A Song to Capture You
kiriHa1367
DISCLAIMER. Hunter x Hunter can never be mine. Aww. That's too bad. Original characters belong to Togashi-sensee. *salutes for sensee* Plot belongs to me. *good job sign to me* By the way, this fanfiction was written based on the 1999 series of HxH.
CHAPTER 01. Height matters
67
That's the number I pinned on my shirt. As soon as I finished sticking the number in place, I walked around and see if I can find a place to lounge while I'm waiting. I still have more or less 24 hours before the Hunter Examination starts.
"Hey there!"
A fat old guy approached me carrying an armful of canned sodas.
Definitely up to no good.
"I'm Tonpa!" He introduced himself. "I'm kind of a veteran here. Took and failed 35 times. Haha! Here! Have a drink! You're definitely thirsty! It's a long travel to get here!" He was trying to hand me a can. I looked at him carefully.
He's lying.
"What's the problem? Don't you like orange soda? Oh, I have a different flavor here if you want!" He said after he noticed that I was not responding to him. I didn't wait for him any longer and walked away.
I heard him yelling over about what's my problem and such. I continued ignoring him and searched for a quiet spot to rest. I pulled down my cap to cover my eyes and catch some rest.
I fell asleep before I even noticed it. When I opened my eyes again, the number of applicants had increased a lot. I stretched out a bit and pulled a small box of doughnuts from my bag.
"My name is Gon!"
I was startled. That's a child's voice. I looked around in search for the owner to check if I was mistaken. But I was right after all. It was indeed a child - maybe around 12 or 13. I wonder what the Hunter Association is thinking allowing a child as young as that one to take the exam. He could be killed.
I was chewing on my doughnut while thinking that it would have been better if he had just stayed home playing robots. Soon, I felt a presence approached me.
I turned my head and another surprise greeted me. Another kid.
"Heh."
I saw him smirked at me. I looked at him straight in the eyes and that's when I noticed it. Those eyes are not that of a child.
"You're good. Being able to sense me when I was trying to sneak up on you."
I just kept quiet and continued eating.
"Can't you talk?"
Ignore him.
"Oi! Can you hear me?"
I sighed. As much as I can, I don't want to make contact to people. But this kid is too persistent. I extended my box of doughnuts and faced the boy.
"This is what you want right?" I said in a very low voice. "Go ahead and get some."
"Yatta!" He exclaimed happily as he grabbed a doughnut and sat beside me. "I'm kind of hungry and there's no food around here."
I expected him to get lost after snatching a piece but the kid seemed to be staying until the box is empty.
"Hey, what's your name?" He asked in between chews.
"None of your business."
"That's cold of you." He replied snatching another piece. "It wouldn't hurt you to give your name, you know."
"And it wouldn't hurt you either if you don't know it."
"Che."
We sat together in silence munching on the doughnuts. It didn't take a while for us to empty the box.
"That was delicious!" The silver-haired kid said as he stood up. "By the way, the name's Killua! Thanks for the doughnuts!"
I watched as he ran off with his skateboard. Kids taking the Hunter Exam. The world of hunters is really insane. I sighed and adjusted my cap a bit. I never wanted to be a hunter myself if not for some circumstances. Because in truth, I detested the existence of hunters.
I walked a few steps away from the bulk of the examinees and tried to isolate myself better. I found a good spot in front and leaned back on the wall. It was not even 5 minutes when my moment of silence was disturbed yet again by another presence.
I looked up and to my surprise, saw a familiar face.
"Hisoka-niisan."
"Hizashiburi, Nagi-"
"Halt right there." I stopped him before he completed his sentence. "I'm warning you. As long as we're here, it's Nagi. Are we clear?" I said emphasizing my point with a glare.
"Kowai~! Kowai~!" He replied grinning. That grin pisses me off. He just laughed at my reactions. "So what brings you to this place? You don't like hunters, right Nagi-kun?
I gave him another glare, which was only dismissed by another laugh. "Okaasama."
"Eh...so she finally threw you out."
"Yeah." I replied with an annoyed look. "'Don't come back here without a license' is what she said."
"You and Yurika-chan are really similar, aren't you? Quite the lion-type."
"Shut up! I'm not like my mother and I don't want to be like her." I slumped down getting a little depressed. "If only Oniisama is here..."
For a moment, I thought I saw Hisoka-niisan's serious face. "He hasn't come home, yet?"
I shook my head.
"How long has it been?"
"3 years, 7 months, 21 days."
"Sugoi~! Completely accurate." He said grinning.
I dismissed the stupid grin and asked him a question. "How about you? News on him?"
Again, Hisoka-niisan made that serious face and shook his head. "He's smart. That's why he's definitely alive." He ended patting my cap-covered head. "Shiken wo ganbatte kudasai, ne." With that, he left me alone.
I raised my hand and touched the earrings pierce on my right ear. It was a set of three sapphire stones lined up perfectly along the lower lobe of my ear.
"Oniisama."
*Rinnnnnnnnnnnnng!*
A loud alarm suddenly sounded. I looked up and saw a suited man carrying an alarm clock. He's tall - well, taller than I am. His eyes are squinted and he has a lanky look with him. What's really bothering about his appearance is his mouth - or rather, the absence of it.
"Before we begin the exam, anyone who do not wish to sacrifice their lives in the process of acquiring a license may please step back to the elevator. Again, the exam may cost your life."
No one made a move.
"Well then, all of you follow me and we will begin the exam." He stated when no one backed out.
I stood up and walked along the rest of the examiners. In the middle of the walk, the man introduced himself.
"My name is Satotz. I will be the examiner of the first part of the Hunter Exam. I am here to escort you to the location of the second part."
A question was suddenly raised. "What about the first exam?" A random examinee asked.
"This is your first exam. To follow me all the way to the location of the second part of the exam." The man, Satotz declared.
All examinees stopped with their queries and continued to follow Satotz. Slowly, I noticed that the pace is increasing.
This is gonna be a pain in the ass.
Behind me, I heard the old man Tonpa talking with the kid called Gon. I think he was explaining to the little guy who the other examinees are. Being a veteran he is, it's no wonder he knows the repeaters, as well as their trademark abilities.
I sighed again trying to get away from them. I was about to increase my pace when I overheard something that's really annoying.
"This year's new faces are actually amazing!" Tonpa relayed. "To think that this year's group has three kids."
I am not that smart. But I am definitely not an idiot not to deduce that the three kids he's talking about, includes me. I lost all my determination not to talk to the other examinees and approached the group.
I slowed my pace so I can match theirs. I positioned myself in a good distance and gave the old man a good hit in the head.
"Hey! What's wrong with you, kid?! Why did you hit me?!"
"Who are you calling kid, old fart?" I glared at him.
"Well, this kid here, the silver-haired one there and you."
I gave him another fast hit in the head. "I'm not a kid! I'm seventeen!"
"Eh?!"
It wasn't just the old man, Tonpa. The other three newbies also gave a shocked expression that makes me want to hit all of them in the face.
"Are you all trying to pick a fight with me?"
"But in whatever way I look at you, you look like the same age as Gon!" The tallest of the trio responded.
I gave him a good glare. "You are not supposed to judge a person because of their height." I retorted angrily.
"Gomen, we didn't mean to be rude." The blonde one replied. "It's just surprising especially you and I are of the same age."
I looked at him for a while. He stood some inches taller than me. In some way, I felt annoyed with our height difference. "You're all annoying." I said and tried to move away by increasing my pace. But before I could get away, the youngest of the three - the one presumed to be of my age - spoke in cheery tone to me. "Nee, nee! What's your name?"
I looked at him for a while. "None of your business." I said looking away from them.
"Look here, you shrimp! Gon is just trying to be nice to you!" The tallest of them growled at me.
"I don't remember asking him to be nice to me. And don't call me a shrimp!" I retorted back and sped ahead of them. I could still hear the cursing of the tall guy. What a loud-mouthed idiot. I shook my head and kept a good distance with Satotz.
Four hours have passed and we are still running. Long distance running had never been my forte but I never had difficulties with it either. Many examinees had fallen far behind. But the biggest problem here was the amount of run that we still have to make. The man Satotz never mentioned a distance or number of hours we were supposed to run. That alone was a heavy mental burden for most examinees.
Ah. I knew it. I shouldn't have taken this stupid exam. I'm already tired. I wanna eat.
Before I knew it, I was already ranting inside my head. It's a bad habit of mine. Whenever something annoyed me, I would always turn and rant inside my head completely forgetting my surroundings. There was a time before that I was ranting inside my head for so long that I didn't notice my bike was about to fell off a cliff.
And now, I am doing exactly like that.
I shook my head hard to gain back my focus. It isn't safe to lose my guard in this situation.
Even though I said that, I think I've done much ranting already because a few of the examinees was looking at me weirdly.
That's better, I guess. To keep them away from me. That's my plan. Or was supposed to be my plan.
The same silver-haired boy who ransacked my doughnuts approached me once again.
"Are you mental?"
Ignore him.
"I think you are mental." He repeated. "You've been making weird faces since a while ago."
Ignore him.
"Eh?! So we're back to you ignoring me, huh?"
Ignore him.
"Ja! I'll just do all the talking then!"
He's annoying.
"That guy named Tonpa, he's lying." He suddenly said in a serious tone. "I think he's trying to do something with the newbies."
I looked at him for a while. So this kid also noticed it. Tonpa has been trying to do something against those newbies. He's been persistent in deceiving and getting the trust of the other three newbies I talked to a while ago.
"Should we warn them?" Killua suddenly asked.
I looked at him for a while and sighed. Finally, I said to him in a low voice. "It's none of my business. It would be their fault for being too trusting."
"Heh? You finally talked."
"Because you're too annoying."
"I'm going back there."
His words struck me for a moment. I have a questioning look on my face, which was easily read by the kid.
"I am not going to warn them. I'll just say hello to the other kid. He's interesting."
I looked back at where the trio and Tonpa were talking. I guess Killua is right. Something is strange with the child. How do I express this? It's like that child is too pure and too innocent - like he's completely oblivious to the demons of this world.
I continued running at my own pace while I watched Killua decelerated to match with the other child - Gon's group.
I was too focused on thinking where Satotz might be leading us that I didn't notice that Killua and the newbie trio had disappeared alongside with Tonpa. A second later Tonpa appeared with smug look of triumph on his face.
I thought Killua would give a better fight against the old fart. Guess I was wrong. I shrugged. If Tonpa's back here without those newbies, it might be because they're dead or somewhere near those lines. They were all at fault for getting deceived by the old geezer.
Time had passed since the trio with Killua disappeared. It was then that I felt the ground shaking. Earthquake? While we're underneath the city?! I thought of preparing for the worst when the wall on the right side of the path we're taking shook and exploded. I shielded my eyes to see the four missing newbies jumping off the hole left by the explosion.
"Heh..." I gave a small grin. "Not bad."
The group were grinning at each other at their small triumph while the tallest (and loudest) of them was shouting at Tonpa with a threatening glare.
"I apologize for the disturbance. And we kinda destroyed your wall." The youngest, Gon said.
"I never said you couldn't break it."
I looked at Satotz who gave them a curious look. I wonder what's in that side of the path. The examiner took interest in them. I wondered silently. They must have conquered something amazing from over there to capture the interest of a hunter. I looked back at where they came from. I see nothing but bits of exploded rocks and stones.
I shook my head. This is not nice. I'm starting to get interested in them as well. I shook my head once again trying to get them out of my curiosity window.
"You really are mental."
I turned to look at where the voice was coming. I sighed. Here we go again.
"They are an interesting bunch."
"Is that so?"
Killua gave me a confused look. "You're not going to ignore me?"
"I gave up on that. You're too stubborn. It gets more annoying if I ignore you."
He grinned. "He's the same age as me but he's amazing."
"Who?"
"Gon."
"That kid?"
Killua nodded and left to run beside Gon. I looked at them and remembered Oniisama. Their guts and strong-head attitudes are just like Oniisama's. He would like to have little brothers like those. I smiled thoughtfully. Then, a cloud of sadness swept me again. Oniisama, where are you?
The marathon continued. But now, I have mixed different feelings about this exam. For some reason, I feel like something amazing and something extraordinary is about to happen. I can't help but smirked widely as I looked at the unusual group. I caught a glimpse of Hisoka-niisan who was giving the same wide smirk as I.
So this is the hunter exam!
つづき
片桐キリハ
