Chapter 4: Hunter x Exam x Begins!

Gon was trembling slightly in excitement as the elevator shaft hit the bottom. This was it! The Hunter Exams!

Besides him were Kurapika and Leorio, both also holding their breaths as they awaited the door to slide open. The tall man had on a large smile as he gripped his suitcase. The blonde boy next to him clenched his fists. Their goals and dreams were now a step closer to them. They were within reach. All they had to do, was pass this one large hurdle. The three held their breaths as the metal doors slid open.

Gulp-!

Their elation quickly turned into trepidation as they stepped out the door. Numerous glares were suddenly aimed their way. The atmosphere was heavy and dark, seeping with malevolence and distrust. It was truly a man for himself here. The Hunter Exam was a competition. Everyone was a competitor. There were no such things as allies in this room.

An odd shiver ran down Gon's spine as he smiled fastidly. So this was what it means to be in a Hunter Exam...

"Here you go," Gon tore his gaze away from the menacing crowd and saw a little man with a bright green head smile up at him. In his gloved hands, he held up a small disc as he handed it to the young boy.

The spiky haired child stuttered a small thanks as he took the circular badge from the green man. The number 405 printed plainly on the white background.

"Good luck on passing the exam," the man said brightly before walking away.

Gon stared on curiously before pinning the badge onto his green jacket. He looked to see Kurapika and Leorio wearing similar badges, with the numbers 404 and 403, respectively. The trio smiled excitedly at one another when suddenly a voice spoke up.

"With you three, that makes 405 contestants this year."

The three quickly looked up searching for the owner of that voice. Their eyes soon spotted a shadow sitting up high on a wall. Above them was stout man with a boxed nose, his small eyes looked down brightly at three newcomers. He was styled with short brown hair and wore an honest smile. The number 16 presented plainly on his badge.

He rubbed the back of his head as he jumped down from his perch. "I'm Tonpa."

Gon smiled back at him, his eyes big and bright as he shook the offered hand.

"Hi! My name is Gon! Nice to meet you Tonpa-san," the boy said cheerily as he pointed toward the two older men with him, "These two are with me! The one in the suit is Leorio-san and the other one is Kurapika."

Tonpa chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm, "You're new here, aren't you?"

At that Gon eyes widened in surprise as he laughed, "Haha, yeah! How'd you know?"

"Simple," Tonpa sniffed before giving them a smug look. His chest puffed up in pride, making his round form look even bigger, "I'm an experienced Hunter Examinee. This is my 35th time taking the Hunter Exam."

Leorio's jaw dropped at that comment, his dark glasses falling lopsided on his face. "Th-Thirty five times?!"

The short man smiled cheekily at that statement, "Yup! So I guess you could say I'm sort of an expert about the exam. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!"

Leorio just laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, as he bent down toward his blonde haired friend.

"If I were him, I wouldn't be so proud..." he muttered quietly, Kurapika nodded his head in agreement. Though known world-wide as the most difficult of all exams. One that induced death, pain, and trauma towards the examinee, most would have either passed or quit the exam by their tenth try. Continuing on for thirty-five times showed quite the determination their round friend had.

Tonpa just kept chuckling, an amused smile on his face. Suddenly, his hands dipped in and rifled through his bags. The three looked on curiously when the short man suddenly grinned, his bright teeth showing through his lips. He suddenly looked up at the trio and saw their questioning gaze. He chuckled at their expressions as he suddenly gave them a calming smile.

"Oh! To commemorate our meeting, why not some drinks?" He pulled out three cans of orange soda, handing one each to the three newcomers. "It's quite good, actually."

"Woah!" Gon smiled brightly as he took a can, "Thank you, Tonpa-san!"

Tonpa just smiled quietly at the spiky haired boy. Leorio and Kurapika also muttered their thanks as they grasped the cold can. Gon laughed as he popped open the top, the orange juice fizzing out. The two older males glanced at each other curiously before shrugging, opening their own cans.

Unknown to them, Tonpa grinned mischievously as a dark glint shone in his eyes. Suddenly a loud shout pierced through the air.

"TONPAAA!"

Shocked, the four males turned toward the direction of the loud voice. It came from a small girl with large almond eyes and a button nose. She had thin face that was framed by thick, black bangs. The four looked on apprehensively as she trudged toward them, her dark eyes glaring vehemently at the aforementioned man. The number 397 was glinted against the light on her badge as a large frown marred her face. The ground below her deepened slightly with every step she took.

"Hehe...I shall take that as my cue to leave," Tonpa laughed warily, picking up his stuff as he quickly shuffled away.

"You get back here!" the girl growled, now running after him.

Tonpa was quick though. He swiftly dived into the crowd, zigzagging behind the right people. There was a reason he survived the Hunter Exam thirty-five times. The girl suddenly stopped, pausing as her dark eyes searched furiously through the mass. It was as if Tonpa had suddenly vanished when he slipped into the sea of examinees. She gritted her teeth.

"Damn it. Where'd he go now?"

Gon just stared calmly at the dark haired girl as she muttered curses at the short man. Growling at how she should have just kept quiet and sneak up on the boxed nose man instead. His eyes, bright and innocent, took in the scene before him as the girl paced back and forth angrily. It seems Tonpa did something to make her angry.

He was about to take a sip from his orange soda when it was suddenly knocked out of his grasp. It clunked against the stone floor, the orange colored juice spilling all over the ground.

"Hey-!"

"Don't drink that," the girl said curtly, her eyes still searching for the short man. "It's filled with strong laxatives."

At that Leorio quickly spat out the soda he sipped, coughing hard as Kurapika just sighed and poured out his opened drink onto the ground. The blonde had a feeling that something was off when they were so graciously presented such good drinks.

"La-La-Laxatives?!" the tall man sputtered, wiping his mouth. Glancing at the orange can in his hand, the tall man quickly tossed it, letting it clatter against the ground. That can was dangerous! Kurapika suddenly punched the older male, muttering something about littering. It resulted with Leorio sputtering angrily at how Kurapika treated his own can the same way while Gon just stared wide eyed at his own drink on the ground, feeling betrayed at the can of orange.

The girl huffed, giving up on looking for Tonpa. She turned toward the three males and gave a tired smile. Anger fading away from her dark eyes, the three realized how young she looked. The girl was most likely around Gon's age.

"Yeah. Because of him, I had to take this Exam again," she grumbled, looking over at them before quickly glancing away,"L-Last year, he offered me a can of the same orange soda."

The girl blushed as her small hand covered her stomach, "I ended up with...stomach problems for three days."

She glared pointedly at Gon's fallen can. "Failed the exam last year because of it."

Leorio sucked in the air deeply, perturbed at how close he was to having bowel difficulties. He could've have been out of the count before the exam even started! Next to him, Kurapika smiled slightly before clasping a hand on the girl's shoulder, "I'm sorry for the trouble you went through last year because of him, but I thank you for saving us from a similar predicament."

The thin girl smiled back, rubbing the side of her head, "Ah, no problem. I wanted to prevent other people from going through the same thing I experienced. Glad I managed to save some at least."

She suddenly beamed at them, her eyes flashing darkly, "Though what I really want to do is give that Tonpa a good beating sometime or another."

The blonde boy let out a small chuckle, offering out his hand, "My name's Kurapika. These two are my friends, Gon and Leorio."

"Yo," the one in the suit waved at her, smiling warmly, "Thanks for saving us from Tonpa."

"Mhm!" the spiky haired boy agreed, his bright eyes shining at her dark ones.

The girl grasped Kurapika's hand and smiled brightly, "I'm called Sen. It's nice to meet all three of you."

"It's nice to meet you, too Sen-san!" Gon shouted happily, jumping back and forth excitedly. The boy wasn't sure why, considering she didn't do much, but the girl was interesting to him. She had a calming and mature feel to her.

She gave a small laugh, "Just calling me Sen is just fine. 'Sen-san' can become a bit troublesome on the tongue."

Suddenly her eyes narrowed and darted back to the sea of dangerous examinees, her boots sliding against the floor.

"Excuse me, but there is a sneaking rat I got to catch."

With that Sen stalked off into the crowed, anger slowly burning in her eyes. Her pony tail bounced up and down as she stomped her way through. The men impassively ignoring the dark haired girl, understanding her rage against the popular boxed nose man.

Gon smiled warily as the girl soon disappeared, "What do you think she'll do to Tonpa once she catches him?"

"Tsk. Hopefully she'll give him the worst beating of his life!" Leorio shouted as he scratched his head, now irked at the tricky man. Kurapika just hummed silently as the three waited for the exam to begin.

Sen trudged passed the mass of people, gliding away fluidly between each person. Her lips pursed in thought. The boy with the spiky forest green hair unnerved her. She felt like she had seen him before but couldn't precisely remember when or where. She frowned, trying to recall his unique hairstyle. Green. Black. Bright eyes. Her shoulders slumped as she let out as sigh. It was just too long ago.

Suddenly, a stout man with brown hair came into her field of vision Though it was only for a moment, the irritation in her eyes burned brightly once more. Quickly forgetting about Gon's odd appearance, the dark haired girl focused onto the short man a few yards away. A mischievous glint sparked into her dark eyes. It was time to get back at the tricky man.

Silently, the young girl crept up to him. Using the many large bodies of her fellow examinees, she quickly moved up to him, using a bit of chakra to mask the scuffle of her boots. Sen continued on between the people until she was a mere three feet away from the stout man. She smirked deviously.

"Oh, Tonpa~"

The man froze, a spot of sweat appearing on his head. Jerkily, he turned his head and jumped at how close the girl was to him. He smiled awkwardly at her, "W-Why hi there, Sen-san. How funny we meet aga-"

"Cut the crap and prepare for pain," the girl said darkly, the floor under her cracking suddenly. Because of you, Sasha kept laughing a me for three months!

"Ahahaha..." Tonpa trembled slightly in laughter and about to make another mad dash for it when he suddenly bumped into something hard. He grunted, furiously rubbing at his injured nose. He was about to make a rude comment when he glanced up at the examinee. His heart froze in his mouth.

Staring down at him was a man with bright red hair and golden eyes. He wore an unusual white jester outfit marked with dark suit symbols. His lips were slightly turned down in an unamused frown as his dark yellow eyes looked down at the man who bumped into him.

"Hi-Hisoka!" The boxed nose man squeaked, quaking in his boots. Fear easily took hold of the small man as he trembled terribly before the muscular magician. Tonpa opened his mouth, distressed as nothing came out. He couldn't even let out a scream. It felt as if an invisible grip had grasped his throat, making him unable to choke out another word. He gulped, his dark eyes staring up nervously at the taller man.

The man he was planning on avoiding the most. The man who had terribly injured an examiner. The man who had so easily killed so many examinees in the last exam with just a flick of his wrists. And he just bumped into him! Tonpa felt his entire being freeze up as cool yellow eyes looked down at him. The air became thick and heavy. Slowly, the magician turned toward him. The stout man squeezed his eyes shut. I'm dead!

PLACK!

The tubby body was suddenly punted across the building.

Tonpa let out a cry of surprise, landing harshly on the hard ground. He coughed, a bit of blood trailing down his mouth, his nose surprisingly remaining intact. Shaking his head he quickly cleared out his muddled thoughts as he blinked open his eyes. What happened?! He stayed face down on the hard rock floor as his heart beat furiously against his chest. Fear still wrapped around him. Shuddering, his dark eyes swiftly glanced around.

Hisoka wasn't there.

He wasn't near Hisoka.

His head crashed down onto the ground once more as tears of relief streamed down his bruised face. I-I'm saved!

Back at the original spot, Sen huffed, a drop of sweat sliding down the side of her face as she lowered her leg. Good. Seems I kicked him far enough.

Nervously, her dark eyes slid over to the tall magician who smiled pleasantly down at her. She frowned, cautious of his cold, golden gaze. The young girl felt a terrible shiver trail up her body as she looked up at him, recalling his horrible killing intent when Tonpa bumped into him. Sen gritted her teeth in frustration.

That redhead was planning on killing the short man!

Though by no means affectionate toward the tricky bastard, there had been no need for the stout man to die. She clenched her fists as her eyes glanced back up to the dangerous jester, watching him warily. Why had this man leak out such a deadly sakki?

"Oh~?"

The small girl jumped slightly at the sound. The tall man took a step forward in his odd heels, an amused expression adorning his pale face. Sen froze at his gaze, his gold eyes sending shivers up and down her spine. Swallowing hard, she tried to shift into a defensive stance, her heart hammering painfully against her chest. Something's not right with this man-!

Her breath hitched as he suddenly spoke, his voice dark and twisty, "Why thank you, little girl, for getting rid of that rude person for me."

Sen twitched as a large hand touched the top of her head, patting her ever so gently. She suddenly let out a gasp. It felt as if a heavy shroud suddenly fell over her small form, encasing her in thick heaviness. Her dark eyes widened as she tried to step away. She couldn't move. Her arms. Her legs. Her body. Her entire being was suddenly unresponsive to her. Sen trembled slightly as she struggled to breathe.

"Honestly, bumping into me without apologizing," he flicked out a card, slowly licking the edge. A small smirk played on the edge of his lips as his amused yellow eyes met with confused dark ones, making the small girl shiver. "I was going to cut off his arms for that."

Suddenly he walked off, releasing his hold on her head. His heels clicking softly against the floor as the area grew tense and quiet. However, Sen stood still, locked in her defensive stance.

Ten seconds passed by.

Thirty seconds.

A full minute.

Her internal systems were going mad before she finally let out a breath and sunk down the floor, her chest heaving madly.

I think I just found the villain...

.

Up ahead, amongst the startled examinees, Hisoka let out a small chuckle as people moved hurriedly out of the way from him.

He flicked a card between his clawed fingers, twirling it up and down. The man grinned.

It seems an interesting fruit had sprouted up~!

.

The young girl was startled out of her stupor when an odd ringing clattered against the air.

LILILILILI-!

She looked up to see a lavender haired man with a curled mustache holding up an odd looking bell.

"Greetings, Hunter Examinees!" he shouted, his voice carrying over the entire room. "I shall be your examiner for the first phase of this exam."

He suddenly hopped off his perch from the balcony, his unusually long and lanky limbs now visible for all to see. He suddenly turned toward crowd, his eyes gleaming in the dim light.

"The Hunter Exam will now begin!"

~o~o~o~

A/N: Whoosh! Aha we finally get to see Gon and the gang! Sorry for taking so long. Also, FFnet, why do you prevent me from using heart emotes for Hisoka's speech? T _T

And...yeah, this how Sen will interact with the characters. Casually fitting in, I guess. Not everything will follow precisely to the original story, but I'll try to keep the main points in. Do you guys think this is good? Or is it too much? I really don't want to make any of the characters ooc. Please tell me if that happens. Also, with the way I'm writing this story, I dunno how to fit romance into the mix you see. Maybe close friendship if I try hard enough. x _x

As always, another tidbit of info.

Info that may or may not be interesting to you:

When Sen Restarts in a Story it doesn't necessarily mean she will be brought to the beginning of it. She could end up later or earlier, not even knowing if she will meet the main characters. So when she had met Aang and the gang, it meant that she wouldn't be able to meet Korra and her crew, since technically those two are in the same universe. Unless she lived long enough in the Avatar world to meet them. ...Did she live long enough?

Sakki = Killing intent