Gladiator [K.Zoldyck X fem!Reader] (HxH)

13-What weirdos

↜3rd Person Pov↝

"Oh, come on!" called Leorio out, gaining everyone's attention. (Y/N) abruptly lifted her head off of Killua's shoulder, as Leorio was too loud and woke her up. "It's been two hours... What if the others all took different routes? Only a fool would still be at the top of the tower!"

"Calm down, Leorio. Complaining won't help." tried Kurapika, but Leorio wouldn't listen. He asked: "What if no one shows up before we reach our time limit? Hey! I can't just sit here, and-" "Quiet! That sound." said Kurapika, pointing up.

The five of them all looked at the ceiling, watching how a single stone turned, and a man was thrown into the room. The man stood up, looking at his temporary teammates. "Tonpa!" said Gon, recognizing the man.

"Oh, him." said Killua, not liking that it was him that had appeared. Leorio muttered: "It's the old man." "Hm? Tonpa... Is he that guy that poisoned the soda that I drank?" asked (Y/N), looking at Gon and Killua, who both nodded, with Killua saying: "That's him."

Tonpa stared at her in disbelief, asking: "Y-You drank it?" "I did." she answered. "And you're still here?" "Of course. That weak poison doesn't work on me. It worked on the big frog, though." she answered honestly, causing Tonpa to curse in his mind. Why were the newcomers this year so tough?

As soon as he had put the stopwatch on his wrist, a door was reviled. Walking up to it, Kurapika said: "I see. So the door appears once six people arrive and put on the stopwatches." A sign was hung on the door.

Gon read it out loud: "At this door, select O to open, X not to open." "Forcing us to use majority rule already?" asked Leorio, adding: "The answer should be obvious..." They each pressed on a button on their watch, and the screen underneath the sign showed O5, X1.

"What? Who pushed the X button?" asked Leorio, confused. "Sorry, that was me." laughed Tonpa. "I pressed the wrong button on accident. "Stop screwing around, old man! Are you blind?" asked Leorio, holding him by his collar.

"Like I said, it was an accident." "How can you accidentally press the wrong button?!" "It doesn't matter. The door opened." said Gon, wanting to continue moving. Leorio yelled: "No, it does matter! This guy deliberately pressed the wrong button..." "Let's go. We don't have time to bicker." said Kurapika.

"Yeah, let's go!" said (Y/N), only waiting for them to be ready. Killua said: "Even if he keeps pressing the wrong one, the rest of us just need to press the right one." "Fine." said Leorio, letting go of Tonpa, who said. "Okay, let's go!"

And there was the next question already waiting for them. Gon, once again, read it out loud. "Which way do you want to go? O for right. X for left." Turning their heads to inspect the two hallways, they found no differences. So, they just pressed a button.

The screen read O4, X2. "What?! Wh-Why would you choose to go right? Normally, you should go left..." trailed Leorio off. Kurapika said: "That's right. Studies have indicated that people who are lost or stuck at forks unconsciously tend to go left." "I've heard that before, too." noted Killua.

"Wait! The numbers don't add up! Which button did you press?" asked Leorio, pointing at his friends. "Right." they both answered, starting to walk into the pathway.

Tonpa said: "That's why they chose to go right. To outfox the examiner. If the examiner knows that people tend to go left, the left path will be more difficult." Looking at each other, Gon and (Y/N) shrugged, starting to follow the others, with (Y/N) saying: "What weirdos."

After walking a little further, they came across some sort of hollow part of the tower. There was no way to reach the middle, or the other side. But in the middle was some space where they could stand on, and another sign.

"Look over there." said Killua, causing everyone to look to the other side, seeing six cloaked figures in handcuffs. One of them said: "The applicants have arrived. Remove the shackles." Their handcuffs opened, and they each removed their hood. "I'm finally free." said the man that was talking before, grinning.

"Allow me to explain, ladies and gentlemen. Before you are some of Trick Tower's prisoners. The Hunter Exam Committee has also officially hired them as examiners. You will be fighting against the six of them. The fights will be one-on-one. Each person may only fight once. You are free to use any method you like. There will be no draws. A win is declared when the opponent admits defeat." explained Lippo through the speaker.

"You may pick your order. It's majority rule. So secure four wins, and you may pass. The rules are simple." said the prisoner, watching the applicants carefully. "Tch. Majority rule again?" asked Leorio, clearly bothered by it.

Shrugging his shoulders, Killua said: "Well, I prefer straight forward rules." Lippo spoke up once more. "However, the actual fights will not be quite so simple. The prisoners' sentences will be reduced by one year, for every hour they delay the applicants here. In other words, their goal is also to buy time."

"Uh-oh." said (Y/N), getting the feeling that they'll be here for longer than anticipated. "I see. And we must reach the goal within 72 hours. So time will be critical during these fights." stated Kurapika.

"Okay, I'm up first. Choose your combatant!" said the prisoner. "What should we do?" asked Killua, looking at Kurapika. "He said that we can fight with any method. So that means anything goes."

Leorio said: "We don't know what they'll try to pull..." "There's too much at stake without knowing what they have up their sleeves. Given that, I shall-" started Kurapika, but Tonpa cut him off.

"No, I'll go!" he said, stepping forwards. "For real?" asked (Y/N), a bit skeptical. She could tell that he only had bad intentions. He said: "I'll act as a guinea pig, so we can discover what they're up to. Consider this an apology for before."

"Hey, are you serious?" asked Leorio, not sure what to think of him. Tonpa answered: "Yeah! Plus, you guys don't actually trust me, right? Do you really want me to be the tiebreaker, when the score is 3-2?" "You have a point..." "Then it's settled."

A pathway appeared on both sides, and Tonpa and the prisoner walked onto the platform in the middle. "That was a surprise. I didn't expect Tonpa to volunteer." whispered Leorio to his friends. "He called himself a guinea pig." said Killua.

Gon asked: "Will Tonpa be okay?" (Y/N) kept her eyes on the middle of the room, answering. "Oh, he'll be just fine. That little..."