Author's Note: Hello everyone. I know some of my current readers, if any of you are even reading this or exist anymore, are kind of surprised by this. Well, to be short. Hunter x Hunter is fantastic and I finally felt able to start a story for it. Updates for my other stuff is coming with the next few days. Thanks for reading and look at the note below for more info.

January 9th, 2001, Before Dawn, Jappon

It's up to you Kean.

His sister's words replayed in his mind every step of the dirt path before him. She'd never entrusted him with anything. Not once in his entire life had Kean been told that the good of the clan rested on his shoulders. Over the last few months, things had gotten more and more tense in the Hayashe clan. But it clearer than ever for the young ninja, that things must be serious if he was being sent out of Jappon. Not only for a mission, but a mission specifically geared towards learning how Hunters could be so strong.

His footsteps seemed lighter than silence. He moved briskly and without error. Even the yellow leaves under Kean's black tabi shoes didn't crumble.

Kean moved with a purpose. Only a singular redeye flight ever landed on the edge of Jappon to allow Hunter entrees passage to the exam. If you missed it, you were out of luck for the year. This was part of Jappon's desire to keep to themselves and withhold the integrity of their customs. For as long as possible, they wanted to preserve that inkling of the yesterworld they refused to leave behind. And it was for that very reason that the spiky haired ninja was often on the outs with his clansmen. No matter what he did, he always seemed to be the odd one out. If all the clan shaved their head, his hair grew back overnight to pristine spikiness. Everyone's mastered a technique, Kean's struggling. Kean figures out a better way to do something, the clan likes the old way.

Old the more reason for Kean to not fail here. If there had been anyone around, they probably would have mistaken him for a blur of blackness, given his ninja garb, but he couldn't afford to take things slowly. No time could be wasted in reaching that flight and becoming a Hunter as soon as possible. Kean's elder half sister stood as one of the higher ups in the clan and to no one's surprise was the only reason he hadn't been cast out long ago. She had even given him a small pouch of gold to secure a roof over his head and food. He wasn't a bad ninja. He was just different. Despite his skill, his way of thinking went against the clan's in every way, but one. Do anything for the clan.

"Help!"

The cry for help jarred him from his repetitive thought process.

"Who could possibly be out here right now?" he thought. "And why would they need help?"

He turned on his heel almost immediately. He'd find them. Help them. And then move on with his mission. No big deal. And then as if to tease him for his own duality, he heard an engine start up and the faintest sound of a propeller following along with it.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

He took off. The only proof of his having been there; the matted leaves trailing towards the cries for help.

It didn't take long to locate the problem. Two thieves and a young farm hand. The farm boy had been bloodied and knocked to the ground already, while the thieves were helping themselves to what must have been a bushel of apples given the abundance of the trees.

A deep breath followed by a roll of the eyes were the prelude to a warning that Kean was certain would be ignored.

"Ok," he said in an attempt to peacefully make the thieves aware of his presence. "Just drop the bag an-"

"I'll kill him!" shouted one thief. He'd already drawn a small blade and began to make his way over to the farm hand.

As quietly and as quickly as he'd arrived, he crossed the clearing. The thief barely saw, let alone felt, the force of the fist winding him. He staggered backwards before slumping over into a heap of his own weight. Kean considered using his binding rope to secure the criminal, but found quickly decided it was excessive.

Kean's eyes narrowed on the other thief. He'd either run away or at Kean now. Either way, Kean couldn't let him go. But at least one of those would save him time.

He took off.

"And of course!"

With little more than a leap he was in front of the thief, panicking them even more. They frantically drew a dagger and sliced at a missing target.

With movement true to the Hayashe name, Kean was as fluid as could be. One hand popped the grip on the blade loose. The other catching it before it hit the ground before Kean pinned the thief to the tree, forcing him into submission.

"I give up!" yelled the thief. "I'm sorry. We were just so hungry."

A sad truth, but sometimes the outskirts of Jappon were unkind. Unless you were a farmer, finding steady work was difficult. But despite that, there was an injured farm hand now and so he could let them go.

"And that meant you had to bloody a young boy for food?"

From the hate in his eyes, it was clear that Kean's words stung the thief. He eyed Kean for a long time before spitting out, "Just do whatever you're gonna do to me. But leave my buddy out of it if you can. It was my idea."

Living on the outside was hard, no matter where you were looking in from. That was just the simple truth of it. But that didn't mean there was no way out for a person if they tried. "I'm on my way to take the Hunter Exam," said Kean. "In one year's time, there will be another flight leaving for the exam. I want you on it."

He pulled out the small brown pouch. "This should be enough for the apples you stole. Pay it back and then head towards Mostrife Dojo and pay the entrance fee for you and your friend."

"What the hell is wrong with you?! We can't be Hunters!"

"Why not!" shouted Kean. "All the obstacles that might be in your way, I just removed."

It was damning to be sure. And to anybody looking in at the situation they might be thrown. But this was why the ninjas of Hayashe despised Kean. There was no reason or logic to him.

"Last call for all hunter examinees!"

The words echoed through the forest. "Oh crap! Like I said, one year!"

"Wait, I don't even know your name!" shouted the thief. "I'm Aito!"

"Kean!"

A blur moving through the forest. That's about all he was at this point. The plane was getting both louder and quieter all at once. Which meant it was likely moving around the field and preparing for take off. And just like that it came into view. A small white plane, doors already closed and pulling off towards the sea.

"Wait!"

His screamed drowned out by the roar of the propeller, he was left with one option. Chase it.

It grew closer and closer to the edge of the field and then ever so slight it began pulling up just as Kean neared it.

"Oh no you don't!"

He pulled out the binding rope, tied it to the thief's dagger, and threw it. The dagger had just barely hooked onto the landing gear. And before he knew it, the plane was over the ocean, with Kean dangling in the air beneath it.

There was really only one silver lining in all of it. Kean dreaded flying. Absolutely hated the idea of being trapped in a small plane. So dangling from a place several hundred feet in the air provided just enough adrenaline to take his mind off the actual flight.

That and once he had given up yelling for help, he recited, 'It's all for the clan' to himself until eventually the plane began to land.

It hadn't occurred to him, but there was no way he could just drag along with the plane until it came to a stop. Lucky for him he already had directions as to where he was supposed to go. The flight from Jappon was to make a stop on a tiny island separate from the Archipelago called Nipre. And from there, they were to take a boat ride to the exam site.

As the plane descended and neared the island, Kean jumped to the water below. "Here goes," he said before he plunged beneath. His training had taken on the most intense forms possible. No. He had never dangled from a plane and then free fell to the ocean below, but things very similar were referenced to remind himself that he probably wouldn't die.

He swam ashore and then began the run towards the runway he could see the plane had parked on. There were other planes beside it and from them, people were pouring out.

After a few minutes, Kean made it the plane his binding rope had been attached to. He pulled it loose and then lined up alongside the passengers, much to everyone's surprise.

"Where the hell did you come from?" asked an examinee.

"Why are you soaking wet?" asked another.

"Hahahaha," laughed the pilot. "You pass for sure."

"I pass?" asked Kean.

"How does he pass?" screamed a giant man towering well over 8 feet. "We all had to answer one of your ridiculous riddles before we passed and all that before the plane landed."

"I can't imagine you ever answering any form of riddle," joked Kean.

"What was that?!" yelled the beast of a man.

"I. Don't. Think. You're. Smart."

The giant seemed ready to pop a vein, but the pilot intervened. "I decide who passes and who doesn't. He hung out of the plane all the way here and then jumped down and swam to us. Good enough for me."

"You knew I was there?!" yelled Kean.

"Of course I did. What pilot doesn't notice a man hanging onto his plane?"

"And you left me to die."

"You seem fairly alive to me," said the pilot. "Plus you were late. I'm not obligated to be late waiting on you because you showed up late."

"I was busy helpin-"

"Doesn't matter to me," shrugged the pilot. "I figured if you were serious about being a Hunter, then that much would be possible for you and what do ya know? You're fine."

Kean considered arguing some more, but the old scruffy pilot had already walked off. There were all sorts of people around. A fellow ninja, swordsman, the brutish giant. All sorts of martial artists and weirdos. A man dressed as a knight, a woman in denim overalls and a strawhat, a pair of triplets completing each other's sentences. There seemed to be an endless supply to the people who had made it this far and Kean couldn't help, but wonder what lay ahead of them.

The pilot came back to them with final instructions. The ship taking everyone to the exam site is on the other side of the island. "I'd say be careful and no matter what, keep your eyes on the Vibe Tree." The pilot pointed towards the tree which seemed to almost bend in the wind and tower over the island. "As long as you keep it in sight, you should be fine. Once you reach it, you'll receive instructions on which shore the boat is on. Good Luck!"

And with that, Kean and the countless examinees took off.

Author's Note: Ok. So that was short, but it was just something to get the ball rolling. This story will be an SYOC, so message me for the form if you're interested. Fair warning. I'm not waiting around for long for OC submissions. If you're interested, let me know when you can get the OC to me and if things change, let me know. If there's no correspondence, I'm assuming you lost interest. I really don't want to lose momentum at any cost.

Special thanks to The Impostor, MyDearWatson and Dreadburner94.