Zepheena took a look at her side to see Killua walking with his hands behind his head, his eyes rested shut in a relaxed manner.

"So you said your family are all assassins, which means that they're well known right?" Zephi spoke up.

Killua peeked an eye open. "What makes you say that?"

"Well I know of a couple families that run in the assassination business. I was doing a lot of research so I'd be able to find the Phantom Troupe. You hear more about the families than you do individuals."

"Hm, that's true I guess," Killua nodded slowly. "I'm a Zoldyck. Hope that doesn't scare you too much."

She saw the teasing grin on his face which made her roll her eyes. "Yeah right. Scare me. If you were gonna kill me, I'm disappointed that you didn't do it days ago."

The two looked at each other and started laughing.

"Ya know, Zephi, you and Gon are pretty cool. I didn't think I'd meet anyone like you guys," the white haired boy spoke calmly. "I'm glad."

"Aww, you're so sweet!" Zepheena nudged him with a snicker.

He scoffed and pushed her away. "Don't make it weird."

She continued to laugh at the embarrassment on his face.

"Stop laughing!"

-

"All hunter applicants, make you're way back to the starting area! You will be given an additional hour to return with your badges. Any trading of badged in the starting area is strictly prohibited! If you do not return before the hour is up, you will fail the fourth phase!"

"Looks like we should really head back then," Zepheena spoke up and Killua nodded.

The two made their way back to the starting area for the fourth phase and as soon as Zephi saw Aoifa standing with Hisoka and Gittarackur, she held up her badges.

"See," Aoifa spoke up. "Told ya she'd be fine."

"I don't see the others," Killua mumbled.

"We've still got half an hour. They'll be here. I just have a gut feeling," Zepheena assured as she crossed her arms.

He nodded in agreement. There's no way they would fail.

The examiner checked everyone's badges and then looked at her board.

"So only you eight passed?" She spoke with a hum. "Oh, wait!!"

Everyone turned to see Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio appear from the brush.

"Cutting it close, but you made it!! Will all of you join me on the airship and we will make our way to the final phase of the exam!"

-

"Attention, all applicants. The chairman wishes to interview you. When you hear your number called, make your way to the reception room on the second floor. We'll start with number forty-four, Mr Hisoka."

Zepheena plopped down onto the couch in the lounge area and crossed her legs in front of her.

"We're doing pretty good, if you ask me," Zephi boasted with a toothy grin. "So, Killua, what are you gonna do after the exam?"

That made the white haired assassin stop to think. "Ya know, I haven't really thought about it much. I don't know what I want to do. What about you?"

"I'm gonna keep training to get stronger so I can find the Phantom Troupe," she answered.

"You're gonna spend your whole life trying to kill them? Doesn't sound like fun."

Zephi frowned as she looked down.

"You're gonna waste your life. Does your family want that?" Killua pressed.

"I think they'd want to be alive," she snapped.

"Well, duh. But they're not and you are. That's the harsh truth of it," Killua snapped back, flicking her forehead. "Get stronger to be better than the Troupe. That's the best revenge you can get!"

Zepheena raised her gaze to meet his eyes. He had a point. Wasting her whole life on trying to get back at the Troupe was not what her parents would want for her, but they would want her to get stronger.

"Thanks, Killua," she spoke with a small smile. "I needed that."

"I know. I'm pretty helpful," he shot back as he grinned. "Don't forget it."

"Number 99, Mr Killua."

"Guess I'm up! See ya!" Killua jumped up and ran to take his turn with the interviews.

Zepheena waved as he left and she patiently waited for her number to be called.

-

"Number 12, Miss Zepheena."

Zepheena made her way to the interview room and took a seat in front of the chairman.

"The other youngin," he chuckled. "Did you guys all come together? I notice that you kids are close."

"No, we actually met here at the exam," she replied with a bright smile. "So we're doing interviews for the final phase or...?"

Netero laughed as he shook his head. "Not quite. I just wanted to get a feel for the last standing applicants. Now, may I ask why you'd like to become a hunter?"

"Hmm, well when I heard about that you can get free lodging, that sounded really nice. I don't have a home at the moment so a warm place to sleep is always nice. But someone smacked some sense into me and now I know that I want to get stronger. I want to be able to make my family proud."

"That's very admirable," the old man replied. "Next question. Which of the other ten applicants are you keeping an eye on?"

"Um, well everyone I guess. But if I had to pick it would would be numbers ninety-nine and four oh five. They're my age so I feel like I should keep up with them."

"Alright, and who would you least like to fight?"

"Least like to fight?" Zephi thought for a moment. "Well, number forty-four and number three oh one. I feel like they'd gut me immediately, but I can't fight number number four oh four, he's my brother."

"Your brother, you say. Well we wouldn't want that. Thank you for your time, Miss Zepheena," chairman Netero spoke with a grin.

Zephi nodded and stood up, leaving the room for the next applicant.

She went to find Kurapika and the others, wanting to see what they thought the final phase would be.

"Zeph, over here."

The raven haired girl turned to the blonde haired Kurta and ran Ober to the group he was with.

"Hey, guys!!" She revealed her teeth to them in a grin. "So, did everyone go yet? Gon still has to get-"

"Number four oh five, Mr Gon."

"Welp! Guess it's my turn!" Gon announced before running off to his interview.

"So I'm assuming we all got asked the same questions. Who did you say you were keeping and eye on?" Kurapika asked as he looked at Zepheena.

"Gon and Killua."

The silver haired boy raised a brow in curiosity.

"Since we're all the same age. But I said that I would least like to fight Hisoka or that Gittarackur guy. I also said that I couldn't fight you," Zephi finished, her gaze staying on Kurapika.

He chuckled lightly. "I also said that I couldn't fight you."

"That's adorable," Leorio gushed. "You really are like a big brother."

Kurapika grunted lightly as Leorio knocked into him, but he smiled. "Yes. She's all I have left, so I could never let myself fight her."

"She's not all you have. You've got Addie too~" Leorio teased.

"Addie?" Zepheena asked as she raised a brow.

"Kurapika's girlfriend," Killua responded. "He was telling Leorio all about her in the third phase."

Zephi whipped her head towards the blonde. "You have a girlfriend and you didn't tell me?!"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Kurapika defended.

Leorio gave a laugh. "You said that you kissed her!! Sounds like a girlfriend to me."

"It's complicated, okay. I haven't seen her in a couple years, but I've been trying to find her. We got separated, but we weren't dating, thank you, Leorio," Kurapika explained with a frown.

"I'm gonna need all the details on this. At least tell me her name and what she looks like," Zepheena said quickly.

Kurapika sighed and looked at his bracelet as he futzed with it. "Her name is Addelei De Lunes. She's got long copper hair and her eyes are two different colors. The right one is like a bluey green with some brown spots while the other is brown."

"Ooo! She sounds pretty!" Zephi gushed which made Kurapika nod, his cheeks burning so much that his ears were tinted pink.

"She's a lot like you, though. You're both very rambunctious."

"So you're telling me that she's awesome. I hear ya," Zephi joked with a toothy grin.

Kurapika chuckled as he nodded. "Yes. She's as awesome as you."

-

After arriving to the location of the final phase, all the applicants were gathered into a large foyer.

"Well, is everyone well rested? Now then, the hunter exam committee runs this hotel. So, feel free to make yourselves at home until the battles have concluded. For the final phase of the hunter exam will be competing in a one on one tournament," the chairman announced as one of the examiners pulled a veiled board over to the old man.

Netero removed the cloth from the board to reveal a bracket system that ended with one supposed winner at the top.

"Hold on a second," Leorio spoke up as he looked at the brackets. "So only the last person standing passes?"

"No. You only need one win to pass this phase."

"Just one?" Gon spoke.

"Wait... so in this tournament..." Leorio trailed off.

"See, it's the winners who will drop away and the losers will advance the next round. Which means the personal finishes of the top will not pass. Make sense to everyone?" Netero explained to the remaining applicants.

"You're saying that only one person will fail the exam?" Hanzo confirmed as he stood with his arms crossed.

"Exactly." Netero took the cover off of the photos of the applicants on the board, revealing the bracket order. "Here is the bracket we've put together."

Zepheena looked at her place in the bracket. The first pair was Gon and Hanzo and she knew that either one of them would be more than capable of taking down Pokkle, which meant she would more than likely be facing Pokkle, and if she couldn't defeat him, she was gonna have to face Killua.

"Impressive, yes? You see, under this bracket each applicant will have at least two chances to pass," Netero continued to explain.

"Yeah, but some people get five chances to win, like two ninety-four and four oh five," Pokkle pointed out.

"Couldn't you have used more balanced bracket?" Bodoro questioned with narrowed eyes.

Netero hummed and nodded. " No that's a fair question. This bracket was assembled carefully based on each of your individual performances. To put it simply those with the best performances throughout the hunter exam will have the most chances to win."

"I'm not convinced. Could you explain exactly how you scored our performances?".

Zepheena looked over at Killua after he asked his question before looking at the chairman.

"No!!" He shouted.

"Well, why not?!"

"I can't say because your scores are classified." Killua huffed at the old man's answer, clearly unsatisfied. "I can't tell you your actual scores, however, I can tell you the criteria that we used."

"We start with the basics. There are three categories. Physical strength, mental acuity and overall impression. When judging physical strength, we rely on an aggregate of flexibility, agility, endurance, and perception. For mental acuity, the aggregate consists of resilience, judgment, adaptability, and of course, creativity. But these are only referent points. After all, every one of you was strong enough in mind and body to reach the final phase."

Zephi chewed the inside of her lip as she tried to think about what could've pushed her in front if Killua. He was definitely stronger than her, and Gittarackur? How was she ahead of him?

"We're most concerned with your overall impression. This refers to any intangible factors that defy basic categorization. Think of it as our way of assessing your potential as a hunter. We round out our assessment by incorporating the opinions of your peers. There you have it."

'Okay, so maybe it's just because of how standoffish and carefree he is. That would make more sense. But still, I don't know if Killua should've been ranked below me.'

She glanced at him and saw him almost glaring at the board.

"Hey, if we end up fighting, we're still good, right? No hard feelings between us?" Zephi whispered.

Killua turned his gaze to her and shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Though, I will be disappointed if you let that shrimp beat you."

The girl smiled at his comment and nodded. "Got it."

"The rules of the battle are really quite simple. Weapons are allowed, cheating is forbidding, and if your opponent admits defeat, you win. However! If you kill your opponent, you will be qualified without hesitation. If that happens, the exam ends and the remaining applicants pass. Got it?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Then let the final phase of the hunter exam begin!"