A twist on the ever famous FF cliché! The Hunter Exam has begun, meet Mei the 287th Hunter Guide, how will having an examiner on their side change things for our protagonists? Kurapika x OC

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except Mei and this fan fiction.

Chapter 1 The Unlucky Group


I found myself walking in silence with Satutso, it was time for the 287th Hunter Exam to begin and we were on our way to welcome the new set of examinees. I let my eyes wander to the man on my left, he was a peculiar man to say the least, but knowing the Hunter Association, I did not doubt for a minute his strength though it was concealed by a façade of gentlemanly calmness and composure.

"I hope this year's examinees are as fun as Toushiro said," I thought out loud remembering my friend who had been on the examiner's board the previous year.

Satutso said nothing, I had gotten used to his silence, our trip to the examination hall had been composed mainly of me talking and him listening with the occasional grunt or chuckle here and there. Nevertheless, I continued talking, "I was actually on a mission when I got the message you know."

We were almost there now, I could see the large entrance door that would lead us to the examinees, I felt the excitement build in me, it was nothing like the thrill I got from hunting, but it was exhilarating nonetheless, a touch of suspense mixed with curiosity.

"Had to wrap it up quickly in order to reach here on time," I continued.

"We're here," said Satutso quietly.

The door opened to reveal an flat elevator like rectangle, we stepped on it, and with a grunt the thing descended into a large, dark hall filled with people, I scanned the room, they were of all ages and races, I felt a twinge of disappointment at the small number of girl applicants, you could sense the testosterone in the air. Satutso pulled out a weird face shaped clock and switched on its alarm, if hunters were known for anything it was their weirdness, the shrilly voice bounced throughout the room. "You couldn't use a normal bell could you?"

The applicants hushed down when they noticed us, their faces spoke of cockiness, anticipation, hesitation and in some fear of the unknown. Satutso cleared his throat before speaking to the contestants, "As of this moment the exam is closed to any further applicants."

"I would like to officially welcome everyone here to the Hunter Exam," he continued as we stepped down. I could hear hushed voices around us, I smiled at the room, the anticipation was rising. I noticed that Satutso had stopped talking, I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and found him staring at me, it took me a moment to realize what he meant.

"Oh! Yes, hello everyone! Welcome to the Hunter Exam," I said. "My name is Mei and I will be the Hunter Guide of this year."

I pulled a piece of paper from my pocket and continued, "Can the contestants holding numbers 403, 404 and 405 step forward?"

I looked up, three figures stepped forward hesitantly, I eyed them with interest, the first one was a young man no older than 20, he wore a dark blue suit and black eyeglasses, my gaze moved from his brown hair to the blond next to him he was probably my age, wearing a blue tunic, his aquamarine eyes eyed me apprehensively, the final person was the one who peek my interest, he was a green clad child no older than twelve, he gave me a toothy grin and raised his hand. "Excuse me Miss Mei, but what's a Hunter Guide?"

"A person who guides hunters," I replied simply, ignoring the dramatic falls around me. "Every year a lucky –or unlucky depending on how you see it – group of three is randomly chosen to get a Hunter Guide to follow them around throughout the exam, basically my job is to watch you participate while taking notes, meaning that even if you somehow manage to reach the final phase you will not pass before the committee reads my report."

"Great," muttered the guy in the suit sarcastically, some people around them gave them looks of pity, others smirked at their misfortune.

I grinned at them, Satutso cleared his throat once again, "Please come with me, let me take a moment to remind you all that the Hunter Exam is extremely demanding, if you're unprepared or unlucky, you may well be severely injured or even killed."

"Way to bum them out," I thought to myself, but I knew that he was right, not everyone was cut to be a hunter, only the elites of humanity managed to pass and become successful hunters, it was a hard prize to get and only the worthy managed to accomplish this feat.

We walked towards an entrance, I followed my partner towards it, he continued his speech saying, "If you are alright with accepting those risks, then you may continue following me."

The contestants followed us, not many usually backed down before the first phase began, it was only when they saw the horrors that awaited them that fear and panic seep through their souls.

"Four hundred and four is a large number," I muttered to Satutso.

"At least for now," he replied.

I could have imagined it but I thought I saw a gleam of excitement in his intelligent eyes. Slowly he picked up his pace, I grinned, the exam had officially begun.

"Sorry for the delay, but allow me to introduce myself," he called. "I am Satutso, the examiner for the first phase, I am also the one who is leading you for the site of the second phase."

"Those of you who manage to pass this one that is," I couldn't help but call mischievously, hey we had our share of misery when we applied, it was their turn to taste some of it! Our legs were barely jogging but the pace had increased incredibly, I could hear the pants of surprise behind me.

"Some of you may have realized, keeping up with me to reach the second phase is in fact the first phase," he said.

I rolled my eyes at his dramatic tone, the first phase was made to examine the contestants' stamina and will power, it was a fast way to eliminate the weaklings, and those who did not want it enough, not knowing when will the distance end could strain them mentally too, needless to say the Hunter Exam was not for everyone.

"This is going to be an interesting year," I thought.


Three hours passed, the strained breathing behind us increased, I didn't need to look to know that a large number of the contestants had fallen down, a sweet honey like smell filled my nostrils, it was the Delusion Cedar Sap, an old herb used by assassins to make their victims fall into a state of total delusion, when despair ate away their brains they'd drop their final hit, killing their prey.I glanced quickly behind me, I couldn't decipher any of my group members, I frowned, they didn't seem like a weak bunch, could they have fallen?

"I am going to check up on my group, see you later," I said.

He nodded and I headed back, I looked to the many faces around me but none of the tired gazes I met were the ones I was looking for.

"Looks like my job here is over," I thought. "Pity, I was very excited."

I was about to move back front when a conversation behind me struck my attention.

"What are you scared of?" asked a cold voice.

I glanced back, a young boy no older than the green clad boy was talking to an ugly looking man who looked tense, I frowned, I could sense that this boy was dangerous, he gave off an eerily dark aura.

"I…I-it's noting," replied the tense man.

"You tricked them..eh?" asked the boy nonchalantly.

"W-what? D-don't be silly, of course not," answered the man, I could see the sweat forming on his forehead.

Could he be talking about the group?

"I'll tell you something good, anyone who uses dirty tricks will die a dirty death one day," said the boy.

They had both stopped walkimg, I slowed down my steps, it wasn't something a kid would say, something told me that there was more to that boy than meets the eye.

"I am not lying, wana see? I can show you right now, right here," said the boy taking a step forward.

"Stop."

They looked at me, the boy's aura was barely spiked but I could still sense the murderous intent, I glanced at the man with disgust and asked him coldly, "Where are they?"

He pointed at a direction, the white haired boy eyed me with an expression-less, the fat man took it as a chance to escape, I ran towards the direction he had pointed, the dark aura followed me, I could sense him trailing behind me on his skateboard. I ignored him, something told me that they had been talking about my group.

"It could be too late you know," he commented casually.

"Won't believe it till I see it, gotta write something in that report kid," I replied with a casual glance, but I found myself praying that he would be wrong. We rounded a corner and I felt my back go cold, to my horror the green clad boy was carrying his blond friend, the latter was struggling and screaming, pleading, the herb had obviously affected him. Before I could react, the white haired boy skated towards them and kicked the blond straight to the face. I hurried towards them.

"You were tricked," he said hands tucked in his pockets, "The herb is called the Delusion Cedar Sap, it used to stir up your most fragile fears and memories, slowly destroying your mind."

I kneeled in front of the blond guy, he seemed to be waking up from his stupor, a look of bewilderment evident on his features, I opened my bag and rummaged inside retrieving a small bottle with a dark green liquid.

"Take a small sip of this, it'll drive away any effect," I said. "This is a trap and not the only one here, so hurry up."

He gave me a look of distrust, I rolled my eyes, "The longer you guys live, the more I have to submit to the Committee, it's not in my interest to harm you."

After briefly assessing what I had said, he slowly took the bottle and drank, "Thank you."

I nodded and stood up, "Where is your other friend?"

Suddenly realizing the urgency, Gon became more alert, "We have to go help him."

"Well then you have to hurry if you want to catch up with the others, come on," I said running towards the deeper end of the tunnel. The blond followed me with the two boys right behind us, I hoped it wasn't too late to save the other guy, behind me the white haired boy replied to a question about his name.

"Killua."

The name seemed to ring a bell, but I could not place my finger on it, I had heard it before, I was sure of that.

"Why are you helping us? Isn't that against the rules?" asked the blond next to me, his blue eyes were calculating trying to decipher my intentions, he was obviously a smart lad.

"I told you, the longer you live the more I have to write," I replied. "I don't want to return home early after coming all the way here."

It wasn't a lie, I was definitely excited and proud when I received the message from the committee, but a small voice inside of me told me that that wasn't the full reason why I was helping them, something told me that they were an interesting group of people.

"You haven't answered my second question," he persisted.

"Well," I thought. "I am not sure about that, guess we'll just have to find out!"

I grinned at his deadpanned look, we reached a dead end, the wall facing us was covered with the plant.

"Killua, what are we going to do?" asked the green clad boy.

Killua pulled a small bomb from his pocket, I raised an eyebrow, I was now sure that he wasn't a normal kid, but then again no normal person would attempt to join the Exam.

"This is a bomb, we'll use it to blow the sap infested wall," said Killua a look of mischief apparent on his face.

He threw the bomb at the wall, the next thing I knew the four of us were thrown into the unsuspecting blue suited man, I flipped myself and landed on the ground to avoid crushing any of them.

"That was a great trick kid, if you were in my group you'd receive top marks!" I said excitedly.

Killua gave me an empty look and ignored me.

"Don't ignore me you brat, I am your senior! That is if you even pass the exam!" I growled at him.

The suited man looked at us disbelievingly, "W-what? GON? KURAPIKA?"

So that's what they're called.

I threw the green bottle at him, "Take a small sip, it'll drive away any affects, and yes you've been tricked by the ugly, fat guy, the herbs cause severe delusions that eventually eat up your brain, now can we please leave? You guys won't catch up with the others at this rate."

He met me with a blank look, before straighting up and marching towards me, I blinked at him as he took my hand.

"I am Leorio," he said huskily kissing my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet a lovely lady such as yourself."

I smiled sweetly at him, he seemed to take that as an encouragement before my head collided with his in a head butt.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Thank you, but flirting with the Guide will get you nowhere," I said smirking at him. "Come on big guy, we need to get going."

"You deserve it," muttered Kurapika.

"Come on Grandpa we need to get going," said Killua.

"YOU BRAT!"

I sighed, they were never going to make it on time if the continued behaving like that. Finally, Kurapika, who seemed to be the voice of reason spoke, "How are we going to get out of here?"

"Like this," said Killua throwing another set of bombs.

For the second time that day, my ears were filled with the sound of explosions, this time we jumped through the wall and found ourselves face to face with Satutso and the other contestants. My fellow hunter gave me a raised eyebrow which I returned with a shrug.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked the boys.

"Sorry Mr. Satutso, we destroyed the wall a little," replied Gon sheepishly.

"I never said you can't destroy it," said Satutso. "You wandered into the path of delusion and came back alive, that it impressive."

"True, true," I nodded in agreement.

Before any of us could say another word, Leorio ran towards the ugly guy, and grabbed his shirt.

"Tompa you bastard, I am going to kick your ass!"

"Let it go Leorio," said Gon.

"Shut up!" bellowed the older man. "Gon aren't you mad?"
"This is all part of the test," reason Kurapika.

Finally, Leorio let go with a growl.

"Don't dirty your hands with the likes of him," I said eyeing the fat vermin. If there was anything I hated, it was dishonest assholes. "Let's get going."

Twenty minutes later, I found myself running next to Leorio and Kurapika who turned to look at me.

"So what does a Guide's job entail? Beside guiding us," he added the last part warily.

"Yeah how are we lucky if we're watched by a judge 24/7" added Leorio panting as he tried to keep up.

I giggled at his demeanor, it was funny to see the two of them together, so different and opposing, "I suppose I could tell you, let's just say that if a Guide takes a liking to you, he or she may help get you out of sticky situations, think of me as a reinforcement of some sort, I can't pass the test for you, but I can back you up if I want, however, I have to report the facts as they are, I can't add or deduct anything, and because you have a guide, your passing criteria may or may not be harder than the rest."

"Oh." was the only thing that escaped the blonde's lips.

"Oh cheer up! I think we're going to have fun together!"

He gave me a hesitant smile quietly chuckling , I didn't know what was awaiting them or myself, but I knew that this year was going to be like no other.


Author's Note: So? What do you guys think? Do review and tell me if you liked or hated it! Constructive criticism would be very appreciated! Has anyone checked the 2011 version? What do you think of it? Let me know in a review!