Breaking The Chains (Kurapika x Reader)

Partners of Convenience

Y/N

We left the room and were immediately confronted by many trials. Some seemed like they were designed only to consume our time while others were like being thrown down a waterfall in a barrel (which unsurprisingly also occured).The first turn led to an obscenely long hallway that was littered with collapsing walls, walls with sharp arrows projecting outwards, false floors, and adhesive covered walls/floors. Getting through that was enough to convince me that I would definitely pass the Exams first try because this is not a test I would like to make up. After taking a brief break we continued onwards. Our next trial vaguely reminded me of a game I had seen once. The small and stout character had to swim through murky water hoping to make it to his destination before drowning. Aside from the drowning issue, there would also be "enemies " planted in the water to increase the difficulty.

The only good thing about this was that I knew we were making progress descending the tower. Other than that, I feel like having to strip and dive into a room of could water with spikes covering the walls and ground was not very pleasant. Even less pleasant was how I discovered the presence of the sharp walls. Kurapika's ears are fortunate that screaming underwater is near impossible because I definitely saw something move in the water next to me. In that moment, I swear that my sad, pitiful life flash before my eyes. It wasn't completely terrible that I freaked out because I was able to use the panic to fuel my attempts to tear open the boards leading out. Kurapika assisted me in shaking the boards loose and as soon as there was enough room for me to slip through, I shot out of the water tank as rapidly as possible. I almost left Kurapika in my hurry to put my clothes on, but seeing that I had just accidentally thrown his shirt on reminded me that the blonde was still barely climbing out. As the decent human being I am, I rushed over to him and helped him out. I handed him his clothes from my bag and turned around to finish putting my clothes on. I took his shirt off of myself and tugged my own on before turning to hand him his shirt. His pants were still halfway up, barely over his knees, so, out of respect, I turn away again and hold the shirt in my extended hand. As soon as he takes the shirt I begin to walk forward and eventually I go up the stairs hidden in the walls of a dead end hall.

It takes me a few seconds to realize that Kurapika isn't directly behind me, so I peek my head around and diacover him looking around in a daze. From where I am, I ask him if he's okay and wait for his response. My waiting is wasted by his lack of a response. This time, he's slumped over on a wall barely managing to trudge forward. I step towards him and am immediately embraced by him. His actions left me so utterly shocked that my only response is to hold him before attempting to move and hoping that he follows, or at least assists my attempts somehow. He does not.

"At least tell me what's wrong," I say, holding his chin to make him face me.

"Y/n... I'm tired and it hurts."

"What hurts? If you're tired I can help you, so that we can at least make some progress," I suggest.

"No, I can manage. I think. Maybe," he responds, bracing himself against the wall now. He stands up straight for a second before slouching again.

"You said 'it hurts'? What hurts?" I barely finish my sentence when he hobbles away from me, keels over, and vomits.

"Damn it," he mutters.

I pull out my rubbing alcohol and offer him some and he accepts a small napkin coated in alcohol. Once he assures me that he's fine, we begin to make our way out of this particularly dull hall. Even though I would rather take it slow and walk for a bit, he ran as fast as he could and eventually he said he was perfectly fine again. I was hesitant to believe that and insisted on taking it easy, but again he declined my help and continued on. Trial after trial, we both narrowly survived and pressed onward.