As usual, I got this [I wanna write – screw the exams] syndrome while it's only a week away from the final XD

I see it's almost half a year since I updated this. Some of you might have heard that I was contemplating whether I should continue this fic or not. To be frank, there was a lot of school!AU back then that I lost my interest in writing one *shrugs* Anyway… since the number has decreased and I want something light to write, I'll try continue this.

Special thanks to everyone who've waited and supported this fic until this far :)

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter belongs to Togashi. Fanfic and AU! school concept used here belong to me.

Standard warning on grammatical errors and typos applies.

IV

A Not so Ordinary Beginning

It was April: the beginning of spring; the beginning of school year; the beginning of everything.

"First of all, as the principal, I'd like to welcome our new students to our humble school."

An old man stood at a podium and began his speech in front of hundreds of much younger audiences. Despite his age, which was one hundred and something, the old man looked really healthy and full of spirit. He stood up straightly and his voice didn't waver. The smile on his face made him looked like he was only on his early sixty.

"Hunter Institute. The one and only Hunter Institute. The supposedly world's number one school which promises bright and successful future to its students. Well, that's what they say about us," the old man mused as he stroked his white beard. "Is it true? For me, this school doesn't look any different from any other school, beside being a private school with a completely free school fee. I wonder why people make a fuss over it. Is it because we don't judge the students' capability by their age? Or is it because some of our graduated happen to become famous? Well, I guess it's up to everyone's perception. The only thing I know is there're always tons of aspiring students from all over the world who apply to this place every year. Honestly we have a hard time during the selection since we have limited seats and bedrooms."

He stopped playing with his beard then continued with a more serious tone in his voice."Some of you might have been wondering about how you managed to pass the test despite your bad performance back then. Could it be that it was a mistake? What if this old man suddenly says that you're not supposed to be here and cast you away? "

He slowly gazed at the first years. The silence made them held their breath. After a while, his lips curved upward and his eyes softened.

"Let me assure you: you are here now because you are qualified to be our students. "

The smile on his face grew wider as he explained. "What are we? Yes, a school. What is a school? A place to learn. Who need to learn? The fools! The fools who's willing to learn. We don't want geniuses as our students. Geniuses can study by themselves. The one we want to teach is you, the fools who posse a spirit that will never go out.

It's okay if you are not bright or skillful. We are here to turn you into one. We will help you with all of our might. It's our responsibility. From this point onward until you all graduate, we'll become a big family who struggle together. The ones sitting on your left and right will be your brothers and sisters. You've got to help each other as no one can live alone. Make friends, share a healthy rivalry among yourselves…" He stopped for a while before continue with a big grin, "and find a love, probably."

The senior students laughed hearing his words while some of the teachers coughed and gave the old man a disapproving look.

"Last but not the least, enjoy your school life."

The teachers, staffs and students gave him a standing applause as he ended his speech and walked back to his seat.

"Thank you, Netero-kouchou-sensei. Now we'll proceed to…"

"That speech was really something." Leorio said. The opening ceremony had just ended a while ago and now the students had to get back to their respective classes. There were three classes in total for the first years. It was quite lucky that he, Gon, Kurapika and Kilua were assigned to the same class.

"Agree." Kurapika nodded. "The Principal's idealism is really amazing. Now I understand how the test actually worked… and why Lippo-sensei looked really impressed on Gon's statement back then."

Leorio raised a brow. "Lippo? Oh, you mean that bespectacled man?" He asked while trying to recall the Mohawk haired man who had became their proctor during thewritten test.

"Geez. You have to remember his name properly. He's one of our teachers." She said in disproval.

"Well, pardon me; he only stated his name ONCE and I was under the fake-test pressure at that time. There were a lot of way more important things for my brain to remember than his name." Leorio snorted. "And I don't think I'll get to remember every teacher's name. You saw them too, right? There were around 50 of them. "

"I wonder what kind of subject we'll have." Gon said excitedly. "They must be fun!"

"Really? I don't think so. A school is a school after all." The silverhead shrugged nonchalantly.

"Geez, Killua. Why are you so lack of spirit?" Gon furrowed his eyebrows. "Did you miss your breakfast?"

"Why are you so full of spirit?" Killua sneered. "And I had my breakfast, thank you. I don't mind a second round though." He grinned ear to ear.

"It's our first day of school. Don't you feel thrilled at all?" Gon pouted.

"No~pe." Killua said as he stopped at a nearby drink machine and search for a hundred Jenny coin in his pocket.

Gon stopped by the silverhead's side. A vein popped on his forehead. "Why did you ever register to here then?"

Killua, who was raising his index finger and was about to push the hot chocolate drink button, suddenly froze for several milliseconds. "That's... a secret… But it doesn't have anything to do with the 'I want to learn' thing that old man said." He said as he turned to the other boy and stuck out his tongue. He then returned to the machine and got his drinks. "Well then, later!" He said as he ran leaving the group.

Gon was taken aback by the sudden depart. "K- Killua!" He called his out friend but the silverhead had disappeared among the crowd. "Geez…" He huffed.

"Let him be, Gon. Everyone has their own reason why they want, no, need to be here." Kurapika said as she tapped the boy's shoulder.

Gon looked up at the blond girl. "But…"

"The Principal said that we're here because want to learn, but it's not entirely true. Me, for example. Of course I'm really happy to get a chance to attend such a school and it's not a lie if I say I'm looking forward to the classes… However, my real objection is to get a letter of recommendation for my dream job. There's been a saying that the graduates from this school can easily get any job they want and I believe half of the students here aim for the same thing."

"Well, actually I'm the same," Leorio said. "I want to get a scholarship to a medical school. I heard this school has a lot of affiliations."

"I see. So Leorio wants to become a doctor, eh? That's great." Gon smiled at the tall man.

"W- Well, I still have a lot of thing to learn," Leorio's cheeks flushed red. "Speaking of which, what about yourself?"

"I… I want to find my father." Gon answered as he suddenly become solemn.

"Father? Do you mean your father is a teacher here?" Kurapika asked.

"No," Gon shook his head. "He's not here… apparently."

"A- Apparently?" Leorio blinked.

"Well, I'm not really sure. I have never met him before. He left me in my aunt's care when I was a baby. All I know are how he looked when he was young and that he's a graduate from this school." Gon shrugged. "I also thought he might a teacher here and looked for him among the teachers this morning, but I didn't see him."

"I see… " Kurapika said.

"But it's ok. I know it won't be that easy. Besides, I'm happy that I'm here now. I get to meet you guys, and Killua, and everyone here. I believe I'll also get to meet my father one day. Until then, I'll just do my best learning here." Gon smiled at his friends, who were looking at him in sympathy. "Up until now, I was home schooled by my aunt so it's my first time attending a real school and I'm so excited about it."

"I've gone to other school before, but this place definitely has a different vibe." Leorio nodded. He then offered an open hand to Gon and said, "Let's do our best, shall we?"

"Yup!" Gon answered as he high fived with Leorio.

Kurapika smiled seeing the two. "Do our best, eh? That doesn't sound bad. There's indeed a lot of thing we need to learn here."

The bell then rung and the three hurriedly ran to their class. They got into their class just before the teacher arrived. They scattered to find their seats that had been arranged before according to their role number.

Gon took a seat on the second row then looked around. He noticed that a seat near the window was still unoccupied. He couldn't find a certain silverhead that was supposed to sit there. Where was Killua? Could it be that Killua was planning to skip the class right on their first day?

'Geez, that Killua.' He shook his head before he turned around to see the teacher.

"Good morning class. My name is Wing, and I'll be your homeroom teacher for the following year." The teacher introduced himself. He was a bespectacled blackhead in his early thirty. Despite being a teacher, his white shirt was untidily stuck out from his pants. "For today's class, each of you will make a brief introduction in order to get to know better."

The students did what he said. One by one starting from the front row stood up and introduced their self. Some of them told a very long story about their selves, some other only say a few words. During his introduction, Gon told his new friends that he was from Whale Island. He said that it was a very beautiful place and it would be really great if they come to visit his hometown one day. Leorio told everyone about him being an aspiring doctor and share his idealism that money was the most precious thing in the world (which was opposed by Kurapika and thus the two were engaged in another argument). Kurapika herself didn't tell much about her background other than she came from the Kuruta Clan.

"I hope you can get along well," Wing said after the last student finished their introduction. "Now I'll hand out your timetable. Zushi-kun, can you help me?" He said to a boy who sat on the front row, left side of him. It was a boy with short brown hair, thick eyebrows. His black eyes were round and big. He looked slightly younger than Gon.

"Osu!" The Zushi boy replied as he stood up. He walked to the teacher desk where Wing handed him a bundle of papers. He then distributed the paper one by one to the students.

"Zushi-kun here is your senior, but for a reason he will stay in this class throughout the year." Wing announced, which made the said boy almost tripped on his own feet.

"S- sensei! Don't say like that. It's embarrassing-su!" Zushi's tanned cheeks blushed slightly in embarrassment as the teacher had just carefreely announced that he had to repeat a year.

Wing laughed hearing Zushi's complaint but didn't say anything to the boy. Instead, he turned back to the class and continued. "You can ask his help if you have any trouble or question since he has more experience."

"Yes, sir!" The students replied in unison.

"Well then, that's all for today. We'll start the class tomorrow." The bespectacled teacher said. He then took his books and left the class. Some of the students followed him exiting the class while some other stayed. Gon and Leorio approached Kurapika's desk, where they examined the timetable together.

"Let's see…" Leorio mumbled as he read the timetable copy in his hand. They had P.E. every morning for an hour. It was held on the school ground. Then they had fifteen extra minutes to change clothes and get back to the classroom where basic subjects like math, language, history, etc. were held until noon. Homeroom was on Wednesday, also in classroom. They had two breaks; one was between the second and the third period while the other was the lunch break after the fourth period. After the lunch break they had a class called Nen that was held in the dojo. "Huh? What's this Nen?"

"Beats me," Kurapika said as she leaned her chin to her palm. "It looks like an important subject though, since we had it every day for two periods long."

"I wonder what kind of subject it will be… Dojo, eh? Sounds fun." Gon said excitedly.

"Well then, why don't we ask the boy called Zushi? He must know something about it." Kurapika suggested.

"Good idea!" Gon exclaimed. He looked around then found Zushi was gathering his belongings on his desk. "Zushi-senpai!"

The said boy turned around and looked at the three with a puzzled look. "Yes?"

"Ano, can you tell us what this Nen subject is about?" Gon asked.

"Eh?" Zushi scratched his head. "Um, I can't explicitly explain about it. But you'll find out about it soon. Wing-sensei will explain it tomorrow-su."

Leorio and Kurapika looked at him in a slight disappointment. "Uh, okay…" Leorio said.

"Sorry for being so useless-su. Even though sensei has asked me to help the new students… As I thought I'm not suitable for this task." Zushi hung his head.

"No, no. It's perfectly okay, Senpai!" Gon quickly replied. "I believe there must be a lot of thing we can learn from you."

Zushi smiled sheepishly hearing Gon's words. "Well then, let me show you around-su!"

"That's sound like a good idea. That way we won't be late for the class." Gon grinned.

"That's right-su. By the way, just call me Zushi-su."

"Okay! Nice to meet you, Zushi. I'm Gon. These are Leorio and Kurapika. Oh, there's also another boy named Killua..."

Far from the crowd, on the east side of the school building, there was a tranquil garden decorated by cherry trees. A silverhead walked alone along the dirt path while lazily looked around at the beautiful scene around him. The warm weather made him feel sleepy, especially after he finished a can of hot chocolate drink. He strayed from the path then sat down under one of trees. He used his gakuran as a pillow and laid his back on the ground that was carpeted by pink petals. He stared blankly on the pink ceiling above his head while his eyelids gradually became heavier. Slowly he closed his eyes and let his consciousness drifted away.

But then…

"Skipping the class right on the very first day, eh? Hohoho. That's very brave of you."

A voice brought him back to consciousness. He instinctively got up and jumped back, which caused him hitting the trunk behind him. The sudden movement he made plus the ache on his temple made him felt dizzy. Nevertheless, he couldn't afford to let his guard down. He shot a deadly glare at the person who disturbed his nap.

"Hohoho. You don't have to be so tensed," the intruder said. "I came all the way here for the same reason as yours after all." Despite what he said, the boy still glared at him. It seemed like the boy found it hard to believe in his words, even though he was the school principal.

Netero looked up at the trees that showered him with pink petals. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. A smile was plastered on his face as he stroke his short beard. "Nice weather, isn't it? It'll be such a waste to lockup oneself in the building. Hm, maybe I should hold a hanami. That sounds like a decent idea, no? What do you think, boy?" He turned to Killua, who was still staring at him in caution. "Or maybe we should just keep this place as a secret. Such a placid place might get ruined by the crowd and we'll lose our little Eden. Honestly, it'll be a pain in the ass if the staffs find out about this place. I'll have to search for another place to take a rest."

Killua looked at Netero closely. The school principal was really weird. He kept talking about a lot of things, mostly to his own self.

Yet…

He had heard from somewhere that this gramps was really amazing. He had heard that a lot of important people around the world, including the elders in his family, respected this person for some reason. What had made it so? He didn't know. In his eyes this gramps was nothing more than a weird man… who was able to conceal his presence perfectly.

"Anyway, Wing will be disappointed if you skip the class again tomorrow."

"Huh?" Killua blinked at the sudden change of the topic.

"Wing. He's your homeroom teacher. Made sure you go to your class on time, Killua-kun." Netero was about to turn away when Killua stopped him.

"Wait, you know me."

"Hm? Of course I do. I've memorized every student's name, looks and class they're assigned to." Netero chuckled.

Killua frowned. "No, that's not what I mean! You know me. You know who I really am!"

Netero's expression slightly changed. He looked more serious, but the smile didn't leave his face. "If it's about you being a Zoldyck, your full name is written on your resume so most of the teachers know about it already. As for me, Silva has personally informed me that one of his sons would be here."

Killua's brows furrowed even further when he heard his father's name.

"Or is it about the reason why you're here? Well, I can roughly guess it even thought your father didn't say anything beside you want to learn about socializing with normal people. Besides, from what I see now, it seems like you are not interested in learning at all, am I right?" Netero finished his deduction with a smirk.

"Hee, you do know a lot, gramps," Killua said as he shoved his hands into pockets. "Let's get to the point then: is that person here?"

Dom dom~ Me likes cliffhanger… thought I'm pretty sure you guys have already know whom Killua was talking about.

Next time we'll get to learn more about the school system (and why Zushi had to repeat a year). We'll also meet more characters so I please look forward to it :D

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please spare a minute or two to drop a review. Any kind of feedback is welcome! Thank you and see you next time ^^