Edited 3/28/2018
Author's Note after the chapter.
Mitsuri
I stretched out my legs for the fifth time that hour. I was getting restless. Though I'd lost precise track of time, I knew that at least a few hundred people or so had arrived since I had settled in.
Give or take.
I could be off.
...
Fine, 301.
301 people entered after me. And fine, maybe I counted. I hadn't anticipated as many people getting here before me as it was. I'd been told by the small man who greeted me that I was applicant number one hundred and one. Meaning that I had let one hundred people get here before I did. Meaning that there were currently 402 people crammed into this dank, kind of smelly underground...whatever it was.
And I could practically smell the testosterone. There wasn't much going on, despite the massive numbers. Only some chattering here and there. Everyone had been here for a while by that point. People were bound to get bored.
Much like me. Instead of striking up any kind of conversation, which I definitely didnl't want to do, I observed. Some more. Ignoring the healthy dose of caution, I wasn't much interested in any of the people there. I took note of many, sure. There were several women amongst the hndreds of men, and even a child, who was even younger than me. They had even arrived sometime sooner than I had!
Which irked me.
Searching around, I took note once more of a hive of...something...on one woman's person, which I found odd. I also took note again of a man with a large amount of animals on his person. I thought they were likely reptiles, but it was difficult to tell with so many other bodies brushing together and getting in the way.
There was also a monkey (probably a monkey). Which was curious. To me.
But before I even thought of entertaining the idea, like it would come to fruition, anyway, I heard the whirring of the elavator once more. I tore my imagination from the admittedly childish notion of finding and petting the monkey with only a vague sense of reluctance (really). For the three hundredth-plus time, I put a great deal of effort, not that it was hard, into making myself as good as invisible to anyone who asn't already looking for me.
The elavator doors slid open.
"Tt's dark! I wonder how many people are here?"
I straightened, my hair briefly swishing in front of my eyes. Another child? More precisely, another child younger than me?
That said, though, all three of the new arrivals were young. One child, one teenager in his mid-teens, and one probably newly-minted adult, perhaps still a teenager himself.
This boy was different than the one that arrived before me, though. In the first child, there was a distinct lack of anxiety. It honestly made me a little nervous. It couldn't have been a fluke that they arrived before I did, given what I went through to get here. And he was at least one or two years younger than me, and I was only in my mid-teens or so, myself. That said, though, I also didn't sense any animosity from him, like I did with many of the other applicants.
Despite that, I felt more waryiness for him than I felt concern.
This new boy, though, he actually felt like a child. I could feel the wonder rolling off of him, the fresh, clean energy surrounding him.
The naivety.
What on earth is a kid like him doing in a place like this? That was the thought that went through my head. My attention followed him closely.
And I was almost immediately dismayed.
"Conting you three, there are 405 candidates."
This man was like someone threw some unassming sprinkles on moldy food. So many sprinkles that it was difficult to see the deceit underneath. That man had used that voice with me, too. I'd given my blankest stare until he went away, though he did set a can of something several feet away from me before leaving. I didn't touch it. Distaste was evident in the slight downard curl of my mouth.
The man, Tompa, as he introduced himself, rattled of a practiced introduction, word for word what he had said to me. My dismayal only deepened when the child seemed receptive to the large man's "help." Cheerfully and enthsiastically so.
My foot started tapping.
"You're new here, aren't you?" The man asked the three. Word for word.
"How can you tell?" The boy asked, surprised at Tompa's apparent perception.
Tompa then proceeded to brag about having never passed the exam despite having attempted thirty-five times. Not in those words. He's a "veteran," he said. He then spoke about several returning applicants, many of whom I had taken note of myself. That actually interested me, so I absorbed the additional information and tucked it away next to what I had gathered myself. It didn't seem like he was lying about them, at least.
I was quietly, attentively, with great suspicion, listening when my attention was ripped to the right and straight into the crowd, even before the scream tore through the underground room.
Someone's aura...flared, I could feel it. It was strange, and alarming, and full of murdurous lust. It snapped at another aura, or at another person.
And then the energy settled.
And a human light flickered. I could hear the mockingly nonchalant voice from here.
"Oh, how strange," a smiling voice could be heard. "He doesn't have any arms."
A scream, and then another flicker.
"Just simple magic, ladies and gentlemen." The terrifying man's voice contrasted almost grotesquely with the horrific screams of the victim. "You should be more careful," were his last words to the victim. "Also," the barest hint of satisfied malice, "you should apologize when you run into someone."
And the human light went out, life dissipating into the air like smoke.
i was no stranger to death - the emotion I felt with a murdurer and a corpse in the midst wasn't horror. I wouldn't mourn the death of a stranger. But I wold avoid whoever that man was at all costs. I wouldn't forget the feel of him. It reminded me of cough syrup, though I couldn't yet tell why.
If I wasn't on edge before, I certainly was now.
My mind was tugged back to the newest group, the child and his friends, much less urgent than when it was pulled away, when Tompa spoke up once more, obliging everyone's unspoken question.
"Number 44, Hisoka the Magician," he informed the group. I filed the name away in a much more important spot than I had put the others'. He continued, "Everyone said he would have won last year, but he almost killed a judge because he didn't like him. He was disqualified."
"And this year..." The tallest of the group spoke incredulously, "...A guy like him is being allowed to retake the test?!"
"Sure," Tompa said, "Judges change every year." He explained that judges hold all the power in these exams, thhat if they say so, it goes. "The winner could be a demon, or anything else. Last year, he mutilated not only the judge, but twenty other applicants that you won't be seeing this year."
If that was the case, it was possible for anything to happen, then.
"Stay clear of him at all costs." Even Tompa sounded sincere. "And he's not the only one you should mistrust." Wh- no kidding. "But don't worry! I'll explain anything necessary!" The cheerful facade returned so thickly I frowned again. Surely I wasn't the only one that noticed how sticky his words felt?
The boy chirpped out, "Thanks!" I sighed.
What is that kid even doing here?
Then I heard the nearby snickers and muffled whispers.
"Pfft, right. Even though youlre the one they should distrust the most," they said, among other things. More specifically, a concerning, but unsurprising nickname.
"Oh, that's right!" Tompa, again. From where I was, I could hear him rustle through something, then the hollow clinks of tin cans filled with liquid. Like the one he'd given me. "Here!" He presented to them.
My frown turned to a scowl.
Enough of this.
I hopped down from the pipes I'd been sitting on with a purpose, landing lightly on my toes. Remembering exactly where he had left it, I scooped up the can that the lying man had set before me. I idly tossed it in the air once, testing its weight. Good enough.
Then I chucked it.
Everyone in the immediate vicinity jumped when it sailed past their own heads and connected to the side of Tompa's skull with startling accuracy. Too displeased to even crack a small smile at my victory and the fat-head's yelp of pain and surprise (I knew I wouldn't miss, after all), I began to make my way towards the newest arrivals and the potential target of my wrath, idly weaving and ducking around a few stragglers like myself without err. I didn't particularly care to make a scene, unlike the showy magician. However, though this smarmy man can do whatever he likes to other candidates (and they'd likely deserve the outcome if they couldn't even sense the trick), children were off-limits. At least on my watch.
Though, some would still call me a child, as well.
I felt several people's attentions zero in on me.
The Gang
All three of them had nearly jumped out of their skin like everyone else when a can of juice (one of Tompa's, even) suddenly came hurtling over and smacked right into Tompa's head. Worry sprung into Gon's chest, though Kurapika and Leorio were only weirded out further than they already had been.
"Ah, Tompa-san!" The young boy waved his arms in distress while the large man held his head, the cans he had just given the three forgotten in their hands.
Tompa hissed through his teeth, squinting in the direction the can-made-projectile came from.
"Where the hell did tha-" His words got stuck in his throat and his eyes were like saucers when he caught sight of that girl walking directly towards him. Not them, but him.
Gon blinked curiously and followed his gaze, as did his friends.
She stopped several feet away from them.
Though everyone immediatly noticed she wasn't making eye contact, her tawny brown eyes were sharp behind a messy evergreen fringe, and her focus was undoubtedly on his new friend Tompa.
'She threw that?' Gon wondered. He didn't get angry that Tompa-san was just mauled by a can of juice (definitely Tompa-san's). As the child looked at the strange girl, he thought that she must surely have a reason for doing what she just did. And his instincts rarely failed him. So, for now, he watched her closely, curiously, waiting to see what would happen next.
In a mild, soft voice, she started,"...Sorry, my hand slipped."
...Not even the more gullible Gon really believed her.
Tompa's eyes darted from her to his targ- vict- friends and back.
She's going to expose him!
"Th-that's alright, heh heh..." The man tried to salvage the situation. Maybe he should just leave while he can... There was something he didn't like about that girl. She seemed strangely perceptive, even though he knew she was a rookie, too. He'd been taking this exam every year since before she was born, there's no way he'd have missed her before.
The girl didn't even blink.
"I was just rather startled by something that I heard those people -" she made a point of indicating with a jab of her index finger the second nearest group of people to the elevator, who all collectively jerked at the unexpected attention, "- talking about."
A bead of sweat touched Tompa's temple. Gon blinked in interest.
Tompa tried to intercept where he just knew she was going by intuition. "E-erm -"
She marched on, intercepting his interception. "Something about a -"
"Um -!"
"- 'Rookie Crusher?'"
...
One could hear the drop of a pin.
Until hysterical snickers broke out from the group the girl had pointed at.
Gon and the elder Leorio were thoroughly confused, but Kurapika, always clever, narrowed his eyes.
"And about how you weren't a very trustworthy person?" The girl smiled innocently (menacingly) and tucked her hands behind her back, though her expression, despite the smile, said she wasn't going to entertain the apparent farce. "I wonder whatever gave them that idea."
"Eh?!" Gon exclaimed. He turned wide eyes to Tompa-san in disbelief.
The man being held in the spotlight against his will started laughing nervously under several gazes of incredulousness and suspicion. He opened his mouth to, he didn't know, scold the girl for making accusations and to play the part of the rational adult, but he was interrupted before he made a sound.
"Ne, Gon," Kurapika grabbed the attention of his young friend without removing his calculating stare from Tompa. He crossed his arms and shifted his stance before continuing, sharp mind making an intuitive leap. "If there were something wrong with your can of juice, would you be able to tell?"
The boy in question tilted his head at Kurapika, now wondering where he was going with this. He trusted his friends, though, so he cooperated without second thought. He hummed before answering promptly, "Probably."
"Would you check it, then?" The blonde continued. Gon gave a small frown but, again, cooperated without question.
As the boy cracked the can open with a 'pop,' the girl that seeded the doubt - who had dropped the ineffective facade of innocent bystander as soon as the teen who was keeping most of his thoughts to himself expressed a shift in his attitude - focused on Gon in interest.
Gon sniffed carefully over the open can. Leorio's face was scrunched up in confusion, but this seemed important, so he kept his mouth shut, even though he wanted to ask pointed questions.
The young boy's mouth just quirked into the smallest of frowns. He was watched carefully as he brought the can to his lips and took a tiny, tentative sip of the juice, brow slightly furrowed in contemplation.
Then, he abruptly shuddered, face scrunching up in disgust and a hint of alarm. He quickly spat the juice out with a grimace.
"Blegh..." One could hear the warble of his voice as he shuddered once more. "It tastes a little funny," he reported to Kurapika, wiping off his mouth with his sleeve, nearly pouting at the experience.
Kurapika hummed like he had expected that answer.
He then promptly dumped his can of juice onto the ground, Leorio following suit with an irritated and unimpressed look on his face.
Tompa's 'time-to-bail' instincts revved up to full throttle.
"Wh..wahaha...what a mistake! I'd never have thought they'd be e-expired! My sincerest apologies...ahaha..." Even as he spoke, laughing quite nervously, the large man began literally backpedaling, easing his way over to the still snickering crowd. Gon watched him go with a perplexed and slightly hurt frown before he slowly dumped his juice out, too.
Tompa disappeared behind the cover of living bodies.
"I wonder if it was really expired..." Gon mused aloud, furrowing his brows as he set his empty can of juice aside. He didn't like to litter, so at least he could do it neatly.
"I doubt it," Kurapika spoke up, arms still crossed. "You might notice that no one in sight seems to be drinking any of that juice." He turned his gaze to the strange girl, who was now frowning in the direction Tompa had left. "You said 'Rookie Crusher,' correct?" He asked to clarify.
She blinked and turned to face him, not having expected to be addressed again. She nodded after a short moment. "That's what I heard them whispering about." She indicated with a nod of her head towards the closest crowd, voice quiet.
Kurapika sighed with a shake of his head. "Then it seems that man had the intentions of sabotaging us with that juice. A poison of some kind, most likely, to take us out of the exam before it even officially started."
Leorio snorted in disgust. "What an asshole. Someone oughta wring his neck..." He snarked under his breath.
Gon pouted. "He seemed nice, too..." He then abruptly perked up and turned towards the girl. "Thank you! We could have gotten in trouble just now." He smiled sweetly at her as she turned her head towards him with a surprised blink. He gave her his biggest, sparkliest, most winning grin.
"I'm Gon!"
He'd already decided that she was his new friend.
Mitsuri
I was surprised when the boy giddily introduced himself.
His very essence was springtime, when every living thing was filledd with enthusiasm to grow and flourish. It filled me with a sense of familiarity that I found surprising.
I had intended to intercept that man's plans and then go back to my corner to continue observing. Quickly. I couldn't walk away in the face of such innocence and hope, though.
I opened my mouth, but couldn't immediately say anything. I hesitated. I was supposed to introduce myself? I hadn't thought I'd need to socialize while here - in fact, I figured it'd be a bad idea. And picking a fight and socializing were two completely different things. His - Gon's - energy was shining and encouraging, though - a stark contrast to the aura held hroughout the rest of that dank place.
My wavering, however, was noted and gracefully intercepted.
"And I'm Kurapika," the stern teen said. Though his words were clipped, his tone was nothing short of kind. His voice was smooth and easy to listen to. Just from what I heard, and the way he said it, I could tell that he had a rather no-nonsense personality.
"Call me Leorio!" The tall one, on the other hand had humor laced throughout his voice and persona. It wasn't smooth, by any means, but it was certainly not gruff. He clearly had a short temper, but he got over things just as quickly as he snapped at them, it seemed.
Just names, I thought to reassure myself.
Tentatively, I started, "...Mitsuri." I frowned. Unsatisfied with my barely-above-a-whisper introduction, I tried again, more firmly: "I'm Mitsuri." Gon beamed wider.
"It's nice to meet you, Mitsuri!" He's so polite.
"Man, you really saved our hides, huh?" Leorio said, still smiling widely.
"Nn!" Gon agreed, skipping closer to me. He hadn't moved too close, but I instinctively moved my foot in an aborted step backwards. He didn't seem to mind, though. I lowered my head, messy fringe obscuring my eyes even more. My cheeks colored, just so. I hadn't really been expecting gratitude from strangers... But it seemed that thinking that way did this boy, at least, a disservice.
"I feel like...Gon...could have detected a poison in the juice by himself," I was nearly whispering. "My interference doesn't seem to have been necessary..." I trailed off, confidence waning, now that I was out of the throes of my protective anger. I curled and uncurled my toes in my boots.
Kurapika spoke up, "True, Gon's senses have been proven remarkably sharp. However, there was no guarantee that he would have been the first to take a drink." It seemed he felt inclined to add, "Though it wouldn't have been me."
I could feel a wave of severe irritation from the tall - from Leorio.
"You sayin' something?"
"I only said what I said."
It seemed like...brotherly bickering. I didn't notice it myself, but my lips curled into a small smile, and I straightened somewhat.
"Either way," Gon piped up, "you helped us out, even though you didn't have to. So thanks!" The boy's energy rippled and quavered with good cheer. I frowned, though.
Guilt prompted me to admit, "I...really just wanted to make sure that man didn't hurt a child." I felt a wave of confusion.
Gon was frowning. "But you're a kid, too."
My brow pinched, though looking back my fringe likely kept that expression hidden. "I'm not a child," I defended half-heartedly.
More confusion.
"How old are you, then?"
My frown deepened in thought. They waited. I opened my mouth. Then closed it.
I frowned.
...
"...Older than you...definitely."
My frown nearly went straight to a pout when I was hit with the elder two's disbelief and Gon's curiosity like a gust of wind to the face.
"You say that like you don't know your own age," Leorio felt the need to point out.
Thwack. Kurapika elbowed him in the arm, and I blinked.
"It isn't our business to pry, Leorio," Kurapika scolded, though he sounded vaguely troubled himself, hidden though it may have been. Kurapika seemed like the mothering type.
The subject was dropped.
Mostly because of the ungodly screeching sound that filled the entire cavernous tunnel. I, in particular, winced and slapped my hands over my ears. Thankfully, it only lasted a few seconds. I hesitantly lowered my hands, a bead of sweat at my temple.
"Surely that wasn't necessary..." I muttered under my breath.
A male voice announced, "The reception time is over."
The atmosphere of the area immediately shifted with his next words.
"The exam will now begin." I heard the sound of shoes clapping on cement as the man began to move. "This way, please." Shuffling footsteps filled the air with a tame din, my own and that of the small group I was near included.
"Initially we will begin with a short verification..." He pointed out the very real lethality of this test. One could make a small misstep and hurt themselves, or simply die. "There are moments, like a little while ago, where one can be irreparably hurt in an accident with companions."
"'Companions,' indeed..." I muttered with a tic of irritation at the ironic words. Leorio snorted.
To anyone else that hadn't already been moving, the man reiterated: "Now please, follow me."
No one was deterred by his words. Everyone there already knew.
There was already a stench from the mist of death, after all.
That aside, however, there was already an air of anticipation. Of excitement.
And to even more of my dismayal, Gon's determination only seemed to grow more acute at the man's words. I could feel it in the way his energy spiked and prickled. A part of me had hoped that this boy would see sense and back out. As strong as his senses might have been, he was still very obviously naive.
And, to highten my dismay even more, I could sense my protective streak acting up. Usually it only became an issue with animals or small children, resulting in me happily going out of my way to help them and keep them safe until I returned them to or found them a proper home.
...Gon, I repeated to myself, definitely counted as something akin to a puppy.
What was he even doing away from home?
"Of course no one turned around and left," Leorio remarked from in front of where I trailed back. His tone turned to a grumble. "I had hoped at least a few would have dropped out, too."
"As it is, it's far too crowded," I agreed quietly, though for a reason likely different than his. Too many people in too small an area made it difficult for me to pick out details in my environment.
Luckily for me, a detail like the pace of hundreds of pairs of feet audibly picking up was hard to miss, as it was. Very quickly, the lax walking pace turned into a brisk jog (brisker still for those with shorter legs, such as Gon or me). I easily used the three males of my group as a spearhead for myself, keeping pace with them and my footing easily clear.
"Wh-what?" Leorio stammered.
"The people in front of us started running," Gon simply explained for him.
"He's picked up the pace," Kurapika agreed.
"Wonderful," I muttered to myself.
"I apologize for neglecting to introduce myself," the man who apparently held authority here called from the front. "I am Satotz, Phase One examiner." I commited the name to memory. "I will now lead you all to the Second Phase."
Someone took the liberty of voicing everyone's unasked question: "What? 'Second?' What about Phase One?"
The apparent examiner's next words made me scowl.
"Phase One has already begun."
Voices of confusion rang clearly over the soft thunder of footsteps.
"You must follow me to Phase Two. This, itself, is Phase One," he explained. This seemed to be news to most candidates.
The same male demanded answers again. "Follow you? That's it?"
Hidden meaning seemed to lie under Satotz's simple answer like a snake in the water, and I was immediately wary.
"Yes." There were varying degrees of both relief and suspicion much like mine throughout the contestants. "I cannot tell you where or when you must arrive. You need only follow me."
Well, he's probably not lying, I thought.
"I see how it is," Kurapika said.
"This test is weird," Gon declared. I had to agree.
"I suspect this is an endurance test, then." Leorio said. I frowned. "Fine by me! I'll be right behind you!"
While I admired his mindset, was it really that simple? I couldn't quite shake the feeling that it wasn't...
Something about Kurapika made me think that he was thinking along the same lines as I was. It felt too early to draw any conclusions without much to go on, so I kept quiet, as did the elder teen.
And so we ran.
And ran. So much that bodies had long since begun to drop from exhaustion.
We ran, and bodies dropped from the right, from the left. We ran, and bodies dropped in front of us and to the back.
And we ran.
We ran so much it blurred. I would have surely tripped over a body by now had I not been paying attention.
The amount of bodies thudding to the ground all around me was honestly a little unnerving. But I ran.
And, to my surprise, so did my apparent running companions. Leorio and Kurapika were beginning to wear out, but Gon was just... He just kept going. I found myself matching him step for step, taking up a place right beside him at some point during the thirty or so kilometers we seemed to have run. Thankfully, he didn't seem to mind at all.
My other companions, however...
I was actually growing slightly concerned for Leorio.
He was getting tense. So were other contestants, obviously, but I didn't care about them. I could feel agitation rolling off him in waves. I could hear his breathing become labored, slightly moreso than mine and Kurakpika's. He seemed okay for now, but sometime, sooner or later...he'd crack. In what way, from the stress or the strain, I couldn't tell, yet.
You'd think his clearly longer legs would help him out here, I mused.
Thump.
"There goes another one..." I noted.
Gon hummed like he noticed, too. "I wonder how many that is, now."
"One hundred and forty-seven."
Gon missed a step.
"Eh?"
I repeated, "147. People no longer testing, I mean. Not counting the first incident with the magician."
There was a pause in which I felt vaguely uncomfortable because I could sense astonishment burbling around Gon in a stiff breeze.
"Were you counting?" He seemed to have strong-armed an extra question mark into his words by dint of his surprise.
"...Yes?" Surely my habit wasn't that odd. I simply preferred to keep tracck of the people around me.
Despite conversation, I continued to listen attentively to my surroundings. Which was why I heard, tilting my head, was a peculiar...rumbling? No, too quiet. It was like...
"...Is that a skateboard?" I deadpanned.
Omniscient
Gon blinked. Now that Mitsuri mentioned it...
"Hey, brat!" That was Leorio, from several paces in front of them.
"Hm?" A child's hum. It was then that Mitsuri suddenly realized that this was the child that arrived some time before she did. Gon's attention was redirected towards that same child, intrigued somewhat.
Mitsuri tilted her head.
"That's against the rules!"
Tilt.
"What is?" The unnamed boy asked, bewildered.
The eldest teen twinged in increasing agitation. "That skateboard!"
'So it was a skateboard,' Mitsu thought.
"Why?"
Twinge. "This is obviously an endurance test!"
"No, it isn't," Gon suddenly called, making Mitsuri blink. Tilt.
The white-haired child's attention turned to the boy who had spoken up from behind him.
"Huh?! Gon! Who's side are you on?!" The eldest teen demanded.
"Well, he never told us what the test was about, after all." Mitsuri hadn't even thought about it, she realized. Only she heard the slightest of hums from the strange boy.
She blinked when the boy slowed his pace and rolled back to Gon's other side, thusforth ignoring Leorio completely. The tall teen fumed silently.
He blinked at Gon, who blinked at him. Mitsu tilted her head again.
The boy spoke, "How old are you?"
Gon readily answered, "I'm twelve." The boy hummed once more.
He then leapt straight up off his board in a way that tossed it up with him, and he caught it deftly, landing on the ground like he'd been running the whole time. Gon's eyes lit up and he crowed out a 'cool!', while Mitsuri just frowned in a perplexed way.
The boy mused nonchalantly, "I guess I'll run, after all." And he joined Gon and Mitsu step for step, the three sounding like the world's tiniest marching soldiers. Except jogging.
The boy looked at Gon through the corner of his eye. "I'm Killua," he introduced, not overtly shy in the least.
The bright-eyed boy smiled at him. "Gon!" He cheerfully returned. Thus Gon decided that he had made another companion. There was a brief silence during which Killua contemplated for a moment, leaning forward to see around Gon to the girl with the blank stare on his other side.
"Is she your friend?" Killua asked with curious blue eyes.
"Yep!" Gon chirped, sending a grin to the girl. A small, surprised flush swept across her face, making Killua raise an eyebrow, while Gon tilted his head much like a puppy. He then laughed, though. "You're supposed to introduce yourself, again!"
"Ah." She just remembered. "I'm Mitsuri. Um," she thought for a moment, "I'm...older than both of you. Since ages were exchanged..." The last part was muttered mostly to herself. Conversing was hard.
Killua hummed once more, acknowledging that he heard her. 'A little weird, but whatever,' he thought to himself, not necessarily disapproving. Maybe uncertain. Well, not that he particularly cared, at the moment.
The children became accostumed to each other's presence as they ran, the silence easy and companionable, punctuated by their footfalls and the thuds of more bodies hitting the cement. A macabre procession of percussion.
And so they all ran some more.
Mitsuri
Time passed, and we must have run around 60 kilometers by then. I cursed my heavy leather boots and armguards. I also cursed the endless stamina of my current running companions, somewhat bitterly. I kept a stoic, if mildly irritated face, but my legs were really starting to ache. If it weren't for my stupid boots -
No, no, it wasn't as if I could take this exam unarmed. So I was resigned to my fate of marginally heavier-than-they-should-be limbs. At least I'd hit harder. Among other things.
As well as fatigue, my concern was growing, too, curse it. I could hear Leorio's labored breathing from twenty or so paces ahead of the man.
My worries came to fruition when Leorio's bag could be heard clattering to the ground. Gon stopped running and turned back to the man in clear concern, pulling Killua and me to a halt with him. Gon waited, and Killua and I waited on him. The former grew impatient quickly, however.
"Hey, forget him. Let's go." He said, like he didn't just suggest abandoning Gon's friend. I frowned, but kept my attention on Leorio. Would he be able to continue? Something told me that Gon was certain he would. And for some inexplicable reason, I felt compelled to follow this boy's appparently unwavering faith. Like he simply knew.
We waited.
And he was right.
All of a sudden, Leorio shouted, "Screw that!" and in the next instant he out-sprinted his own fatigue and was gone ahead in the next. I couldn't stop the slight way my jaw dropped at the gust of wind he left in his wake.
Then I squeaked as something whirred past my ear and straight to the bag Leorio left on the ground in his sudden burst of a second wind. I slapped a hand over my mouth and flushed. Killua whooped praise at Gon's skill. Thankfully nobody paid my fit any mind. Leorio's bag retrieved, we simultaneously set off after the group, not to be left behind.
"Let me try that later," Killua said to Gon.
The chipper boy replied, "As long as I can borrow your skateboard, okay?"
My irritation settled, I smiled. Just a few hours of running together and the two boys were fast friends. I hoped they wouldn't get separated over the course of the exam. I thought, maybe, I could allow myself that hope.
The boys started a race.
Up stairs. Who thought that many stairs would be a good idea, anyways? Why not another elevator?
And why a race? It was difficult for me to understand the minds of the two boys with whom I had (apparently) made friends.
I ran with them, anyways. Gon had looked at me, expecting, when Killua suggested the game. Losers buying the winner food was Gon's idea.
I didn't even have any money. Which apparently didn't matter to me at all. I mostly just didn't want to be left behind. But now my feet hurt. 'It will be fun,' Gon said. His shoes weren't hard leather, evidently.
And what was more, the Examiner Satotz had picked up the pace again. On the stairs. Because why not?
Ah. I was getting cranky.
Well, at least the boys weren't so stupid (or mean) as to full tilt sprint straight away into the race. As it was, their pace had caught them up to Kurapika, as well as Leorio, who had only just caught up to the boy, himself.
I could hear the two of them from several paces behind.
"Leorio, are you okay?" Kurapika called as the man approached.
"Of course! Just look at me! I realized that I could keep going so long as I don't care about how stupid I look!"
That was...one way to think of running half-naked. He must have stashed his suit jacket and shirt somewhere, as I was sure he hadn't dropped them.
And then Kurapika shed some of his clothes, too. I didn't really want to stop long enough to take off my boots... I absently ran a hand along one of my armguards. They were heavy, too, nearly reaching my elbow. I sighed. It wasn't like I had a place to put them, and I wouldn't just drop them. And I didn't have a jacket I could just take off, either.
And as if I would remove my overshirt. The outer tank top was to keep the comfortable and unfortunately baggy woolen t-shirt underneith from flapping around and getting in the way. Or riding up. Or sliding down. Really, it was only good for sleeping in, in the first place. But I wasn't nearly sweaty enough to warrant the effort of wriggling it out from under my tank top.
In front of my new friends. That'd be strange.
"Leorio...can I ask you a question?" Kurapika asked after a pause.
Leorio was grinning. "What? Is the test too easy for you, Kurapika? Talking just wastes energy!"
The jest was ignored. "Are you really trying to become a Hunter for the money? You're not, right? We've only known each other for a few days, but I know you better than that." It was difficult to tell how Leorio reacted to any of this without being close enough to notice the subtle differences in his demeanor.
"Sure, you've got a nasty attitude, and you aren't very bright." Okay, I could hear Leorio's noise of irritation at those words from where I was. "But you're not a shallow person. I've known many people who live for money, but you're nothing like them."
"...You and your logic," Leorio half-heartedly complained. That told me that Kurapika wasn't wrong in his assessment. Still, though, Leorio didn't answer the question.
Even from a distance I felt the wave of resolve from Kurapika before he spoke his next words with some difficulty.
"Scarlet eyes. That's why the Kurta clan was targeted."
And in even greater measure I felt the way his words changed the atmosphere around the two. This was very clearly a tender subject that was being exchanged for Leorio's answer. Should I really have been listening? I didn't get a chance to tune out their conversation before I heard his words again, though.
"We Kurta are known for our unique scarlet eyes. When our emotions are heightened, our eyes turn a scarlet color, as if they were on fire. Our eyes in that scarlet state are considered one of the seven most beautiful colors in the world. They command a high price on the black market." Everything suddenly clicked, even before he continued, and I felt ill. I shouldn't have been listening to this -
"That's why the Phantom Troupe attacked you?" I couldn't bear to turn my attention away, though.
"They took every single eye from my brethren's corpses." His voice turned pained. "I can still hear their darkened eyes calling out in pain. I swear I will capture the Phantom Troupe. And I will reclaim the eyes of my people!"
There was a pause. I almost held my breath.
"That's why you want to be a hunter?"
"Yes. If I become a Hunter with rich clients, I'll gain access to black market information," Kurapika affirmed.
"But you'll have to swallow your pride and become the kind of Hunter you despise the most!"
The answer seemed to come easily to Kurapika. "The blow to my pride is nothing measured against the suffering my clan endured."
The pause then was likely out of respect.
"Sorry, but I don't have any noble cause. Like I said, I'm after money!" ...Or to soften the blow of his next words.
"Wh- don't lie!"
"I'm not lying!"
"You really believe you can buy anything with money?"
"I do! For the right price you can buy not only treasures, but dreams, hearts, even human lives!"
Wh-
"Take that back, Leorio. If you're insulting the Kurta, I won't forgive you!"
"Why? I'm telling the truth. If I had money, my friend wouldn't have had to die!"
Oh.
...I really shouldn't have been listening. Leorio hadn't meant for Kurapika to hear that, let alone me. I could tell by the silence that followed.
"An illness?" Every bit of anger fled Kurapika's voice, leaving only a solemn understanding.
"It was a treatable disease. The problem was that the treatment cost a fortune. I was naive! I thought I could become a doctor... That I'd treat children who had the same disease and tell them that it was free of charge! Then could tell his parents, too. That was my dream!" I should have stopped listening... "What a joke. Turns out to be a doctor, you need even more money." His voice grew thick. "Get it? The world runs on money, so I want money!"
I couldn't even dispute a thing he'd said. I doubted Kurapika could, either. Maybe he didn't even want to, with how satisfied he felt.
I was snapped back to attention with a surprise when Gon looked to me with a quiet "come on" and sped up. Killua didn't question this.
Had they heard it, too?
"We'll see you at the goal, Kurapika," Gon said easily.
Killua continued, "Catch you later, old guy!"
I blinked.
Leorio balked. "I'm not old! I'm a teenager like you guys!"
...
"Eh?"
"No way!"
I couldn't help the soft 'pft' at the wave of equal surprise from Kurapika that he tried to hide.
"What are you laughing at?!" Leorio snapped at me. I tried to hold back the next "pft" that came over me, but I only succeeded in snorting instead. I flushed and slapped a hand over my mouth and nose as Leorio spluttered, causing the other three to either snort, snicker, or laugh, in varying degrees. After a second, though, Gon suddenly stopped.
"But Mitsuri, you're acting like you're not surprised?" His curiosity was so palpable it manipulated grammar into making his statement a question.
I coughed lightly to clear my throat. "Well, no...Leorio feels, um, adolescent, like all of us." I tilted my head and turned my face towards the man in question at an angle, and commented, "Though he must be nearly twenty." I furrowed my brows and blinked as a sudden thought crossed my mind. "Wh...why, does he look old? Is he balding...?" I trailed off into a mumble, imagination churning.
A pause.
"Do I look bald to you?!" The man(boy) in question screeched.
Smack.
"Smooth," Killua droned.
"Don't be insensitive, you uncouthe idiot!" Kurapika scolded, after having smacked his elder's arm.
Gon sounded disapproving, "Leorio, I thought you were training to be a doctor…"
The man under fire spluttered for a different reason now, energy wavering and spitting in confusion. "Wh- b- why are you all looking at me like that?!"
"Tell me, Leorio, do you notice Mitsuri looking at you?" Kurapika sounded like an embarrassed parent trying to stay calm while imploring a young child to realize their faux pas.
"Do I -" He broke off as realization and even greater confusion wobbled around him.
...Another pause. I was fighting the urge to hunch my shoulders. This conversation was beginning to go as others have in the past, that made tentative friendships shrivel before having a chance to even bud. I gave myself a sharp internal shake and took a deep breath through my nose.
I turned unseeing eyes in the direction of all four boys to my left and raised a hand awkwardly as if greeting them for the first time and earnestly said,
"I'm told they look normal, but my eyes don't work...Um, sorry."
...Killua snorted.
Update: This end is much better. Also I'm not dead.
A/N:
Well, this has been what's been occupying my time. I've been devoting as much mental energy to this one as I have been to Kei-chan.
First of all, I give my sincere apologies to any readers who genuinely enjoy my writing. I find it very hard to motivate myself to do anything, let alone something I enjoy. I promise I haven't lost my love for Hagane no Kei-chan. I'm just cheating with this fic, which, at the moment of writing this note, I have yet to name.
'Wildcard?' Seems too Hisoka-ish. 'Forgotten' seems too...I dunno, cliche? Or on the nose, maybe.
I might pick a temp name and ask whoever reads this for opinions.
oh shit i think i just thought of one
it's kind of a pun
like Mitsu's name
hehehehe
Well, if there are any questions or suggestions, I'm more than happy to address both. My impromptu beta is afk for a while, for whatever reason, so this is only...well, it's the second (edit: third) rewrite, so it's more polished than it could be. (edit: it wasn't polished at all. i had to fix so much shit)
loNG AUTHOR'S NOTE this is just a ramble i'm sorry i'll go now ily guys i was just so anxious to get this out even if it's so short it just ended perfectly like that just barfed out of my fingertips you guys help (edit: the ending was shit so i fixed it thx)