Whatever method HeeJin used back in the swamp, the girl didn’t use it once during these two days. 

Chuu was certain, one hundred percent, that that was some sort nen application. The brilliant navigation HeeJin showed back in the swamp was way too out of character for an apparently ex-filthy-rich sheltered girl!

She was so sure about that, she could bet on it, staking both of her hatsus, that was how sure she was!

Which raised a question: what was that exactly ? What triggered it? What was the difference in conditions then and now?

Given HeeJin couldn’t point it out during prompted questioning, it wasn’t a conscious tool for search. It could be a) subconscious or b) tool for something else.

Chuu activated Gyo and slowly looked HeeJin up and down - her nen barely trickled out, a thin mist that was difficult to discern. A standard picture.

“Something wrong?”

Ah, HeeJin must’ve felt her use of concentrated Ren.

Chuu smiled. “Nothing!”

There was no question - HeeJin had absolutely no training in nen. 

Which left Chuu with the only plausible conclusion. The only application of it that didn’t always require any prior training nor even knowledge of nen existence was an incredibly rare case when a hatsu developed on its own.

Some top of the crop people could subconsciously use nen, those people were called geniuses. Chuu had never met one before.

Did HeeJin know she was one?

“CutieJin!” she called out to a girl painstakingly making a trap for a small game - the black-haired teenager begged for anything but catching fish with her bare hands again. While Chuu assigned herself to a future fish-cooking breakfast duty, she sat HeeJin to craft a trap under her guidance. “Gosh, you are doing amazing. I’m not talking specifically about trap-making, I was just thinking of the past days. I think you are a genius, now that I’ve seen your potential!”

Chuu listened to the connection with extra focus. From this close she felt everything as if she was HeeJin, if she chose to. 

“Haa,” bashfully lowered the gaze her temporary student. “Thank you, but I don’t think I deserve any praise of that caliber.” HeeJin carefully tied another knot on the barely-holding together unfinished trap and grimaced. “This will crumble from a gust of wind.”

Hmm. No matter how she listened to the mark, no reaction to the word.

“No, see!” Chuu leaned closer until she was able to boldly poke at one of the twigs. HeeJin yelped in alarm and slapped Chuu’s hand away from her creation. Worry sewed her eyebrows together. “It is not as frail as you think. Take some credit! In these two days you picked up the basics from several useful skills. I'll be fair - you are far from proficient in any, except tree running, but you know how to learn well. Coupled with a short timeframe for that - you are incredible! One of a kind ! A genius !”

… Nothing.

HeeJin didn’t know what she was doing back there. Or how unbelievably lucky she was, god, to have a ready-made hatsu that a hundred percent suits you, given on a silver platter!..

As Chuu gushed about her friend - completely sincerely, may she point out - HeeJin blushed and lowered her eyes even further, gaze glued to her creation, almost boring into it.

“Thank you,” she said. “I guess I’m just used to studying.” There was a moment where it seemed like that was the end of her thought, but then HeeJin opened - closed. Visibly torn between telling something and not, she absentmindedly and gently brushed the twigs of an unfinished trap with her finger.

Chuu waited for the verdict HeeJin’s anxious mind would stop.

Finally, a sigh brushed past the younger girl’s lips. 

“Back home I used to study a lot,” confessed quietly HeeJin. “I was assigned a… role, I suppose, of the ‘cultured one’. To learn everything about our family and their history through the years and impacts they had in-“ she bit her tongue down. “…Also the culture of our country. Even if I wanted to learn more of other things, I was stuck on- nevermind, on our country. I had to study multiple arts, too.” HeeJin looked up, a sardonic smile on her lips. “You must’ve noticed how I always keep my balance pretty well? You said also that I put my weight down thoughtfully when you showed how to walk stealthily. Well, it’s because I studied ballet. I am no Giselle, but, I guess, I’m pretty good at it… Forget it, long story short - I am no genius. Just somebody who had to study all her life.”

As HeeJin helplessly shrugged, Chuu had three thoughts.

First - hell yeah, ballet! They could dance together sometime! She would love to dance something with her, Yves and Go Won!

Second thought - that was a fantastic base for a thief and an infiltrator! She would know!

Third - that just narrowed down possible countries where HeeJin must have hailed from. 

Chuu briefly slanted her eyes at the sabre.

It would be a lie to say that she didn’t notice the covered guard, but now she knew the fact that it was a sabre was important too - it must have been similarly culturally significant.

“I dance ballet too,” said Chuu. “Never was especially great at it, however, only passabre. Not a passion of mine either - but my friend loves it! She sometimes bursts out dancing when the mood strikes and there aren’t many witnesses…”

The weight of her memories forced her to trail down.

Yves like d ballet. Yves used to burst out dancing.

That warmth and passion have long since drowned in the pouring rain and thunder.

“It really explains how you move,” pointed out Chuu, ignoring, ignoring, ignoring . “We should dance together sometime.

“You would be willing to?” lit up HeeJin.

“Yeah. I'm not that good though” Chuu half-shrugged with one shoulder, as if slipping an annoying weight off of it. “Not as well as my friend, but I am a decent Price Siegfried, I guess? Danced him so much, ugh…”

“I never learned male roles,” said HeeJin. “Only extras and female parts that my skill was acceptable for.”

“We can check if we match after all this ends,” winked Chuu. “Book some studio and dance a night away - maybe even get my friends to join, if you wish?”

HeeJin laughed in all her sincere radiance. “Oh my Lord, I would love to! You would do it with me? I never did something like that - with a friend or otherwise!”

“Of course!” nodded Chuu. Then, in the same tone, “I can show you several exercise sets after that as well!”

HeeJin’s glowing smile was gone as soon as it appeared.

---

She really, really should stop poking nose into HeeJin’s past by now. They already trusted each other, didn’t they? And had heart to heart.

An unfortunate professional deformation of any good nen-user - to always analyze and deconstruct nen abilities that one stumbles on. Thinking about it more - it was a secret . Private stuff. 

So private, in fact, it wasn’t even something HeeJin was privy to.

Friends shouldn’t stick their noses into each other’s wardrobes and skeletons like this, right? Chuu ought to make herself drop it. She audibly grunted, catching and waving off HeeJin’s attention.

This was an afternoon dish of a small critter she caught. She grew tired of bland same fish already and knew so did HeeJin.

They should hurry up and have Choerry move their way. Chuu had some unfinished business to attend to, after all, and she felt extremely reluctant to leave HeeJin all by herself.

Maybe the botanist could even share some plant wisdom too - a vast area Chuu reliably blanked on.

---

Was it better to move closer to the finish site now or later, closer to noon tomorrow? 

It would be wiser to just sit in this crack in the mountain for a bit longer and wait until the phase was closer to the deadline. But it was also rather boring.

Would anybody interesting be close to the finish site by now? Doubtful. 

Besides, if anyone arrived there ahead of time, it might as well happen to be Hisoka. Choerry shuddered. She wasn't going anywhere near the goal before she absolutely must.

It was when sun was slowly settling, hiding behind the horizon in a mere hour or so, in the corner of her eyes, she caught a glance of something moving, something humanoidly-shaped far below. 

She squinted. There, again, moving in line past her, someone was lightly jogging on the branches, deep blue flickering in and out of vision. 

Intrigued, Choerry brought her hand with an “ok” sign up to her face. No longer squinting, with a much more zoomed in view, she gasped in delight.

HeeJin! She did not think the girl was able to travel on branches. And, below, a maroon-peachy color - Chuu!

Well, scratch any other thought, the plan “waste your time in boring solitude” just got canceled, and the plan “go meet her friends” went online!

---

HeeJin continued trying her best. Against all odds, she partially succeeded.

First of all - now she could jog across the canopy with almost no forcing! She hasn’t even seen any bunnies for a while now!

Secondly, there was no second thing. Her tracking was horrendous even with the many pointers she received from Chuu. She received trap basics, but as they were on the move, she mostly got theoretical knowledge. She still was not even half as stealthy as she wanted to be, or as Chuu was.

On the contrary to balancing-required tree running.

She was exceptionally proud of that, so excuse her, she needed to remind it to herself for her self-esteem needs.

Whoop-s! As soon as HeeJin let her attention switch from her surroundings, she stepped onto a clay patch, slipping, leaving a long mark. She caught herself before falling, but a firm hand on her forearm brought a brush of warm assurance.

“We haven’t seen any footprints for a while,” said HeeJin, straightening. “Aside from mine.”

Chuu hummed, somewhat absentmindedly. “We haven’t.”

“And there would be some, in this kind of earth... You sure there are people in this area?”

“Yes.”

HeeJin sighed. Should they take a break and find some food instead of this? Their fruitless attempts quite frankly had a tint of miserability to them by now, to be honest.

The warning was handled with utmost care and grace.

“Incoming.”

“Wha…”

Her heart dropped to the soles of her feet when she heard rustle from the opposite side Chuu was in. HeeJin spun towards a figure that landed not even two meters away and unsheathed her sabre in a swift motion. 

Did her hunter catch up to them? They took care and covered much distance on the trees, she thought it was enough!..

“Woah there!” 

She needed a blink to recognise a figure suddenly dropped down. 

Choerry. The girl stood there, beaming, with both palms raised and open.

“Again? We have already gone over this before!” chastised her HeeJin, sheathing the blade with hands that almost trembled. God, way to shoot her blood pressure to the sky again! Oh, HeeJin’s poor heart!..

“Ah, right,” sheepishly the youngest girl. “My bad.”

“We were looking for you, actually,” said Chuu, nonpulsed. “I am glad you found us, since I have no idea if we would’ve found you otherwise.”

Choerry brought both palms to her heart. “I’m touched, you looked for me on this big island? That’s so sweet!”

Chuu motioned to them both. “We were. We have been done for a while, so I looked for somebody to hang out with and stumbled upon HeeJin. Proposed some tips and tricks to teach in the meantime, she agreed. Oh by the way, HeeJin made some amazing progress, especially in running in the trees! Her background as a ballet dancer certainly helped,” Chuu sent a meaningful eye at Choerry, who nodded in understanding. Was HeeJin missing something? “but she still deserves high praise.”

Nonetheless, she felt it important to point out, “Chuu had been a great teacher so far. It is at least half thanks to her that I made this much progress so fast.”

Chuu waved her hand as if cooling her face, playfully lowering eyes from the compliment. “We’ve been looking for either you or HyunJin before the phase ended. How was your stay?”

“Boring, mostly,” sighed Choerry. “Been collecting one-pointers, somehow ended with seven points in total,” (“Woah!” gasped HeeJin,) “Was waiting for the phase to end in the crack nearby,” she motioned at the looming mountain cliff face. “Saw you two from there.”

“See, we successfully tracked her!” joked Chuu with a wink and HeeJin rolled her eyes.

“Actually, I met quite a number of people here. From the important ones, Leorio and Kurapika,” Choerry’s eyelids lowered for a split second. “And, briefly, ran away from Hisoka.”

“One of those is not like the others,” pointed out HeeJin. “How come you met Hisoka of all people?”

Choerry grimaced. “By being inattentive. There is nothing much, really. I immediately ran away.”

HeeJin opened and froze - there was a familiar yet weird and forceful sensation behind her back, throwing her in cold sweat. She turned her head slightly, but it stopped as soon as she moved. There, Chuu glanced at her, away from Choerry, smiling wider and raising an eyebrow.

Huh. (She felt this kind of thing before, her subconscious reminded after days of dormancy. For the past two days from time to time, but with less intensity, from her uncle and some of the Gagnons.) A rabbit hopped on her feet, then hopped off and vanished. 

HeeJin faced forward again, relaxing her face.

“We haven’t met many of the other examinees,” she said. “Hanzo, the shinobi - I have an unbelievable story to tell about him - and my hunter, we never learned his name.” HeeJin glanced to the side, frowning, then back. “I also saw Killua and Amori brothers, they are a part of that story. I got incredibly lucky by getting my tag, to say the least.”

Choerry squinted, eyes catching against something inside HeeJin. “Nobody gets to enter the last phase of the Hunter Exam only by sheer luck .”

“Um, sure,” let the topic slide HeeJin. She felt uncomfortable and hurriedly spoke with a wobbly smile. “Any plans now that we are reunited?..”

---

Choerry listened to Heejin roll to her other side yet again, an n-th time. It has been an hour since Chuu left on some unexpected - and unexplained - business. Moon shone brightly as half of the night passed and it was rather quiet - HeeJin woke up a while ago, but was yet to fall back asleep despite the surrounding peacefulness.

Choerry was on the watch, after teaming up with Chuu and arguing against HeeJin that both of them would be able to do fine with half a night of sleep each.

HeeJin was stubborn, but not stupid - she gave up. Chuu and Choerry were highly trained individuals that would take some missed hours way better than her and she knew that.

It didn’t mean this situation wouldn’t be used as a bargaining point later, to make them accept some care that would otherwise be unnecessary. It was, frankly, adorable.

More tussling.

Choerry looked at the stars. Foliage covered most of them, but she knew what she’d see above her by heart. As someone who enjoyed falling asleep under the open sky with JinSoul - casually, or after hours-long talks, or some yet another alcohol curiosity the blonde picked up gods knew where - Choerry could see the night sky behind closed eyelids. She sighed.

“Can’t fall asleep?”

HeeJin rustled, turning to face her, sad-faced and quiet. “No.”

“Worried?”

“When am I not?” huffed HeeJin sardonically. “Not especially, just thinking.”

“Mm. I often have little talks with my best friends on nights like this,” shared Choerry.

“What do you talk about?” HeeJin propped her head on a hand, curiosity lifting her to a half-sit. It did seem there wouldn’t be any sleep happening soon for her anyway.

“Sometimes little anecdotes on jobs. Vague plans. History. Common acquaintances. Food. Death and legacy. Value of our lives. Personal projects. People. Depends, really. It’s difficult to pinpoint, even, right now. Sometimes we don’t even talk, just exist nearby and listen.”

HeeJin hummed. “Listen to what? And don’t people usually talk about family and health in little talks like that? Or are their topics supposed to be this extreme? Is my lack of socialization showing?”

“Pft, god, it does!.. Well. We listen to the waves and as for the other - each of us has health strong enough that only death would be a concern. And family…” Choerry looked down at her hands, smiling softly. “I am the only one who has a family, limited as it is, among my best friends. Or even grew with a family, too.” Choerry sighed, closed her palms and looked back at HeeJin. “It's just not a kind of topic that many people raise - there are many with unfulfilled families that became Hunters and-or criminals. Nothing to talk there. It is not pitiful or tragic, it’s just how things are. Either that, or they have family - it is a thing to be fiercely protective about.” She made sure to make an eye contact with HeeJin. “People who deal in violence rarely have a sunny background.”

Choerry was kinda surprised the topic of family was even raised. She’d think that their little gang’s local runaway princess would've been avoiding even mentioning the word. Had Choerry reached the needed level of friendship and trust? Was HeeJin feeling better inwardly? Or would she just curb the conversation here?

“Well,” HeeJin laughed humorlessly. “I don’t think I fit into the ‘dealing in violence’ category, perfectly honest. So it might not be that strange that I had a semi-fine childhood.”

Choerry looked at HeeJin expectantly, waiting to see if she would continue or not.

HeeJin did.

“Actually, I am no longer with them because of that specifically. I… didn’t fit before in that picture and even less after that. You can’t fully separate a family business of that kind and yourself.”

Choerry could tell there were entire phrases of context swallowed down. HeeJin let out a shaky sigh, a small smile appearing on her lips.

“Whow, it is much easier after the first time…” Then, in a sturdier voice, “You know, I have hallucinations.”

What? Where did that come from? “Hallucinations?”

“Yeah.” HeeJin laughed and flopped on her back, breaking eye contact and looking at the stars. “I don’t remember when they started but I always saw these white rabbits. My parents looked into it, I remember, and had some doctors look into it and had MRI scans and medication and many psychiatrists talked to me.” HeeJin swallowed. “All very hush-hush ones. Doubt any of them worked above the table.” A pause, followed by a quiet mumble. “Wonder if any even lived after.”

HeeJin fell into deep thought, it seemed. An unhappy one.

“I take it nothing helped?” asked Choerry.

“Ah, no. They still show up sometimes. Usually when I’m nervous. And… nothing, it's just that it banned me from. Participating in family business, I guess?” A stifled bark of a laugh. “It didn’t make me useless, but there was nothing of merit I could do. I always had a bodyguard but no permission to step out of the family manor.” Manor? Oh snap. “I got to socialize at family-and-closest-friends-gatherings, at least. The youngest child, the pretty and talented one, a lovely sunshine against shadows of all the blood-soaked guests. P-ha. Anyone would be called talented if they had nothing to do but push days and months into artistic skills from an early age.” HeeJin found Choerry’s eyes again. “It am a skilled ballet dancer. Not a professional one, but I am good . Another favorite skill was swordfighting, but only after mom caved in to me having something else to do, something to be able to defend myself with, something not cottonwool-padded. I chose fencing specifically after cementing my decision to run away. My sister, the he- eldest, threw her weight into allowing me to do it. I doubt she knew the purpose, but only thanks to her I got to be here.” HeeJin pressed her sabble she slept with closer. She lapsed into silence again, falling into deep thought.

“Well, I’m glad she did, then,” said gently Choerry. “I’m glad to have met you.”

“So am I.” For the first time in this talk HeeJin’s wistful expression was a happy one. She looked at Choerry with all the kindness in the world. “I don’t think I can explain, how much.”

Choerry hummed, gazing above HeeJin’s shoulder, focus growing murkier and turning to her thoughts. “...I have a cousin. She was my guardian for all my teenagehood. She is. Very civilian.” Now, Choerry felt her lips tugged in a warm smile. “She doesn’t know any martial arts. She never faced any violence. Never seen a person’s life be taken in front of her. She’s. Very good.” She closed her eyes. “It’s impossible not to treasure her and her ordinary life. She doesn’t know even half the things I’m able to do. She tries to pry it out, but I know she’ll be scared.”

“So she’s me.”

Choerry opened her eyes in surprise at the bland remark from a propped on hand HeeJin. 

“I guess so?.. Then maybe your family felt the same about you?..”

HeeJin snickered. “I know they did… Well, at least you don’t control or cage in her life, I hope.”

“Of course no!” Choerry even sat straight at the outrageous idea, making eye contact with HeeJin. “The only ‘big thing’ I did after taking control of her old garden - which she wasn’t interested in - is to give her her own workshop. Even my friends know not to mess things up with her!”

“Workshop?”

“She is a glassblower.” Choerry easily picked up a business card - a stack of them was in easy reach, closer than her wallet even. Promoting a dear cousin’s business is what family was for! “Come to her shop sometime! Even without me around, she’ll love to meet you,” Choerry crouched near HeeJin’s backpack. “I’ll put it in this pocket.”

HeeJin let her arm fall and laid her head on the backpack. “I’ll visit her for sure. She sounds nice.”

“Just no gruesome details on the exam,” reminded Choerry.

HeeJin hummed in agreement. Then, when the purplehead settled back in her spot, she found Choerry’s eyes. “Thank you for trusting me with her address.”

“You aren’t half as bad as my besties, not even a quarter. I know you won’t bring her harm. So no worries.” And also probably needed someone vastly more ordinary for comfort, didn’t say Choerry. 

“How bad are your friends?”

They taught me how to kill, could’ve said Choerry. One of them regularly swam into Mebius Lake. The other would’ve been labeled as an A-rank criminal, if she wasn’t a Crime Hunter. The last of them was an A-rank criminal, from an internationally infamous gang of thieves.

“They steal too much fruit without asking, even knowing I have separate trees for produce and others for selection and instilling,” sighed Choerry instead. 

Maybe HeeJin was extra right in drawing parallels between Yerim and herself.

At this moment the civilian girl yawned.

“I think it's time for you to try to fall asleep again.”

Her sweet friend was much due for her beauty ‘z’s by this point. Choerry wasn’t about to encroach on any more of them.

Their sweet little talk ended pleasantly with HeeJin’s soft sleep breathing.

---

Nobody was more disappointed in her lack of foresight than herself.

An hour already passed in Chuu’s fruitless search. If only she thought of marking him while they were on the boat, she wouldn’t need to madly run around like she was now. Her search began in (allegedly) an area where HeeJin last had contact with him and went in widening spiral further and further.

If she could believe Hisoka wouldn’t pay attention to her En, this whole task would’ve been much easier.

But Chuu couldn’t. And she didn’t have a death wish to try, especially not after what Choerry told about her encounter with him during their dinner. Such, her only choice while running around was Zetsu, to hide and blend with surroundings in everyone’s perception.

She had limited time - Chuu left HeeJin with Choerry for the night under a justification that she had unfinished business to attend to on the island.

And she had. A deeply personal one, at that.

Segment after segment of the island was cleared as she spiraled further and further, searching in her business mode.

Hours crumbled by.

She had no thoughts for the past few, her skills mechanically working in front of her casual self.

Tick. Tok. Tick. Tok.

Sky began to lighten up before Chuu snapped herself to consciousness - at the first glimpse of sunlight, she found Killua near the top of one of the taller trees, wide awake and watching the incoming dawn. He sat with one leg on the branch, a support for his elbow, a disinterested mien supported by his palm, fingers resting against his cheek. His observer stayed far below, out of sight - and out of hearing range.

She released Zetsu and unhurriedly climbed up to his branch.

Killua slanted his eyes at her for a moment when she arrived, standing at an arm’s distance and a half, but nothing more. He offered neither grumble nor greeting as he returned to watching the skyline.

“Hello,” said Chuu. “I am here for a serious conversation.”

He didn’t acknowledge hearing her.

Chuu plopped down. Her legs hang absentmindedly, swaying back and forth as she let both of her hands fall into her lap. She looked away from Killua, staring at the last dying stars in the dawnlight.

“See, I don’t have many friends. A concerning few, one might say, even. And if I dug deeper, two - the majority - feel less like a separate human, like a friend, and more like part of myself. Like an arm or a kidney. It is always comforting to be with them, but I have no idea if it benefits us, or if it is healthy… It might sound weird, but I grew up in conditions that prevented me from getting any more. And that codependency, it wasn’t something that happened just because, unprompted. Actually, it began in full swing four years ago.” Chuu shifted her gaze at him with her head still facing forward. “When we ran away.”

Killua drummed one of the fingers against his cheek a single time. He was now paying attention to what she had to say, or, at least, that was how Chuu chose to interpret.

“See, there are tells that speak of runaways. Some louder, some not as much.” Chuu half-turned to him, leaning on one hand towards him and pointing at him with the other. “You don’t even hide that.” , she didn’t say.

If he were a cat, Killua would’ve had his tail moving in irritation.

Well. At least he must realize that even if he runs away, she’d catch up, or he wouldn’t be sitting motionelessly.

“I am going to hope that it’s normal and not just stupid.” She sighed, moving away, her gaze getting lost in the woods below. “Children who are this skilled in this way… are never for reasons they chose. Or that would let ‘normal’ people sleep soundly at night.”

A beat of silence passed.

“Are you sure you are safe right now?”

A minute passed. Killua finally opened his mouth.

“Yes.”

Chuu swallowed down her sigh. She would hope so. From the bottom of her carnation-shaped heart.

“If you ever are in need of help - any kind, monetary, numbers, strength, information or influence - here,” she outstretched a piece of paper with each of their numbers. He waited for a moment. “Take. Best case you’ll never need those, worse - you have unconditional support from someone who walked where you just stepped. For realsies… Please.”

He huffed and finally changed his position. Killua snatched the paper from her fingers and huffed, his eyes carefully taking in strings of numbers. 

“Asking a kid for something doesn’t suit somebody as old as you.”

“Not pog, Killua,” said Chuu. Finally, the cursed slang Go Won was dropping on them regularly paid off.

He visibly shuddered. “Don’t.”

Chuu giggled instead of response, then turned serious. “Anyway. I have one last question.” Chuu covered so it was impossible to read her lips, heart heavy. “Are you from a Garden?”

Killua blinked, then his eyes moved and seemingly took her in in a new light.

“...No. I’m not.” Chuu was about to respond, when, easily, “I’m Zoldyck.”

Chuu stopped any movement the moment the word dropped.

Everybody in the Underworld knew the famous family of assassins. Everybody . And the fact that they lived to a certain professional standard.

…Huh.

As she gathered her thoughts and reformed her opinion of Killua from a newfound perspective, he already moved past their mutual revelations. He shoved the paper piece in a pocket and Chuu hoped it meant he wouldn’t ignore her offer because of a young boy’s haughtiness.

”I heard the Gardens were going down in the past two years. Your job?” 

What. No, they weren’t… They were targeting the actors behind, not the product. There shouldn’t have been that much effect yet, and certainly not “going down”.

Someone was destroying facilities upfront? Who? Why?

They heard Gardens were shutting down, but were careful not to dig deeper out of security concerns. It seemed their knowledge was way off the mark. They’d need to look into that.

“No,” she replied. “Not us.” She squinted at dawn. “I should go back. If anything,” she made the phone motion, mouthed ‘Call us’ and pushed off the branch.

He got out - that was the thing that mattered the most. Good for him. 

Chuu felt a little bit lighter.

---

Siren, loud enough to be heard over the whole island tore air twenty minutes ago and Choerry couldn’t - and didn’t want to - fight a grin off her face.

The beach they were about to be picked from was in sight. Choerry almost power-skipped there, the urge held down only by the leisurely pace her friends have set.

Still, she couldn’t pass jumping on the clearing the first, catching attention of all already present and taking note of them in turn. 

Hmmm. What was there to say? Same old, same old!

With Chuu walking out behind her, the four who finished the tower before her were all gathered here.

Beside them, there was an archer, an old martial artist and Killua. She gave him a jovial wave, and he looked first at her, then at each of her friends. Finally, he greeted them with a half-nod.

“No HyunJin,” commented HeeJin quietly, hand lowering from a similar wave at the boy. 

No HyunJin, nodded Choerry, having a feeling of an acute deja vu.

She left one tag in her bag, and prepared to hand over six points to pass to the next phase. 

The ramp from the boat hit the ground and a lovely guide with a tablet and large earphones descended. She checked her wristwatch and fakely busied herself with papers.

Choerry checked the time too - half an hour before noon.

Spinning on her heels, she deliberately turned her back to the other contestants, hell-bent on ignoring Hisoka.

Thirteen minutes later, and their quiet meandering conversation was interrupted - with a sound of wild boars tearing through the forest, three other boys broke into the clearing.

“Yo, Gon!” Instantly lit up Killua. “Cutting real close there.”

Gon laughed, causing Leorio, leaning on the other two, to jump a bit. “We arrived, didn’t we?”

As all of them more or less straightened themselves, taking out wayward leaves and branches, Gon looked around, before approaching the girls.

“Ano,” he said, “HyunJin isn’t here yet?”

“Nope,” why Gon was curious? “But she will be, don’t worry.”

“I know,” casually nodded Gon, sounding as if a possibility of a doubt hadn't even crossed his mind.

Choerry’s eyebrows shot up as she waved at him as he returned to the other boys who grouped together not too far away from them. Interesting. She’d need to ask HyunJin about it later.

Clearing fell into semi-silence as minutes dragged by, time from time interrupted by a loud exclamation from the boys’ conversation. Felt like honey, slowly dripping away as she checked her phone from time to time, slightly worried. As more time passed, it gradually turned into tar.

Two minutes before the end, a figure barreled into the clearing, having to dump momentum in a sudden crouch - and still sliding for a couple feet.

HeeJin was there before Choerr could say a greeting.

“You made it!” The girl hugged HyunJin in a tight grip.

“So I did,” exhaled HyunJin, looking as if she was rushing here through every bush and river. There was a sheen of sweat on her face and several smudges of dirt where the girl moved strands of hair out of the eyes.

“What took you so long?” HeeJin let the girl go and looked her over, holding by the shoulders.

HyunJin gave a sardonic ‘pah’. “Please don’t laugh… But I forgot the finish site was on the opposite side from the starting half of the island.”

Choerry bit her cheek to blood.

“Wow,” commented HeeJin, looking so somber, one might think somebody died.

“Fast legs,” complimented Chuu, lacking any expression altogether.

She couldn’t let this train go past her. “Imagine how bad it would’ve been to gather all points and then just miss the finish line on the map? The tragedy!..” Choerry made a choked inhale and let tears gather in her eyes, grimacing in a wailing expression.

“You!.. Go s-,” a whistle, loud enough to cover the area, sounded, pinpointing the noon and the end of any tag exchange or hunt, “-ust forgot! My map is fine, you numbskulls, and don’t pretend your scents arrived here that long ago!”

The Judging Committee woman glared at them and cleared . Instantly after that customer service smile appeared on her face. “Please show your points, everybody!”

The rustling and clanking of the tags ensued, each had their own number called out and total points confirmed. Everybody on the clearing made it. 

Many. More than in decades.

This year was unbelievably fruitful.

“Congratulations! All of you passed the fourth phase of the Hunter Exam and are approved to undertake the last phase!”