A faint crack of stone.
Leorio jolted awake, snapped out of the sleep that had overtaken him.
"Some doctor…" Killua muttered. "You're snoozing, leaving your patient unattended."
Leorio wanted to snap back, but realizing Gon wasn't beside them, he panicked.
"Where's Gon?!"
Killua pointed to a dimly lit corner of the cave.
There, Gon, bandaged on his right arm and left foot, was doing one-handed push-ups.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Leorio rushed toward Gon, alarmed. "You trying to kill yourself or what? Why are you doing push-ups in your condition?"
Gon didn't answer, fully focused. "Sixty, sixty-one, sixty-two…"
"Hey! You listening? I'm telling you to stop—"
Leorio reached for Gon.
"Leave him alone," Killua cut in.
Leorio paused, about to retort, but Gon, still doing push-ups, spoke up. "Please, Leorio…"
"Please?!" Leorio repeated, confused.
Gon pushed up with his bandaged right arm and fixed Leorio with a stare. In the boy's usually confident eyes, Leorio caught a flicker of frustration, his left fist clenched tightly.
"Gon…" Leorio trailed off.
"I almost died…" Gon said through gritted teeth. "I was completely helpless. He pitied me…"
Leorio reached for Gon's shoulder, but Gon brushed his hand away.
"I can't accept that, Leorio…" Gon continued, locking eyes with him. "You get me, Leorio?"
"But you're not in any shape to—" Leorio tried.
"Thanks for patching me up. But I can't wait. I have to…"
"You're not the only one, Gon," Killua interrupted, stepping closer, hands in his pockets. He pulled off his shirt. "I've got every reason to get stronger too."
Instead of doing push-ups like Gon, he glanced toward the cave entrance, where footsteps approached.
"Still," he added, "training like that won't get us there, Gon."
At that moment, Kurapika and Celeste appeared. Celeste could barely stand, her face drained.
"Morning, everyone," Kurapika greeted cheerfully.
Seeing him, Leorio stormed over, grabbed his collar, and pulled him aside.
"Leorio, something wrong?" Kurapika asked, genuinely surprised.
"Shh!" Leorio hissed, gesturing to keep it down. "Where were you since last night?"
"Well, I—"
"I hope you didn't let Celeste corrupt you," Leorio cut in. "She's my friend, but she's got a habit of stripping in front of anything that moves."
"Idiot, we can hear you," Celeste shot back, glaring. Then her gaze fell on Kurapika, and her expression turned grim again.
She shuffled past the two curious boys and collapsed onto a rock.
"What happened to her?" Leorio asked, now curious too.
"She learned what it means to push past her limits," Kurapika said bluntly. Then he clapped his hands. "Anyway, everyone's looking lively."
"Yeah!" Gon and Killua answered in unison.
"Lively for what, exactly?" Leorio asked.
Kurapika eyed each of them before answering. "For today and the three days left on this island, I'm going to teach you a skill that'll make you very strong."
"What are you going on about now, Kurapika?" Leorio said, lost. "You mean training? Even if we agree, what about the exam? We're in the middle of it. I don't know about you guys, but I haven't hit my 1000 hunting points yet."
"Leorio's right, Kurapika," Gon added, pained. "I'm at 700 points. Training with you the whole time will make us fail, won't it?"
Killua smirked, catching the others' attention. He fixed on Kurapika. "Something tells me you're not dumb enough to overlook that. For me, I don't care about passing this exam or not." His gaze hardened. "Truth is, I'll never be free unless I learn what you promised. So, I'm in."
Kurapika nodded with a smile and turned to the others. "And you?"
Gon took a deep breath before answering. "I'm in too, Kurapika. Becoming a Hunter's pointless if I'm weak. My dad's probably on Hisoka's level. So… train me, Kurapika."
"You guys are unbelievable!" Leorio exclaimed, shocked and overwhelmed. "Damn it!"
"You're the last one, Leorio," Kurapika pointed out.
Leorio gave him a skeptical look, then sighed. "Fine, alright. You are strong. It wouldn't hurt to learn from you." His voice wavered. "Screw the exam, then! Next year it is. Goodbye, dreams of fortune so close."
Kurapika patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Trust me, Leorio, you made the right call."
He grabbed a water bottle from his bag and poured it into a tin can. Then he pulled a small leaf from his pocket and placed it on the water's surface.
The three others watched, skeptical.
"That's for later," Kurapika said, sensing their questions. He turned to them. "Alright, let's begin!"
"What're you teaching us, exactly?" Leorio asked. "A fighting technique? Something like that?"
Kurapika smiled. "Not quite." He looked at them for a moment. "I'm going to make you more complete."
"Huh?"
"Be clearer, Kurapika," Killua said.
Kurapika sighed. "Actions speak louder than words." He spread his arms toward his three companions. "One of you, step forward so I can awaken you. I should note I've never done this on a person before, but it's supposedly the fastest method I know."
Question marks popped up over the three boys' heads.
"Kurapika, tell me you're just messing with us?" Leorio said, the most confused.
"We don't get what you're talking about," Gon added, scratching his head.
"Fine, I'll go." Killua stepped forward first.
"You serious, man?" Leorio said, thinking he was nuts.
"I know what I saw when Kurapika showed me," Killua replied, approaching Kurapika. He shrugged. "Like he said, actions speak louder than words."
He stood before Kurapika and looked up to meet his gaze.
"Keep your promise."
Kurapika smiled. "Don't worry, I always keep my promises."
He placed his hand on Killua's head, and Killua closed his eyes.
"In a moment, you'll feel like every pore in your body is opening at once. You have to train hard to keep the energy that comes out from escaping. Got it?"
Killua just nodded.
"And if he can't?" Leorio asked, half-joking.
"He'll die," Kurapika answered flatly.
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