~Chapter Eighteen : Kukuroo Mountain~
~Start~

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"You both make it sound like I kidnapped him or something..." Illumi said, expresionless. "He walked away on his own."

"But aren't those the same?" You said. "Failing the exam isn't his choice!"

"He was manipulated by you people!" Gon yelled. "It's the same as kidnapping!"

Then, you all heard a sound of wooden sandals. You all looked infront to see Netero. "We happened to be discussing this very subject, Gon, (Y/N)."

"Kurapika and Leorio have both lodged complaints." Netero. "The committee has been discussing the fairness of Killua's dissqualification."

Then, Kurapika stood up as if to protest something. "Killua has been acting in strange manner during and since his fight with the man who called himself Gittarackur!" Kurapika protested. "I believe that he was hypnotized into committing murder."

"Under normal circumtances, it would be impossible to use hypnosis to induce a person to kill." Kurapika continued. "However, Killua was raised in a family of assassins and murder was part of his daily life so it's natural for him to lack the ethical restraint of most!"

Then, Leorio stood up. "I wanted to mention the attack that happened between Bodoro and I. It's possible that Killua was trying to help me." Leorio said. "Given that, Killua shouldn't be the one who's disqualified but me!" Leorio said as he pointed to himself.

"In any case, Killua was not in control of his own actions thus, he should not be disqualified!" Kurapika said.

Netero just turned away and walk back to his podium. "This is mere speculation. There is no proof." Netero said. "There was no clear signs of manipulation. In fact, I would question the claim that he was hypnotized." Netero said, making Kurapika suprised.

"I agree that the incident occured after the battle between Leorio and Bodoro had begun." Netero said. "At that point, both fighters were evenly matched. Bodoro had more experience but in terms of raw combat battle, Leorio was stronger. There was no need for Killua to interfere." Netero said as Leorio turned to the other side.

"There's some other funny business going around here." Pokkle said as he turned to look at Kurapika. "Like when you fought Hisoka."

"Back then, what did he say to you?" Pokkle asked as he sat down to the table. "None of you seemed particularly tired, but Hisoka whispered something in your ear just after conceding. That's strange."

"I understand surrendering after your opponent whispering something to you, as what happened to (Y/N), Hanzo and me, as Hisoka and Bodoro. Because we were under considerable pressure." Pokkle said. "But in your case, the exact opposite happened. I have to wonder if you struck in some sort of bargain."

"If you're going to question anything that seems odd. Your victory was quite odd as well." Pokkle said "If you have nothing to hide, you should tell us what he said. Right now."

Kurapika looked at him. "I have no obligation to tell you."

"Maybe not, but I believe you owe it to us." Pokkle said.

"Not really." Kurapika said, calmly and looked away. "If you consider my vistory to be odd, a victory by default would be equally odd." Kurapika said as he reminded him of his "fight" against Killua.

That angered Pokkle and stood up to the table his sitting at. "What!?" He said as Kurapika calmly looked at him.

"None of that matters..." You heard Gon muttered really quietly but you still heard. You didn't say anything because you felt the same way.

"Come on..." Hanzo sighed as he stood up. "I want this lecture to be over so I can leave."

You saw Gon bit his bottom lip and know that he's going to burst soon. "Hey, now..." Leorio started.

"None of that matters!" Gon yelled as he finally burst. Everybody looked at him. "It's pointless to argue over whether someone should have passed."

"If you aren't happy about your passing, keep working until your satisfied." Gon said. "If Killua retake the exam, it's no doubt he'll pass! It's unfortunate that he failed this year but it is what it is." Gon said as you bit your lip, agreeing on everything Gon is saying.

You and Gon's grip tightened over Illumi's hands but Illumi just remained emotionless. Gon looked at Illumi with pure anger in his eyes. "If you make Killua kill in against his will..." Gon paused, gritting his teeth.

"We'll make you pay!" You continued for him as you saw he was too angry to continue.

"Make me pay?" Illumi said. "What, exactly, will you do?" He asked.

"We won't do anything." You answered. "But we'll rescue Killua and never let you see him again!" You said.

Then, Illumi slowly raised both of his hands. Once you both felt his movement, removed your hands from him and jumped backwards.

Illumi stared at the both of you as you and Gon stared back. Then, you all heard a fake cough by the chairman.

"Is everyone finished?" Netero asked. "Gon is absolutely correct. You must decide for yourself if you are worthy of passing."

"You may complain about the results all you want but we will not change our minds." Netero said as everyone sat down. "Killua has failed the exam while the rest of you passed."

Netero looked at his secretary, Beans and nodded at him. Beans walked infront of everybody. "Okay, then I shall continue the orientation." Beans said, pulling out a hunter license.

"The cards I've passed out are your hunter license. This card allows you to enter 90% of the countries limit immigration." Beans explained. "As well as the 75% of the restricted areas in the world."

"Crazy..." You heard Hanzo said from the distant.

"This card also provides free acces to 95% public facilities and a line of credit that rivals large corporations." Beans said. "If you sell the card, you'll have enough money for seven lifetimes and if you keep it, you'll still be able to live in comfort."

"So take extra care that your license isn't lost or stolen. You won't receive a replacement." Beans warned. "According to our estimates, one out of five hunters lost their cards within a year of receiving it." Beans said. "As a hunter, your first challenge as a professional is to protect your card. The rest is up to you. Rise your challenges, believe in your own strength and fulfill your dreams."

"Then, we now declare the eight members here to be new hunters!"

**********

After the orientation, everybody leaves the room. You and Gon ran to the door and found Illumi, Killua's brother, about to go out.

"Gittarackur." Gon called as him and you walked towards him. Illumi turned around and faced Gon.

"Tell us where Killua is." Gon demanded.

"Are you really going to take him away?" Illumi asked. "I think that's a bad idea."

"I don't care what you think!" Gon said as you put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down a bit.

"Killua is our friend. Of course we'll take him away." You said. "Away from people like you."

"Do they feel the same way?" Illumi asked as he looked behind Gon and you.

You both turned around to see Leorio and Kurapika. "You bet." Leorio said. You smiled at them as they smiled back to the both of you.

Illumi put a finger on his lip and looked down at the both of you. "Fine. I doubt you'll be able to make it there anyway." Illumi said. "Killua went back home."

"Home?" Gon repeated.

"Kukuroo Mountain." Illumi said. "Our family lived at the very top."

"Kukuroo mountain?" Leorio repeated, obviously had no clue.

"I got it, thanks." Gon said, turning away.

You bowed at Illumi. "Thanks" You said as you turned back and followed Gon. It has become a habit for you. Bowing whenever someone gave you what you wanted, even in the worst situation.

You catched up with the others and smiled. You turned to Gon and noticed he's in a good mood again. Probably because he have the feeling that all of you will be succesful on rescuing Killua.

**********

"Kukuroo mountain?" Leorio wondered. "Hey, Kurapika, do you know where it is?" Leorio asked but Kurapika remained spaced out. "Hey, Kurapika!"

Kurapika snapped out and looked at Leorio. "Oh, what is it?" He asked.

"The mountain!" Leorio said. "I'm asking about kukuroo mountain! Do you know where it is?" Leorio asked.

"Oh, no I don't..." Kurapika answered. "We can look it up online."

You looked at Kurapika. "Hey, Kurapika...Are you alright? You've been spaced out in past few minutes." You said, concerned.

Kurapika smiled at you. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine. There's nothing to worry about. I'm just thinking about something." He said, reassuring you

"Oh..." You said but still looks concerned.

Then you all a foot step. You turned to see Hanzo waving at the four of you. "Yo!" He said, walking towards all of you.

"Oh? Hanzo-san!" Gon exclaimed.

"I'm going back to my country." Hanzo said. "It's a short yet seemingly long acquintance. But it was fun."

"Yeah! Me too!" Gon said.

"If you're going to visit my country, tell me about it, I'm going to show you the best tourist spots!" Hanzo said giving four tickets to Kurapika. "See ya!" He said as he continued walking.

"Bye!" You and Gon said.

"Oh?" You all heard Kurapika said and looked at the tickets Hanzo gaved him and sweatdropped at it. "A shinobi who tries leaves with an impression..." Kurapika said.

"Hey." You all heard someone called.

You all looked up to Pokkle. "Sorry about getting so excited over there..." Pokkle apologized.

Kurapika slightly smiled. "No, I also lose control. Forgive me." Kurapika said as he bowed.

"No, I only got mad because you were right." Pokkle said. "I was using you to take out my frustration for winning by default."

"But I'm over at that now. Since I passed, I'm going to make the best of it all!" Pokkle said, smiling and ran over to the four of you. "The question is what to do next."

"Yes, you're right." Kurapika agreed.

"I'm going to travel around the world, gathering imformations and discover new species as an exotic game hunter." Pokkle said.

"An Exotic Game Hunter?" Kurapika said.

Gon pointed at the little book-like Pokkle is holding with his eyes shining in curiosity. "Hey, what's that?" He asked.

You looked at it and your eyes shined with curiosity as well. "Yeah, what is it? It looks interesting!" You said

"Oh, this?" Pokkle said as he showed the two of you the book thingy. "We can use this to obtain kinds of information." Pokkle explained as you and Gon listened carefully. "Is there something you want to know? I looked it up on this spot."

Gon put his hands on his chin and think. "Oh..." He said.

"How about a place called Kukur-" you're about to say it but Gon cutted you off.

"How about a man named Ging? Ging Freecs." Gon asked.

"Okay..." Pokkle said as he started to operate his book thingy. Then, after a few moments, Pokkle looked suprised. "Hey, who's this Ging guy?" Pokkle asked.

"Huh?" Gon exclaimed.

"All informations related to him is behind a tight security system that requires a bunch of different access." Pokkle explained. "This guy seems to have massive influence even at national level."

"Huh!? Really!?" Gon said as he sweatdropped and smiled. "Then, forget about it then..."

Leorio leaned on his ear. "Looks like your dad is really someone special." Leorio whispered.

Gon laughed slightly. You leaned in to him as well. "Your dad's name is Ging?" You whispered.

"Yeah." Gon whispered back.

"Oh..." You said.

"Okay then, let me know if anything comes up." Pokkle said as he gave Kurapika a card. "This is my E-mail address." Pokkle said and ran off. "See ya!" He said.

"Bye!" Gon said.

You sweatdropped and widen your eyes. "Shoot! I forgot to ask him about Kukuroo mountain!" You said as you pouted at Gon. "Because Gon interrupted me..."

"Eh!? Really!?" Gon exclaimed as sweatdropped and scratched the back of his head. "Sowwy..." He said, cutely and stuck his tounge out

You giggled at him. "It's fine...Atleast you interrupted me for something you need to know not just a bunch of things to satisfy your curiosity." You said.

"It's alright." You all turned to Kurapika. "As the chairman stated, we are all hunters now. It's a bad idea to let other hunters know what you're doing. We can look it up ourselves." Kurapika said.

You all smiled. "Okay."

"Gon-kun, (Y/N)-san." You all turned to see Satotz.

"Satotz-san!" You and Gon exclaimed as the both of you ran towards him.

"You both forgot this." Satotz said as he pulled out the books that contains both of your hunter license.

"Ah, thank you!" You and Gon said.

"And also, Gon-kun, do you have a moment?" Satotz asked.

Gon looked at you. You smiled and ran back to Kurapika and Leorio. "Go ahead, Gon! We'll wait!" You yelled.

"Yes, we're going to wait in the lobby." Kurapika smiled and all of you turned around to go to the lobby.

**********

You, Kurapika and Leorio waited for Gon in the lobby. You sat on one of the benches. The bench was slightly too high, making your feet unable to touch the ground so you just kept frailing them back and forth.

Then, you felt someone approaching you. You looked up and saw Kurapika walking towards you, smiling.

"Isn't this bench slightly too high for you? There's one that's just enough for your height." Kurapika said, sitting next to you.

You pouted at him. "You sounded like you're making fun of my height here..." You said and looked down. "Besides, I like it when my feet can't reach the ground, I can frail my them back and forth like this." You said as you kept frailing your feet.

Kurapika smiled at you. "I see..." He said.

He looked up for a minute and looked back at you with a serious expression. "(Y/N)." He called.

You looked at him. "Huh?"

"Do you know what Killua meant when he said he wanted to be close to you?" Kurapika asked.

You looked down and smiled. "Yup! Of course I do!" You said.

"Really..." Kurapika said. "Do you want to?" He asked.

You looked up this time. "Of course!" You said, making Kurapika flinch.

"Killua never really realised that Gon is already his friend! But he knows that he and I already friends because I keep reminding him!" You said. "So I guess he wanted to be friends with Gon even though they already are and to be closer to me...more than a friend..." You said.

Kurapika bit his bottom lip. "Does (Y/N) already has feelings for Killua?" Kurapika thought.

But what you said next wasn't really the next thing Kurapika expected you to say.

"I guess he wanted to be best friends with me!" You said, innocently.

Kurapika fell anime-style while sweatdropping. He turned to you. "That's not really what it mean..." Kurapika muttered.

"Eh? No?" You said. "Then, what is it?" You asked, curious.

Kurapika stared at you and noticed how much innocence you have. "Better not ruin it..." Kurapika thought, wisely.

Kurapika smiled at you and pat your head. "Maybe when you're older." Kurapika said.

You pouted and looked down. "Eeeeh?" You exclaimed, disappointed but smiled. "I want to be older soon then!" You said and jumped off the bench.

"If I'm older, not only I'll be able to find out what it really means..." You stopped and looked at Kurapika. "I'll be able to spend more time with Kurapika! Since he's an adult!" You said, smiling at him with a blush on your cheeks.

Kurapika blushed slightly and smiled. "I see..." He said. "Then, I'm looking forward to see you grow older."

You gave him a toothy smile and looked to the side and saw Gon running towards all of you. "Ah, Gon!" You exclaimed and ran towards him. "How did it go?"

**********

You were now in a room filled with many computers. Kurapika was the one who's operating one since he's the one who look more capable of using a computer.

"First, let's looked up Kukuroo Mountain." Leorio suggested.

"Okay." Kurapika said as he typed Kukuroo mountain. "There it is!" Kurapika exclaimed as you leaned in to get a better look.

In the monitor, a picture of large mountain popped out with a bunch of other pictures related to it. ""Kukuroo Mountain, a 3,722 meter-high mountain, located in Dentora region of the republic of Padokea.""

"The republic of Padokea?" Leorio said, confuse. "Never heard of it. Where is it?"

"Hold on...I'll bring up a map." Kurapika then turned back to the computer and began to type again.

Then, a map appeared on the screen with a red light blinking on the top left. "This is the republic of Padokea. It should be fine. It seems it's a stable country. It allows normal tourists." Kurapika informed you all.

"That's where we'll find Killua, huh..." Gon muttered.

"It will take three days to reach by airship..." Kurapika said. "When do we leave?"

"Right now!" You and Gon exclaimed, obviously excited.

"Yeah! No objections for me!" Leorio said.

Kurapika smiled. "Okay!" He said and pressed the enter button.

**********

After packing all of the things you all needed and of course, being a girl, you changed your clothes, you all head out of the hunter exam site.

You all called a taxi to be able to go to the airport but unfortunately, you were all caught in a traffic. So here you all are, inside the never-ending traffic for a long time.

"We've been in one place for forever now." Leorio said.

"This is bad." Kurapika said, looking at the clock. "We'll be late for our flight."

"Pops, can you do something about this?" Leorio asked the driver

"I'm afraid I can't do anything about this traffic and this is the only road." The driver answered.

You looked at Gon. "Hey, Gon any idea?" You asked.

Gon put his hand on his chin and think. You did the same as well. Then, at the same time, you both got an idea.

"In that case!" You and Gon said. "We'll run!" You both said.

You all exited the taxi after paying the driver and ran towards the airport with Kurapika and Leorio trailing behind the two of you.

"Hey, Gon, (Y/N)!" Leorio called. "Do you both realise how far the airport is!?" Leorio asked.

Gon turned to look at him. "We want to rescue Killua as soon as humanly as possible!" Gon said, smiling at them.

You nodded in agreement. "Besides, compared to the hunter exam, this is nothing!" You added.

"Fine, you both win!" Leorio said in defeat.

Kurapika chuckled. "This does remind me of the hunter exam..." He said.

"You got that right." Leorio said, smiling.

"Okay! (Y/N)! Just like what we did with Killua on the hunter exam, let's race to the airport!" Gon suggesed.

You nodded, smiling widely. "Okay!"

"Ready...Go!"

**********
~End~
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A/N :

Well, that was a boring and cute chapter! (Kinda like all the chapter in this story!)

I hope the time you waited for this chapter was worth it! And what's this? 10.2k people read this, 366 votes, and 132 comments!?

Holy shicks, guys! I never expected my story to have this many readers, votes, and comments! I love you all so much!

The picture is your new clothes. (I didn't draw or own it or anything like that.)

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New awesome people who got candies :

• Tet234
• Gweenalee1234
• coolgirl2446
• WookieTheBeater
• Tori2H13
• IffanHelmer
• earth-to-self
• AmethystAngelRose

Guys...I'm just so happy! I can't stop saying it!

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Comment Responses :

Tet234 (Chapter 17)
= Enough Waiting! Here it is!

FemRussia (Chapter 17)
= That's what we're going to find out in the later chapters!

DigiGirl101 (Chapter 17)
= Oh, come on, stop denying it...

achokawa (Chapter 17)
= Indeed! A big, mean, Baka!

Forever_Fan_Girl_ (Chapter 17)
= First Comment : Don't get too addicted!
Second Comment : No, not me. YOU!

Tori2H13 (Chapter 17)
= Someone suggested that to me too, don't worry! I'm going to try my best to make it happen!

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**Please Wait Patiently for Chapter Nineteen**