Chapter 1
Kurapika first caught a glimpse of her on the airship. The second phase of the hunter exam had ended and the Chairman had generously offered to transport them to the location where the next phase would take place. Feeling slightly thirsty, he'd left Leorio in the room and headed back to the banquet hall to grab a drink of water. It was there he'd seen her.
The first thing that caught his eye was her voluminous curls, such a soft pink color that shone hints of blonde when caught in the light. She was small in stature too, about the age of his two younger friends, with fair, freckled skin and dressed in a simple white dress. Thinking her to be one of the examinees, he hadn't paid much attention to her and simply focused on getting his drink when she whipped around to glance at him. For a moment Kurapika found himself caught in bright green orbs framed by long beautiful lashes, not missing the soft gasp that escaped her.
"Hello." He greeted, reaching for a cup. She watched him intently, keeping her distance as though wary of him and he moved with caution, his curiosity increasing the more he was with her. There was no pin on her chest, which either meant she had taken it off at some point or that she wasn't an examinee after all.
Tempted to question her- start a conversation, he quickly stamped the urge down. She wasn't his business and besides, he had to get some rest in order to be fully prepared for the next phase. Finishing his drink, he turned and threw the plastic away and was slightly surprised to see her gone when he glanced back.
That was the first time Kurapika saw her.
They were well on their way to the fourth exam when, this time, Gon spotted her. He had just left the examinees' assigned bedroom and was on his way to rejoin his friends when he caught sight of pink hair. She stood at the edge of the ship, gazing out into the ocean with a bright smile and open arms as though trying to catch the wind. And as if complying, it wafted through her arms and past her cotton candy-like curls leaving Gon in awe.
"Do you like the ocean?" He found the question leaving his lips without knowing, unable to quell the sudden urge he had to speak to the girl in front of him. She jumped, startled by his presence and made move to leave when he spoke again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
Green eyes rounded back to him and he waited for her to say something, moving closer when she said nothing. "I'm Gon. What's your name?"
He was confused when she glanced around as though searching for something, but was glad when she finally turned back to him with flushed cheeks. "Naomi."
She spoke softly, yet clearly but Gon paid no mind to that, pushing to continue the conversation. "Nice to meet you, Naomi-chan. I like your hair!" He exclaimed with a smile and Naomi only watched him with bright eyes, her own lips stretching into a gentle smile.
"Thank you, Gon."
He nodded. "So, how old are you? Are you taking the exam too? Where are you from?" Gon opened his mouth to continue but stopped when she broke into laughter.
"I can't answer all of them at once, now can I?" This time it was Gon's turn to blush.
"Ah, sorry." Before he could say any more, the familiar voices of his friends sounded and he turned to see them coming towards him.
"Oi Gon, where have you been? We're almost at the forest you know!" Leorio questioned, peering down at him through his shades with slight annoyance.
"Sorry, Leorio. I was talking to her." Gon said, gesturing behind him.
They raised a brow in concern, Killua voicing the question they all had. "Who?"
Gon blinked in confusion, turning around to introduce them to the girl he had just met but was surprised when he was met with an empty view. "Huh? Where'd she go?"
Leorio blinked at that. "She?"
The golden eyed boy nodded. "There was a girl here earlier with pink hair and green eyes. She said her name was Naomi."
Kurapika frowned, the description ringing a bell with him. "Pink hair? About the same age as you? With freckles?"
Gon turned to his blonde friend with an enthusiastic nod. "Yes! That's her! You know her?"
The teen sighed, placing a finger to his chin in thought. "I think I may have met her back on the airship, but she didn't speak to me. Her name is Naomi?"
"Yep." The younger boy furrowed his brows. "I wonder why she left."
"Maybe she's taking the exam too?" Killua voiced, slightly interested in the unknown girl his friend seemed to have taken a liking to.
It was silent for a moment when Kurapika spoke again. "I don't think so," he said before continuing. "When I met her, she didn't have a tag on."
Gon blinked. "Come to think of it, she didn't have one now either." Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the ship docking.
Leorio spoke up. "We should head back."
Killua nodded in agreement. "If she is taking the exam, we'll see her again."
The young boy nodded, following his friends back to the front of the ship, but he paused turning to glance back once more. There was a strange feeling brewing in his gut and for some reason, he felt excited.
"Gon, are you coming?" Killua called, sapphire orbs narrowing at the green haired boy.
Gon searched his surroundings for the last time, letting out a sigh of disappointment before turning back to his best friend. "Yeah, let's go."
Kasumi sat in the luxurious room, book in a gloved hand and silver eyes barely scanning the words before her. They'd been on the ship for almost four days now and it would soon be time for the examinees to head back before they could move forward towards the next phase. She sighed, setting her book to the side whilst glancing at the small figure swaddled under a gold duvet. The little miss had taken to complaining lately, the source of her irritation stemming from her restlessness. Naomi Netero had been banned from interacting with the examinees, and though Kasumi felt for the girl, she absolutely refused to budge on the matter.
She'd been hired as the young girl's handmaid as well as guard, but over time she'd come to care for the girl, seeing her as the sister she'd never had. And though her job could be very lax most days, recently she'd been on edge.
"Naomi-sama," The young girl sluggishly rose from her bed, pink curls a soft contrast to the white sheets. "Daichi-san will soon be here so, please get ready."
"He's coming today?" She drawled sluggishly, yawning after a while and Kasumi raised a brow at that. Apart from her usual lessons, her young mistress was usually found resting in her room or tinkering with her little gadgets, so how come she seemed so exhausted and depressed these days?
"Yes," Kasumi eyed the white nightgown she had on. "And it would be inappropriate for him to meet you in your sleepwear." She stood, heading towards the drawers to retrieve something more proper.
"It's very comfortable." At the whine, silver eyes narrowed in discontent and Kasumi lay the folded attire on the bed.
"I also believe the Chairman will be here to inspect today's checkup." The teen smirked when all signs of laziness disappeared from her mistress' face. Naomi quickly grabbed the clothes and hurried out of sight to freshen up. She was just about done, dressed in cream leggings and a simple white top and leaving the bathroom when the two elderly men entered the room, surprisingly, with Menchi in tow.
Not one to forget her manners, the young girl gave a polite nod. "Good Afternoon, Daichi-san, Menchi-san," her gaze landed on the geta wearing old man. "...grandfather."
No one was impervious to the harsh way she hissed the endearing term, though, neither were they surprised or alarmed. But they all sweatdropped when he only chuckled heartily.
"Well," Daichi spoke up, not wanting to waste any more time. "Shall we get started?"
Naomi silently took a breath, her stomach curling in slight apprehension. The checkup was a regular occurrence, usually scheduled to happen once every two months, but it never failed to make her nervous. She lay back against the bed as Menchi moved to then strap her to the bed, the silence in the room almost choking. Off to the side, Kasumi watched with trained eyes, her gloves on and arms crossed in deceptive nonchalance. But from her tied hair and tensed body posture, Naomi knew better.
The first few minutes were normal, temperature checks and body and mental health checks, all of which turned out normal. And when her grandfather stood, she understood then that the real obstacle had come.
Daichi gave Menchi a small nod."Right." She said and moved to tighten the straps, a reassuring smile on her face all the while but it only made Naomi frown.
After all, the last time she'd done this unsupervised, she had nearly destroyed a city.
"Whenever you're ready, Naomi-chan," Daichi said.
Meeting the gazes of everyone in the room, she steadied herself, quelling the fear that had built itself up in her. She shut her eyes, clearing all mindless thoughts floating in her brain until she thought of nothing and the familiar darkness overtook her once again.
Though it wasn't Kasumi's first time seeing the phenomenon, it never ceased to amaze her. And as she stood on guard, warily eying the ship's walls and floors as they rattled, she couldn't help but question the mindsets of those in the room with her. Contrary to the beliefs of those who knew her mistress, Naomi wasn't being kept hidden for her protection.
And as the wind picked up, gathering to a central point in the room, Kasumi was once again reminded just why her mistress was so heavily restricted. In the center of the room, a small hole of sorts materialized, spinning in a counter-clockwise motion as it steadily expanded. It was black in color- in such a dark shade that it almost seemed 2D.
"So far so good," Daichi spoke up and Kasumi could only frown, a slight clenching in her gut.
She had no time to ponder on it when the girl in mention let out an anguished scream, the wind coming to a halt around the room as the black hole grew. The situation had taken a turn for the worst, as she'd expected, and if she didn't take control of the situation soon then…
"Daichi-san, Menchi-san, I need you to vacate now! Netero-sama, are you ready?!" She could hardly hear her own voice now. That was a bad sign.
At his nod, Kasumi tightened her gloves before grabbing Naomi. She had begun to float from the bed, her broken straps and her loud screams all coming together to make a terrifying sight. They had to fix this now before the candidates returned from Zevil Island.
"Naomi-sama, I need you to listen to me!" Kasumi winced when her screams only increased, quickly jamming in a dose of anesthesia. It wouldn't knock her out as it was supposed to, a fact that they had discovered a while back, but it would calm her down at least.
As expected, she slammed back against the bed, her screams now just hoarse whimpers, but her eyes were still a bright neon green and the walls continued to rattle. And most of all, the black hole was now the size of a watermelon.
"Naomi-sama, come on. We've done this before, and we can do it again." Kasumi said, taking in a breath as she placed a hand on Naomi's chest- her gloves now glowing. "Ready."
She heard Netero's grunt of understanding before the darkness set in.
The darkness was almost blinding against her eyes, but still a comforting sight. There was nothing to fill the empty space, as usual, but she was there again. She was smiling, pearly whites a beacon of light in the neverending night and her white gown trailing against an invisible floor as she floated towards her.
"It's nice to see you again, Naomi." Her voice was icy, a stark contrast to her sweet demeanor. And as Naomi stared up into green eyes so strangely familiar, she found herself frozen.
Well, at least that was another constant.
"It's you again," she spoke, finally, and the woman only laughed as though it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.
The encounter began years back when her gift had nearly spiraled out of control. The young woman appearing to her in the darkness, dressed in the same flowing, white gown. They never spoke about much, and most of their time was spent with her watching.
Watching and waiting.
It would continue until she was once again pulled from, what the committee had determined to be, her subconscious by Kasumi, the blonde phantom residing in that dark space disappearing before her dear handmaid could arrive. The first time it had occurred, she'd thought nothing of it, believing it to be something her mind had made up to keep her from going completely mad. But when she appeared again, she'd woken up the next day to report it only to fall unconscious.
She didn't wake up for two weeks. Naomi had later come to discover that during those weeks, she'd been at the verge of death. At the next encounter, they'd shared no words and her usual watchful gaze now furious. All that was to be said had been conveyed that day.
'Tell anyone and you die.' The silent threat a constant mantra in her head.
"Were you expecting someone else?" Her tone was light and teasing, and most would stupidly relax at the friendly gesture.
Naomi wasn't stupid.
"I last saw you two years ago. Why are you here now?" She said nothing for a moment, the smile on her face more creepy than friendly.
"It would seem that the time has come." She reached to caress her cheeks and she flinched, taking a step back- not once missing the way her green eyes darkened. The woman chuckled, golden curls bouncing with each cackle before she turned back to her, voice echoing as she faded away. "Soon, my sweet knight."
Naomi frowned at the pet name, thoughts racing. The time had come for what?
"Naomi-sama!" The sound of Kasumi's voice was almost like a breath of fresh air, so she didn't resist when a gloved hand latched onto her shoulder. And as she was pulled from that space, she caught sight of something.
Something white, steadily growing at the farthest corner of the said space.
Pulling her mistress from the darkness was always the most difficult yet fastest part, seeing as there was always a risk of her also getting trapped in that space. But with the storm was always calm, so Kasumi only groaned when she was sent flying upon returning back to her body. There was no time for pain because, on the bed, Naomi lay convulsing.
Either this would continue to be easy, or things would take a turn for the worst.
Ignoring the ringing in her head, she returned to bed and tore off the top part of Naomi's clothes. Then she quickly turned her to her side, supporting her head as she waited. It seemed like hours, each moment tense as she held her breath in hope before her mistress finally calmed.
Laying her back in the bed, she was careful not to cover her with any sheets and quickly moved to open the windows, before turning her attention back to the only man in the room.
Thankfully, he wasn't needed this time around either. Kasumi couldn't help but dread the day that they would.
"Things are worse than I predicted." She leaned against the table to steady herself, raising her eyes to meet her employer in confusion.
"Sir?"
Netero shook his head, moving to leave. "Get some rest, Kasumi-chan. She won't be up for a while, but once she is I want you to bring her to me. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
End of Chapter 1
Hello, Everyone. Welcome to the first Chapter of the story, Void. Hoped you liked it. It took me weeks to get off the first chapter so God, I hope you guys like it. To get an idea of what Naomi looks like, look up Annie Mei and Zero Two fanart. She's a cross between those two. There's not much I can say until I start getting reviews but for now, I guess I'll clear up a few things that I feel might be a bit confusing.
Naomi has a power called Void. A being resides in her subconscious, something she believes is a humanoid representation of the said power she has. She physically can not tell anyone about her though because Void will possibly end her if she does.
Everything else should be pretty self-explanatory.
For those of you who read the manga, you might- and I use that word sparingly- know where I'm going with this.
I'm a stickler for punctuation and vocabulary so get ready to learn new words. That said, I am still human so...I NEED A BETA. I find it hard to conjure my thoughts and put them into sentences that make sense sometimes so I need someone who's really great at that.
Not even sure people still read Hunter x Hunter fanfics anymore, considering how long the show's been on Hiatus.
Fun Fact, I have written three HxH fanfics but I deleted them all because I wasn't satisfied with how unplanned they were. Don't fret my little bunnies, I have no intention of deleting this one. I'm already five chapters in and I have a steady plan for this story.
Chapters will get longer as we go. Sorry? I don't know if I should apologize because I know some people enjoy long chapters. I know I do.
I refuse to give an update date cause I know I definitely won't keep to it. I have a life outside of fanfiction. ...Hmm, that last bit might be a lie.
This was supposed to be a Killua x OC, but then I got interested in Gon's character so now I don't know who she'll end up with. I'm still leaning towards Killua but my hands are typing out Gon and Naomi scenarios. So I guess you guys, the readers, will decide who she ends up with.
I think that's all I have to say. If I remember anything, It'll be in the next chapter. Lot's of Love!
©Alexia Colette