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DISCLAIMER: I WISH I OWN Hunter X Hunter
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CHAPTER 2: Fish x Rod x Departure
LAKE
It had been three years since her encounter with Kaito, her father's apprentice. She was planning on doing what he told her, and she did prepare for it… you know, somewhat.
In any case, she was currently sitting under a large tree, fishing with her father's awesome rod. She grinned at the thought of her father doing the same thing and the fact that her aunt finally admitted his existence. It was a miracle that her aunt gave it to her. She laughed to herself in excitement.
She was definitely going to catch this fish.
Meanwhile, on the house's balcony, her aunt stared at the blue sky and watched the clouds pass by.
Mito hated the idea of Gon taking the Hunter exam, of course, but the little girl really had power. She was truly becoming more and more like her father- and she disliked that thought.
Becoming adventurous like her father meant that she was going to leave them! And she was just a 12-year old girl, too!
She put her hand in her face in despair when she felt another one land on her shoulders. It was her mother's, and she was smiling reassuringly at her.
"Mito, you worry too much. Put faith in Antigone will you? Besides, you raised her in a way she would never forget to come back here."
"Ah…" She agreed, but the twinge in her heart was not going away. She even made her do an almost impossible task, but a huge part of her knew she was going to make it.
"I'll miss her…so much…" She whispered sadly, trying to muffle a sob, and her mother hugged her immediately.
"We all would."
"I am still hoping she fails in this task."
The old woman chuckled. At least she really felt like a mother towards her child, now.
...
Several hours later, though...they realized Mito's prayers remained unheard.
There was then monstrously huge fish in front of their house.
"S-SUGOI!" A small child yelled as he pulled her parents' shirts to pull them in for a closer look.
"Seriously?" A random guy exclaimed incredulously at the sight of a tiny girl holding up a fish no less than 10 times her weight.
"Unbelievable…" An old man muttered to himself for he, even with 6 more men, failed to catch the said fish.
"Pinch me, Hon." Another guy asked a favor to his wife, who mechanically did so without looking away from the spectacle.
Gon grinned at the sight of her aunt and grandmother who just got out and looked around at the crowd. She knew they were sad, but she was determined to pass the exam and make them proud, anyway.
That, and her aunt seemed to be holding a grudge against her father... so she decided to punch him the moment they would meet. Mito handed her over a card with an unhampered happy smile. Her aunt could only sigh in defeat and sign her blasted authorization form.
But Gon wasn't oblivious at what her aunt was feeling, so she grinned at her reassuringly. "I'll make you proud, Mito-san." She stated making the older girl smile like usual.
Mito laughed patted her niece's head.
"You already did, Gon... You already did."
...
After bidding her farewell to her family and friends (which included Gonta and the other animals, of course) the following day, she took off on a small boat heading downstream to the ports. She slept for a bit considering it would take her at least half a day to reach the ports even with her little vessel.
She yawned involuntarily and went deep into Lala-land.
MAIN TOWN
Kurapika was washing his face with the freshwater the river supplied to wake himself up. The long journey he had just taken to reach this island was very tiresome, but he needed to be alert at all times. He simply could not fail the exam he was about to take.
He stared blankly at the river and reminisced his past... the reason he wanted to become a hunter, over and over again. He felt that it was his duty to- To never forget his tribe, whatever happened to them, and whoever did it to them. He was the sole survivor of the Kuruta clan, and it was his responsibility never to forget the anger he was harboring and to do whatever he could to avenge their deaths.
But when he saw a little boat slowly went past him, it seemed like all his troubles were blown away.
It was just a small water vessel; gracefully following the flow of the river- having no obstacle strong enough to impede its movements. Inside rest a little girl about three years his junior, sleeping so peacefully... and seemed absolutely free of troubles. He unconsciously smiled at the sight.
But then... as if sensing his gaze, the girl stirred.
He didn't take his eyes off her as she sat up, stretched, yawned, and then finally surveyed her surroundings. He scoffed, amused at the little girl.
'How cute.' He chuckled internally.
But the smile he didn't know he was wearing disappeared immediately when his eyes met hers. She had huge amber eyes that had the ability to pull so many things inside of him- A gaze so innocent and strong that could pull anyone's guard down. And she was still half-asleep, too...
"Ohayou." The girl lethargically greeted. He awkwardly smiled and replied likewise.
"Where am I?" She asked as she lazily wiped the sleep out of her eyes.
"The city ports." He stated making the girl wake up fully.
"Ah... Arigatou." She smiled at him and waved right before taking the rows and took herself to the ports. He stood up to watch the girl as she slowly went farther away from him. He was about to return to the town when she momentarily let go of the rows to wave at him again.
"See you later, blonde-niisan!" She shouted getting him to sweat-drop.
"A-Aa..."
...
Several minutes since she landed, Gon started to wonder where the boat to dole is. All she knew was that it should be there...in the docks... somewhere...
"Hmm..."She mumbled to herself and decided to ask around. She tried to ask a few sailors but they were all so big that they barely took notice of her, and once they did most of them didn't want to bother considering they were all too busy and that the little girl would just waste their time.
So after realizing that asking huge sailors would do no good, she decided to go to town and ask if anyone knew. Sad to say, most of the people there weren't particularly aware of the ingoing ships.
"You're looking for a ship to Dole, little girl?" An old man asked, smiling. She nodded excitedly. The man smirked and told her to follow him when—
"Wait right there, ossan. What do you intend to do with that little girl?" A man in a business suit with small glasses questioned assertively getting the man to flinch.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He muttered, trying to mask his nervousness.
"You're planning on selling that little girl as a slave, aren't you?" The man replied with a frown. The older man glowered and quickly took a knife hidden in his clothing. Gon's eyes widened.
"Watch out!" She warned, but turns out the man didn't need it. He effortlessly avoided the attack and forced his opponent to let go of the weapon.
"Sugoi, Ossan!" The little girl complimented making his eye twitch.
"I am not old, kid." He stated and turned around to walk away from the oblivious kid who obviously can't distinguish good or bad...
And to Leorio, young and old.
...
"Wait up!" She shouted at the old man again. She hadn't thanked him properly yet, and he hadn't given her a chance so far. Their walking pace became faster and faster to the point that the older person's vein popped.
"Go away, kid! Stop bothering me! I need to get ready for my exam!" He yelled. The girl blinked.
"Exam? Could you be taking the Hunter exam as well? Hey! We could go find the ship of Dole together!" She exclaimed optimistically. The older man frowned at her statement. A 12 year old girl taking the infamously deadly Hunter exam...!? No way he was going to help her.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Ehh? Then what exam are you taking then?"
"...Medicine." He lied trying to sound as indifferent as possible. Gon tilted her head in wonder.
"Medicine...? What for...?"
"You need to pass it so you could be a doctor." He replied as-a-matter-of-factly. Then she beamed, surprising him to no end.
"You want to be a doctor? Sugoi, Ossan!"She yelled admiringly making him stutter in embarrassment and surprise.
"I-I-I am not old. And o-of course I'm awesome." He just managed to utter.
"You'll be a great one, ne?" She commented innocently forcing him to straighten himself up.
"How do you say so?" He asked. Gon just let her smile stay to where it was.
"You just said you're awesome. So I bet you are!"
...
Kurapika watched the scene that unfolded in front of him with amusement.
He was just eating at a diner a moment ago not in a particularly good mood because of a spider. But like earlier, the appearance of that little girl from the river shooed his bad thoughts away.
And now she was touching somebody else.
The older man in the business suit probably had very few people believe in him. And the girl just had the quality that would make you believe in whatever she said. He smirked as the man struggled to calm his embarrassment.
"THIEF!" A woman from his left shouted out of the blue, and a moment later a running man approached the direction of the two figures he was studying. He saw the man grin as he watched the vendor of the fish shop run after the thief. He just found a way to escape for the girl and get some free food.
So he piled the fishes into his briefcase and quickly ran away.
Whoosh~
The girl just stared to his direction, though, not really knowing what happened. Kurapika unknowingly gazed at the girl again, but this time the girl sensed it and looked onto his direction. They let their gazes meet for a while before she smiled back at him.
"Yow." She grinned, he replied to her with a smile. But then as if hit by an arrow, the girl remembered that she had some asking to do. So she waved at him and ran after the older man.
Kurapika sighed. He was going to tell her where to find the ship she was looking for. She was a very interesting girl, and he felt that she was going to do well in the exams so he was willing to tell her. He would have unexpectedly good company, as well. He shrugged.
'She's going to find that ship without my help, anyway.'
...
Gon (literally) sniffed around and followed the old man's unique perfume. Her eyes opened when the scent combined with many other very familiar smells that wasn't in any other part of the city.
She ended up in a Zoo. A portable one, at that.
Gon entered not anticipating the trouble she would cause. First, she awed everyone with her ability with animals. And second, she let them all run wild.
'What have I gotten myself into?' The old man thought to himself since he actually helped the girl cause the was working part-time for extra money for that zoo, and when he saw her caged inside the cage for who-knows-why it simply wasn't right not to help her.
But when she was already out. She took the keys to all of the cages and freed every of the animals.
Sure they were all caught illegally, but still-
Errnnn
His eyes widened.
'Nonononono'
But it seemed his chanting did not work. He ran out to the docks and saw that it was true- he really did hear that awful sound a ship made once it was leaving the port.
And there was only one ship heading out at this time.
'Darn it!' He cursed but odd enough, he didn't regret helping the kid out.
"Ossan! Ossan!" She called as she followed him around, again.
"Go away, kid! I'm going to miss my way to Dole!"
"Dole? Is the Medical exam in the same city as the Hunter exam? We can go together, then!" She stated making his eye twitch even crazier. He hastened his pace, but the little girl was seriously quick. He let his eye shift towards the direction of the ship. His mouth opened in aghast.
"The ship's leaving!" He yelled loudly in despair making her swiftly look at his line of sight.
"WA!" She shouted. He scratched his head in panic and annoyance while Gon stared at the leaving vessel for a while. The man noticed her assessing daze and asked himself,
'How can she be so calm?'
And after what felt like a second later, he saw with his own eyes how her calmness paid off. And anyone with a brain would deduce the same thing. They sprinted towards the ship, and ran to a direction opposite from where the ship was obviously at. They reached a small spike of land and she used her rod as a swing to get herself and him to the boat- safe and sound- without having to swim at the rate of 40km/hr.
"I have to admit, you're not that bad kid." The old man said. She grinned.
"My name is Gon, Yoroshiku!"
"Leorio." The older man declared with his thumb proudly pointing at his above-average face.
"Kurapika." Another boy, albeit younger, intervened. Gon stared at him in recognition, and Kurapika chuckled internally.
'This is going to be an interesting trip, indeed.'
.
.
END OF CHAPTER 2
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 3: Pride X Storm X Exam
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REPLIES TO ANGELS
Seithr-Kairy - Ah... My update rate would be more or less 2 weeks since I have 3 other stories that update at about the same rate... I hope it isn't too slow...? And thanks for the comment!
wuuut - HAha. I guess so, so I made her full name 'Antigone' with her nickname 'Gon'. I won't use the Antigone name somuch anymore though, I just can't imagine the lovable character with any other name~! Ghaha. Thanks for the review!
Jane S - Thank you for the review! I'll do my best!
hunterxhunterfan123 - Thanks for the comment~! I'll twist the events as much as I can!
baylee1100 - Here~ Hehe. Hope I didn't disspoint. Thanks for the comment!
Please pause before going to the next chappy (or leaving this story) and please tell me what you think!