Uijiki was close to finding his navigator. He travelled for several days and had no luck whatsoever. Uijiki believed that pain was a way to relieve all the weakness.

"So my pain is really making me stronger," Uijiki thought as he and Gein set up a campfire in the woods.

Gein was in his human form. Leave it to Uijiki how Gein looked much more handsome in his human form and was more talkative than as a little weasel.

" If we eat what you kill how come we're only have doves?" Gein said taking a bite of a roasted bird Uijiki prepared for him. The inside of the bird was succulent. It reminded Gein of a drumstick with barbecue sauce where the meat was tender and the sauce had rich soy goodness.

" Because the biggest animals here hide in places almost impossible for me to reach," Uijiki replied poking a stick into the fire. As he did the fire flourished. The red-yellow flames were enticing to Uijiki. They reminded him of the curves of his lovely wife Mito. What Uijiki missed most about her was her sensuous plump parts.

" What about water? We've been cantering water from ten different lakes. Don't tell me you drank all the water!"

" No, no, no. There's still two canteens left."

" That's not going to last us one day! We should go to the pond and fill the rest up with water."

" We can't," Uijiki said bluntly. " I've seen those ponds. But they're guarded by hideous monsters. I saw an anaconda there as big as my house."

" Your wife Mito's house," Gein corrected.

" Right. Her house. The point is we're never going to find any water in this forest." Uijiki pulled out one of the two bottles with water in it. " That's why we need to reserve all our—"

Uijiki heard a sound coming from the woods. A boy almost as old as Uijiki, long brown hair run into his campsite. The boy had his arm on his right arm where blood was trickling out of. Uijiki and the boy's eyes connected. The boy ran up to Uijiki and pulled the canteen out of his hands.

" Hey!" Uijiki shouted. " That's mine!"

The boy didn't listen to him. He needed something to quench his weary thirst. The boy poured the water down his throat and then he sprayed it over his wound. The water helped. The boy gave the reset of it to Uijiki.

" Thank you for your hospitality," the boy said in a caring voice.

" What hospitality?" Uijiki exclaimed. " You just took my water!"

Uijiki and the stranger heard the sound of gun fire in the trees. Birds fluttered out of the trees and flew above their heads. Uijiki, Gein, and the stranger looked around at many gun barrels pointed their way. Bandits.

Each bandit had a smile on their face.

" Hello. My name is Crow."

Crow pulled two swords out. The bandits charged forward, raising their rifles at him. Each bandit raised their rifles and pointed them at Crow. Crow ran forward, ran past the bandits, and stopped when he reached a tree. There was no movement, no sound. Then, Crow put his swords in their scabbards and with a single click every bandit collasped. Blood spurted from the chests of every bandit, they collasped on the ground. The only thing Uijiki could say to that was...

"Want to become a Hunter with me?" Asked Uijiki, smiling even more.

" A Hunter? So you're going for the Hunter Exams. And I'm guessing you're trying to find a navigator to lead you there. Unless that weasel behind you is your guide."

"Yep and no. I am on my way to become a Hunter, but Gein is not my guide. He's not a pet either. He's my friend. "

" I accept."

"Awesome! Let's be Hunter's together!" Said Uijiki enthusiastically,

Before Crow could say anything a bandit rose from the dirt. His face was splattered with blood on the left side of his head. The bandit took one long look at Uijiki and smiled.

" You passed."

Uijiki and Crow were shocked to find out the bandit wasn't harmed. Thick white smoke puffed up around her. The smoke soon cleared and the bandit was there without any injuries on his body.

" W-What?" Uijiki gasped when he saw the bandit without any injuries.

" I hit you with everything I had," Crow said. " You should be wounded."

" Sorry, but we Hunter Examiners can't be so easily defeated by puny attacks like that."

" Your. A. Hunter. Examiner?" Uijiki's jaw dropped to the ground as he heard that.

The bandit smiled and nodded his head to Uijiki and Crow. " That's right. My job was to quiz you to see if you are correct to be Hunter's, but I'd rather just see if you're strong. You passed."

Uijiki and Crow heard footsteps coming from behind them. They turned around and saw a group of men walking towards them. They were bandits. The bandit's disappeared in a puff of smoke and a man appeared sitting in a wheelchair.

" Hi," the elderly man said rolling towards Uijiki on his wheelchair. " My name is Nobou Tobita."

" I don't suppose one of you is the navigator we're supposed to find?" Uijiki asked. Gein crawled out of his shirt and crawled up his shoulders as he rested in Uijiki's hair.

" I'm the navigator," the only bandit there said. Both Uijiki and Crow turned around looking at him. " My name is Bunko. And I can carry you to where you need to go." The bandit's form changed from human into her eagle form. " Just jump on my back."

Uijiki jumped at his request. He ran up and climbed aboard his back as Gein crawled out of Uijiki's clothes and crawled on his neck. Crow was more subtle. He walked slower to her, sheathed his two swords, but stopped.

Crow had the suspicion someone was watching them from far away. In the trees, Crow almost felt someone's binoculars staring at him. But when Crow looked in the trees there was no one there. His suspicions were never wrong. Someone was watching him and that was that.

" C'mon, Crow," Uijiki said wavering towards Crow. " It's time for us to go."

Crow had to put his suspicions aside as he climbed aboard Bunko. Bunko flapped his wings fluttering into the air. Bunko flew high, over the trees he raised, bathed in the light of the moonlight. Uijiki raised his arms in the air and laughed, Crow put his hands on his head and sighed.

" After we go through the Hunter Exam—pass or no pass—when it's all over I suggest we take our separate ways."

III

A gentle breeze blew in Uijiki and Crow's faces as Bunko flew to the town. Fuen Town. The town was connected to a hot spring. Most of the town was built with hot springs. The wealthy even had onsens in the back of their homes.

Bunko dropped them off at a restaurant. They were in front of a large two-story building with tan walls.

" Here we are," Bunko said. " I hope you enjoyed The Bunko. I wish we could of flied longer, but we've already reached our destination."

" This is where the Hunter Exams are gonna take place?" Uijiki asked looking at the fish fork and blue knife. " But it's a restaurant."

" Exactly," Bunko said. " It's in a common restaurant. No one would ever think of looking here. All I need now is to give the owner my consent and you'll be ready in a jiffy."

" Nifty," Uijiki said, smiling and making a peace sign.

Bunko walked into the front entrance of the was greeted by one of the waitresses. She skipped up to Bunko and smiled.

" How many will be serving today?"

" Two, miss."

The girl skipped to the counter to a printer on the counter. The printer was turned on as two small sheets of paper came out. The girl skipped to Bunko and handed the pieces of paper to him.

" Give these to your Hunter Examinees."

Bunko walked out of the restaurant and handed the paper to Uijiki and Crow. The paper he handed to Uijiki had the number "48" on it while the one he gave to Crow had the number "49" on it.

" Here you go. You're officially Hunter Examinees," Bunko smiled. " I hope you pass your first time. If not, I would be more than happy to be your navigator next year." Bunko transformed into his bird form. He fluttered into the air. " Good luck, boys."

Uijiki and Crow followed the waitress. along the way Uijiki picked off a few peanuts from the counter. Uijiki held them to Gein and he munched on them. The girl led them to a long set of marble stairs, while walls along the stairs, as candles held by small gargoyles were along the walls. Crow thought they were just statues until the one he was string at blinked its eyes.

" Scary," Crow thought.

He wasn't daunted from something like moving gargoyles. He encountered things for worse in his city; things that would make those gargoyles look lame. Crow followed Uijiki, still following the waitress as she finally led them to a door with a copper doorknob.

" Do you wish to proceed?"

Both Crow and Uijiki nodded. The girl grabbed the doorknob, turned it three times, and opened the door as they stepped into a glimmer of headlight.

Crow and Uijiki were in a room now with dozens of men older then them. The room was mostly filled with men as there was only three girls in the room.

" Isn't this exciting?" Uijiki reached his hand around Crow's neck and rubbed his chin. " You and me are finally on our way of becoming real Hunter's."

" Don't touch me," Crow said.

Uijiki pulled his hand away from Crow in the fear of not being hit by him. Uijiki looked at the sign that said "48" on it. Uijiki didn't know if they were going to be called or if that was just to distinguish themselves from the other examinee's. Uijiki pondered about these signs when a figure approached him.

The man was very short, elderly man, with a strange shaped nose and large eyes.

" Hey you," said the man as he opened his cape. Under the cape was lots of gold watches. " Want to buy a watch?"

Uijki looked at the watches and quickly turned him down. " Hit the road, old man."

The man moved away from Uijiki and walked up to another Hunter examinee. This one looked the same age as Crow, which was sixteen or seventeen years of age.

" Want to buy a watch?"

The boy looked at the man with a frown on his face. A cold visage surrounded the young boy. The man shuddered at the sight of the boys' visage.

" On second thought, you could do better without one of my watches. They're all fake."