I'LL BE WITH YOU ― KURAPIKA KURTA ✓

──── 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙇𝙑𝙀

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50 hours.

The gang has to wait 50 in a small room. How wonderful.

Killua and Gon were talking to each other, Leorio was sitting on the couch flipping through some magazines, and Kurapika and [Y/N] were both readings.

"Hey, Kurapika, [Y/N]," Leorio called out, "Once we finish spending our fifty hours, we'll have less than ten hours left, right?"

"Yes, that's correct," Kurapika replied. Leorio was ecstatic and confident that it was enough time for the gang to complete the third phase.

"Maybe...but this phase is supposed to take 72 hours to complete, remember?" [Y/N] spoke up, closing her book, and placing it on her lap, "Each phase seems to be halving the number of applicants. In other words, the chances of passing will have to rely on what comes next,"

Kurapika concurred with [Y/N]'s thought process, Leorio groaning at the both of them. Just then, a skateboard flew between Kurapika's and Leorio's heads.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Leorio asked angrily.

"Sorry about that," Gon apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't skateboard inside this tiny room!" Leorio scolded the young boy.

"Aww..." The young boy had a disappointing frown.

~~~

A few hours had gone by, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio were peacefully sleeping while [Y/N] and Killua were still awake.

"You can't sleep?" Killua spoke up, making [Y/N] turn her attention to him.

[Y/N] nodded, "How about you?" She asked.

"I can stay awake two or three days at a time," Killua responded, boredom in his voice.

The two of them figured it was morning already as they were no windows to verify. Killua looked over at Gon, grabbed his pillow, and throws it at Gon. Gon catches it and throws it back, surprising Killua. Killua throws it again as Gon catches it, he opened his eyes with a grin as they began their pillow fight. [Y/N] watches the fight as her eyelids were getting heavier each second.

"Come here..." [Y/N] looks down at the half-asleep Kurapika who motioned her to enter the blanket with him. She didn't object as she crawls under the same blanket as him, turning away from him.

Another hour passes by since [Y/N] has fallen asleep, she could still hear Gon and Killua still having their pillow fight. Leorio scolded the two young boys for being too loud but their only response was a nervous laugh.

A few hours have passed, [Y/N] is still asleep on Kurapika's lap since he was awake reading a book that he found. Gon was teaching Killua how to use his fishing rod while Leorio is asleep. Or was asleep. "H-Hey! Stop it! You're going to rip off my pants!" [Y/N] opened her eyes to see Leorio scolding the boys about he's a fish or something. [Y/N] let out a small yawn and looked up at Kurapika, who was looking down at her with a smile.

"Good morning...Well, I'm not sure if it's morning or not," Kurapika said with a small chuckle. [Y/N] nodded at him as she got up from his lap. [Y/N] took out her book and started to read to pass the time.

~~~

After a long wait, the gang was finally out of the room. The group began taking multiple paths involved what seemed to be a fragmented minecart rail all the way to outrunning a massive boulder, there was only one hour remaining. At last, the gang reached a door where they were all prompted to vote whether to open it or not.

"We must be getting real close to the end," Killua spoke, once entering the now open door. The group followed Killua into the next room where they were informed of their final decision. After pressing O a voice from the siren statue promoted them to vote on what path to choose that would lead them to the base of Trick Tower.

"There are two available options to choose from: The long and difficult path, which the entire group can take, or the short and easy path, which will be limited to on,y three of you. Incidentally, I'd you choose the long and difficult path it will require a minimum of forty-five hours to complete, while the short and easy path will lead directly to the goal in approximately three minutes. Press 'O' to select the long and difficult path, or press 'X' to choose the short and easy path. If 'X' is selected, two applicants from your group must be chained to the wall with handcuffs before the door will open. Those applicants will be unable to move until the time limit has expired."

"Two out of five...So we're supposed to fight to decide the three who pass?" Kurapika sighed.

"Hold on," Everyone turned their attention to Gon, "I'm going to press 'O'. We made it all the way here together. I want us all to pass together,"

"Gon..." Leorio mumbled.

"Even if it's a big risk, I want to give it a shot!"

"Come on...You can't really call this a risk," Killua checked his watch and continued, "We have less than an hour,"

"Gon, there's only one choice if you want to pass this exam," [Y/N] added.

"Now we have to decide how to choose with three passes. Well, I'm planning on two of them being you and me." Killua admitted.

"Me too. I'm planning on two of them being me and [Y/N]," Kurapika confessed, looking over to [Y/N]. That's when Gon had an idea for the group.

"Wait, look at the weapons!" He pointed out, "The doors are right next to each other meaning that the paths are probably separated only by a wall. If we choose the long and difficult path, all five of us will be allowed to leave. We can upset the axes to blow out the wall between the two paths and take the short and easy one!"

Everyone looked at each other before nodding in agreement. They all follow Gon's instructions and arrived at the end of Trick Tower at the last minute.

Riley's eyes lit up when he spotted [Y/N], and rushed over to her, "Yo, [Y/N]! I'm glad to see that you're all right! I started to think that you weren't going to make it out of this tower!" He noticed that their hands were semi-blistered, "Say...what happened?" He asked.

"We entered a long and difficult path. Then cut a hole in the wall, to sneak into the short and easy path," Kurapika informed the boy.

"Ah." Riley hummed, "That's some great thinking!"

A loud beep was heard as they announced, "The Third Phase of the exam is over. Twenty-six applicants have passed." Then a door to their exit opened leading them towards the fourth phase.

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