He wasn't sure why he agreed to be in the Gungi tournament. Maybe it was Pitou's fault, urging him to go use his "talents" to win the contest. They had wanted a new sewing machine and the prize money was more than enough to pay for it. Meruem wasn't that interested, but it wasn't like he had anything else to do. Besides, being busy to keep his family off his back was something that he wanted. They were always pressuring him to do stuff that he honestly didn't want to do. "You're so smart, you could be a brain surgeon, Meruem" "Why don't you be like your brother?" "You're the family heir and also incredibly intelligent why did you want to waste your life away when you can create so many things, Meruem." So annoying.

But here he was. At the tournament. Bored out of his mind. So far he had completely slaughtered his competition. None of them had lasted over five minutes, which was funny because he had learned the game the day before. He was sitting in the corner of the large gym it was being held in. A sticker with the number 107 stuck to his chest. He was the last one to arrive. Always being late was one of his less desirable traits. Short tables dotted the floor, and people deep in thought studied the game boards on them. Bystanders and those waiting to be called stood or sat on the sidelines. Many chatted with friends also attending. He adjusted his green chullo hat. At least that was his friend. Jeez, now he was acting like his hat was a person just because he knew literally no one there.

Meruem scanned over the competitors, there were a lot of weirdos who looked like they hadn't showered in two years. One kid had just won a game, and was rolling on the floor. It was just a board game, not that exciting. The other kid who lost was crying. Wow. Guess it was intense for some people. Meruem was startled out of his gaze when the overhead speaker came on.

"Number 107 and Number 68 to board 5, please."

He sat up and trudged over to the low table. A tired sigh accidentally escaped him, causing his opponent, thin, nervous guy, to glare at him. The man had greased back hair and an air of confidence.

"Be prepared to lose," the guy said cockily.

"I wouldn't say that," he replied.

The game lasted two minutes.

When he arrived back in his little corner, it was still warm from when he sat there earlier. Just as he sat down, he noticed a commotion. A lot of people were gathered around one pair. He couldn't see them from where he was. Suddenly a loud chorus of OOOOHHHs erupted. Interesting.

An hour had passed before he was called again. He had almost fallen asleep, due to the quiet murmur of the warm gym. The announcement confused him for a second, before he realized that he was actually a finalist. The very last match would be between him and someone named… Kogi? Komodo? Something like that.

This match was on the stage, so that spectators could see. As he walked towards it, he heard whispers.

"I feel bad for whoever is going up against Komugi, they're going to get destroyed," said a voice.

"At least they get the prize for being in second place," the other replied.

Meruem cocked an eyebrow. So this person must be really good, huh? Too bad he had to ruin their winning streak. You see, Meruem had never lost. And he wasn't planning on changing that. It wasn't that he had some bizarre complex, he was just good at everything he entered.

He made his way to his spot on stage and waited. A girl with very light, puffy brown hair came up. She had a stick and was gently tapping it against the floor, and her eyes were closed. Realization that she was blind hit him. Was she his opponent?

She sat down on the other side, and smiled nervously. "Uh, hello? My name is Komugi! It's an honor to play against you!" The girl bowed her head quickly. Her snubby nose was running, and she seemed unaware of it.

Meruem had no interest in being acquainted with her. "May we begin?"

"Yes, yes," she said excitedly. Her bangs were flopping all over head, and if it weren't for the rest of her hair being tied to the side, he suspected that it would be all over the place too. The girl's thick eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes opened. They were a shocking bright blue, but blank of any sight.

Twenty minutes passed. Meruem was growing frustrated. Every move he played, she had completely blocked and then moved forward. This was the hardest game he had ever played. He wasn't used to feeling like he was losing. It was an odd feeling. The girl, Komugi, remained quiet during the game, only announcing her plays and sneezing once in awhile. A bit of snot had gotten on the board, which was honestly pretty gross.

"Spy 5-2-1."

He blinked. She had won. How did this happen? Was he… not good enough? This can't be happening. Maybe it was a fluke. He was getting tired, after all. He looked up at her. She yawned.

"Again."

Komugi looked confused. Before she could speak, the announcer came on stage.

"Congratulations to this year's winner of our city's Gungi competition! First place is five hundred thousand jenny! Second place is twenty five thousand! And third place is five thousand! Thank you everyone for coming! Now, here are our winners: Third place: Number 2, please come up and collect your prize. Second place: Number 107. And first place, our five-time reigning champion, Number 13, Komugi!"

The audience applauded. Another contestant, Number 2, came and took her prize. Meruem took the check for twenty five thousand jenny. He didn't really know what to buy with it so he tucked it away to give to Pitou later. Komugi was waving nervously at the crowd. A staff member helped her off the stage and gave her her white cane back. He rushed down to speak to her.

"We must play again," he said.

"Huh? I was just going home, but I can-"

"What school do you go to?"

"East Gorteau?"

"Meet me in the library at 12:30 tomorrow. Don't be late." With that statement, he left.

He got home around six. Only his sister, Kite, was home. Meruem lived with his older brother, Colt, and Kite. His mother had died giving birth to Kite and him, and his father was always out of the picture. For some reason, his mother's extensive family decided that Meruem was going to be their company's next CEO. Their business was called Chimera Ants Corporation, and he honestly had no idea what they sold.

"Meruem," his sister greeted. She was in the kitchen making food in a pot. "I heard you were at a Gungi tournament. How did it go?"

"I got second place."

Kite stopped stirring the-soup?- and looked at him. "Guess someone is finally better than you at something."

"Yes. I made an appointment to play against the winner once again. What are you making?" He crept over to look into the pot.

"Matzo ball soup. Don't touch," she said and swatted his hand away from the pot.

"Ging recipe?" He asked.

"Yeah. Hey did you know that his son goes to our school now? We should say hello tomorrow."

Before Colt was old enough to have custody over Meruem and Kite, they were separated. Kite stayed with an odd man named Ging, who traveled a lot and liked animals. Meruem stayed with Pitou's family, which is how he met them. Colt was unlucky and was with a horrible couple who didn't realize the effort of raising children. The extended family earlier who "loved their daughter so much" couldn't be bothered to raise her children. That was what caused his resentment towards them.

"Are you okay?" Kite asked. He must have been staring off into space.

"Yeah." She smiled gently at him and ruffled his hat. Meruem scowled and fixed it, carefully draping the ear flaps.

He left the kitchen to go to his bedroom. Most teenagers his age had video game posters, messy clothes everywhere, and objects from hobbies. Meruem had a tidy room with bookshelves and a desk with a computer. The colors in his room weren't matching enough to look nice, but not so contrasted as to be distracting. His bed was from IKEA or somewhere like that. His room was incredibly bleh to be in if it weren't for the large formicarium propped against a wall.

He walked over and knelt by it. It was a gift from his grandfather who meant it as a joke, but he thoroughly enjoyed taking care of the tiny insects. He had a small cup of water to the side, and carefully dropped some into the ant farm. The formicarium was the love of his life, and he invested almost all of his pocket money into making sure the ants were fine in their two panes of glass.

"Did you already eat all the food I put in here this morning? Tsk tsk," he hummed, taking out a cracker and breaking it into crumbs.

Meruem watched the ants scuttle for food. He laid down and put his head in his hands to watch them. They were so small, so helpless, so weak. If he wanted, Meruem could easily crush them all. He sighed. Watching the ants and the quiet noise of Kite in the kitchen gently lulled him to sleep.