from me.

"Good night!~" I shouted at him again and waited for his response but I can't hear anything, so I decided to walk away too.

"... Good night, Secco..."

I wonder if it was just me or is it Killua just said 'good night' to me along with my name. It is my first time hearing my name from his mouth so it makes me happy.

Since my bandage was almost loose, I went to the shop to buy myself a new pack of bandages for my arm. I hope no one will throw suspicion on me.

I finally bought a bandage and went to a dark corner. I unwrapped the loosen bandage in my arm, and what I've seen in front of me is... a disgusting arm that I don't want to see. It has an irregular shape and texture and has a dark color, different from my skin tone. This is it. This is the burden that I'm talking about on the ship. An arm that keeping me away from happiness brings me a burden, the reason many people hate me, even him, he also abandoned me. Because of this damn arm!

Because of this, I also killed them. That incident, that scenery that I can't erase from my memory. This arm is so disgusting, at the same dangerous. If I seek help from it, it will be a disaster. An arm that even I can't control.

I finished wrapping it with new bandages, and I went back to the room where Kurapika and the others are sleeping.

As I walked at the long corridor of the airship, I saw someone walking in the opposite direction, until I realized it was Chairman Netero.

"Oh! Miss Secco, I see you're still awake!" he said to me with a smile and stopped by.

"Did Gon finish the game?" I said with curiosity.

"Not really. But I like him, I'll be expecting him to pass the exam.", he answered. So he didn't win, which leading to the conclusion that this old man is hard to defeat.

"Then, good night, chairman." I bowed and continued to walk.

"And one more thing, Miss Secco..." the chairman gave me his final message to me so I turned around to meet his eyes. "Please control that thing on your left arm, or else, innocent people will get killed."

I looked at him with my questioning look. How the heck did he know about that?! I didn't even tell a single soul about that except the captain and some workers, who promised to not tell anyone!

Still found it odd, I made it to the room. Both Leorio and Killua slept soundly, snoring all the time, while Kurapika is just behaving well.

I quietly made a sit and closed my eyes until we arrived at the third phase. How can I ask the chairman about that?