A Clash of Values and Auras Chapter 9, a Hunter X Hunter + Touhou Project Crossover fanfic

First Words:

somemadao - Omg you are absolutely forgiven and honestly have no need to feel bad or apologize in the slightest! Even if my upload schedule weren't as horrible as it is, you're still justified in being busy with real life or just not feeling like reviewing at all if you don't feel like it or know what to say. But yeah I'm always so late I don't even have the right to complain about this story's reviewers, who've been awesome and graciously patient so far. I normally ramble about this a lot in PMs, but I pretty much appreciate all reviews no matter how short or long or whatever they are and really sympathize with people who just sometimes don't have the time to write reviews, or little inspiration, so I don't really demand anything out of the people who read; just the fact that they read is awesome enough. I post fanfiction more or less because yes, but also for discussion purposes, so I'll just make anything people write into a conversation topic and be happy that way, hahaha. Though, I'm really sorry for the late reply! I had tons of fun with Hisoka on the last chapter, not gonna lie. I'm hoping this chapter can be worth the wait? And thank you very much for reviewing, as always!

MichelleBlitzGir - Thank you very much! I'm trying my best so that it's worth reading for anyone who stumbles upon it! I hope it answers expectations throughout the future chapters!

Since the last chapter, this story got 11 favorites and 11 followers, demonstrating only the saintly patient nature of the people awesome enough to read this. I'd further like to thank your support despite my non-existent schedule, though I'm rather sure this kind of 5 month pause is going to be exceptional, and chapters will probably be spread out in month or bi-monthly intervals. I'd like to apologize as well for the delay, which happened mostly because a bunch of that time was dedicated to finishing another project and frustrations with the editing phase of this chapter ='D I got to get my backlog on track, though, so everything's normal!

Anyway, enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Chapter 9: The Misty Path Disturbed by Bloodlust

While Reimu and Marisa had initially assumed they had no time to rest, it seemed as though Satotz was awaiting for the arrival of more applicants, which counted as a short break. However, as it would likely not yield them enough time to nap, Reimu and Marisa simply leaned against a wall near the edge of the tunnel's entrance, grimacing under the sheer sensation of the dark circles under their eyes. Their blurring sights were then assailed by vivid green closing in on their location, processing that as Gon's approaching figure after a few lazy blinks.

Though they had nothing against the boy, Reimu and Marisa did not find it in them to smile yet, and instead noted the exceedingly enthusiastic grin Gon was wearing in comparison to the weary situation. "Hey, Ms. Reimu!" Reimu blinked in mild surprise processing her name coming from someone she was not so familiar with, having seen the boy mostly in passing, but he continued as though determined, raising his fists to the air as a sign of his motivation. "Could you tell me how you can fly in the air like you did at the tunnel? I'm really curious about that!"

Marisa averted her gaze from Gon out of disappointment that he only had business with Reimu, while Reimu's tired eyes managed to widen by the slightest margin. "Huh? Is that all you came here for?" Gon eagerly nodded, his big eyes staring directly into Reimu's without a hint of hesitation. The straightforward stance led to vacant understanding from Reimu's part, and she frowned only due to the thought necessary to formulate an answer she had little attachment to. "It's just an ability I have. There's really no method to it. If I want to float, I do. Why did you ask?"

Gon smiled apprehensively as he pondered on Reimu's response, only to sheepishly scratch his head. "Well, I was actually hoping you could teach me how to fly, but I guess it wouldn't be that easy. Thanks for telling me anyway, though!" He had assumed once more the energetic presence he had exuded before getting his answer almost as if as a reassurance to Reimu, whose mind was visibly wandering far from even the thought of being upset over Gon's interjection.

Rather, ignoring the well-intentioned smile, she carelessly answered, "It wasn't anything special." Then, as she thought further on the interaction, her eyebrows furrowed more dramatically as she eyed Gon curiously. "Though, by the way, how did you know my name? I don't remember introducing myself to you." Gon had blinked as well as his first reaction, but his smile notably widened afterwards.

Gon gestured to Killua, who lazily waved at them from afar in return. He was standing closer to the tunnel's entrance, near Satotz who was staring off into the distance, and Killua's expression was an entirely casual frown, contrasting with Gon's excited response. "I heard about you from Killua!" Marisa, who shifted her gaze to Killua out of curiosity, waved back at Killua with a playful smirk, resulting in a narrowed gaze as retaliation from Killua before he saw Marisa trying to copy the needlessly cool glare with comical inaccuracy. While Marisa and Killua seemed to be haphazardly exchanging purposefully hideous faces in an attempt to outclass each other, Gon continued to speak: "But now that you mention it, you probably don't know me because we never actually met, huh? I'm Gon! Nice to meet you, Ms. Reimu!"

In light of Gon's purely cheerful expression, reinforced by a wide grin, Reimu smiled, amused by his child-like demeanor. "Gon, huh... I do faintly remember the man you were with calling you that; I'll try to keep it in mind, alright? Well, nice to meet you." For a brief few seconds, Reimu and Gon simply stared processing the introductions, but Gon looked towards the tunnel's entrance afterwards, as if distracted by it.

"They're not here yet, but I could introduce you to Kurapika and Leorio, too," Gon conversationally offered, only to frown worryingly. The stance appeared as a stark contrast with his previous to Reimu, and she crossed her arms, uncertain of what to expect out of the so far carefree boy. "I think you might have gotten a bad impression of them, but they're really nice people. It's just that we all heard you were dangerous, so they got worried." Gon's eyes pointedly met Reimu's when he uttered that, courageous enough not to be averted in face of negativity, while Reimu simply frowned before noting Marisa taking a step forward in order to assert herself.

"Wait, what?" Marisa uttered from the side. Meanwhile, finding that their competition had ended prematurely, Killua was finally approaching the three nonchalantly, with both of his hands on his pockets. "We just got here and we're already infamous? Why'd people assume that?" Marisa was grimacing, her gaze focused solely on Gon who had turned to her with lightly raised eyebrows, unprepared to dispense that knowledge.

"Isn't it obvious?" Killua conversely interjected with ease as he settled on standing next to Gon closest to Marisa, but his eyes lay on nothing in particular, and he was frowning neutrally. "It's because you were hanging around Hisoka. For example, I was told to get away from you because you could be just as dangerous as he is."

"That's what I was told, too," Gon tentatively added, "It's true that Hisoka does seem a little dangerous, but you and Ms. Reimu didn't give off the same vibe as him at all so I ended up getting confused, at the time." His frown deepened when he further thought of the situation, and he glanced towards the tunnel's exit in an attempt to note the amount of applicants in the area.

Meanwhile, Killua shrugged, smirking as he did so. "Well, not like I believed that, either," he said before pointing in Reimu and Marisa's general direction with no reservations. "Hisoka's one thing, but you two don't feel intimidating at all. Not even a little bit." He used that very same finger pointing at Reimu and Marisa to wave it side to side in a show of negation.

Marisa glanced at Reimu in bitter uncertainty. "Was that a compliment, or...?"

"I think we just got underestimated," Reimu promptly responded while crossing her arms, her gaze fixated on a cheeky-seeming Killua. "But putting that aside, it's at least true we aren't as blatantly dangerous as Hisoka. We really just know him by coincidence, too; I wasn't even expecting to see him here."

"Everybody already knows about that because of Killua, so don't worry," Gon lightly reassured while Killua looked to the side as though he had not caught ear of Gon's words. Then, confused, Gon frowned as he tilted his head to the side. "But now that we're talking about you at the exam site, I remember seeing Ms. Reimu jumping out of some door on Ms. Marisa's back. What was that?"

"Ya mean the backdoor?" Marisa questioned, looking briefly over her shoulder for the sake of emphasis. "It's the only thing connectin' this place with our homeland. We each have one, but if we're home, we can only use the other's door, so I had to stick around while Reimu was there."

Killua pensively hummed as he took in Marisa's words, while Gon's smile was widening in awe and curiosity. "So that's what it was," Killua flatly commented, seemingly disinterested. "Guess I shouldn't have expected any less from a bunch of witches."

"Not that I'm a witch," Reimu nonchalant added.

"And I'm an actual witch but I can't do any of that," Marisa supplied, "We had to get some outside help to set up these backdoors."

"So there's more of you out there?" Killua asked as though lightly horrified at the prospect of multiple Reimus and Marisas, though his voice was only faintly conveying mock surprise. Underneath it was a hint of true curiosity, which Killua himself had no interest in showing as openly as Gon was.

While Reimu and Marisa glared at Killua, Gon uttered, "Wow, you can also teleport home whenever you want? That's so great! I wish I had something like that, too! Do you think the person who got you those doors would give me one if I met them?"

Reimu and Marisa glanced each other's way, pondering on the almost unbelievable prospect. Ultimately, it was Marisa who uttered with a lopsided smile, "Can't say I know the answer to that one. We don't know her that well. Besides, the door only gets us home 'cause she's got another door leading there. In reality, the backdoors all get you to her place first, and this is all uncharted territory to her so I'm pretty sure there'd be no door to your home there."

"Basically," Gon softly started, as if too overwhelmed to act more imposing in face of Marisa's explanation, which he was taking with his head tilted to the side and vacant, blinking eyes, "It's not possible because...?"

"It's not possible because the doors don't teleport you home automatically," Killua answered, "They're meant to teleport you to their witch friend's home, instead. If she doesn't know the place you wanna go, there's no door for it. You got it now?"

Gon hummed pensively, and took care to nod to alert his acknowledgement. "I think so," he said, only to regain a faint smile, "but since it gathers all these places in her house, it still sounds really cool. I wonder how her house looks like: would it be all full of doors?"

"Oh, you have no idea," Reimu stated with a sudden, though mild increase in bitter fervor accompanying her reminiscing, "and it's really easy to get lost there, too. It's not like she puts any labels on the doors."

"Then each door is like a surprise," Gon concluded, and saw himself grinning as his fists were thrust forth on instinct. "That sounds so exciting! I sure wouldn't mind going there some time!"

Reimu grimaced. "It's just a bunch of doors," she asserted, blankly so, "Besides, if you went to a door leading to the Netherworld or something it would be really dangerous for you. Though, judging by what she told me, she didn't like the idea of letting foreigners into the doors so I doubt a time would come when you'd go there; I'm sorry." Reimu's expression had softened, realizing she had been disappointing the child in front of her to a considerable extent, even if she herself had no choice in the matter.

"Well, it would be rude if a stranger like me just barged into her house," Gon said so as to soothe the concern he had picked up from Reimu, though disappointment was veiled in his jovial voice. "It's okay, though! You didn't do anything wrong, so there's no need to apologize." Reimu smiled, inwardly remarking on the boy's polite nature.

"Wait, though," Killua interjected, "What do you mean, 'a door leading to the Netherworld'?" His eyebrows had wiggled in a lazy reproduction of his doubt, settling then on a furrowed position, staring directly at a casual Reimu as if to gauge how truthfully casual she was. "Are you just trying to scare Gon there?"

"Huh?" Reimu blinked, as if confused.

"They probably don't have a Netherworld over here," Marisa commented vacantly with a shrug, turning to Reimu and leaning to her side for a lackluster form of audible whispering.

"Oh," Reimu uttered as she placed a hand under her chin without noticing, "Well, I said it as if there would be one, but I wouldn't know if that door actually exists. I only used the backdoor to get home so far."

"The door's not the weird part here," Killua retorted, "You're talking as if there's a Netherworld you can just go to. You do know that's weird, right?"

"Maybe?" Reimu said as the first thing popping to mind.

"Then again, if there's no Netherworld, is there even a Hell here? So you don't even go to Heaven, either? Talk about livin' only once," Marisa commented with a frown of high discomfort, her vacant arm retreating near her chest defensively, against a potential chill down her spine from the thought.

Killua stared their way blankly, while Gon smiled. "Come on, Killua," he said, gesturing to Reimu and Marisa. "It could just be part of their religion."

"Ah, makes sense," Killua said while slowly nodding, though his frown was still remarkably nonchalant, "It's not like I have any proof it doesn't exist. So, you believe in gods and stuff?"

"I'm supposed to communicate with them, so it'd be weirder if I didn't," Reimu easily answered.

"You talk with gods, Ms. Reimu? That's so cool!"

"If they actually exist," Killua added to Gon's admiration before smirking cheekily, "You could just be crazy for all I know."

Reimu glanced at Marisa in confusion, and Marisa shrugged in turn. "Guess they don't have any gods here, either."

"By the way, what do gods usually tell you?" Gon asked.

"What they tell me? Well, it depends what I ask," Reimu answered as if dumbfounded by the curiosity Gon displayed, increasing the more she scrambled to remember the few moments she truly used her power as a shrine maiden, "and what kind of god it is."

"I remember one time Reimu found out where to go by askin' them," Marisa said with a grimace, "It's such a cheat."

His attention retained by the implications in Marisa's wording, Killua shifted his curious gaze to her and asked, "You can't talk to them?"

"Nope," Marisa responded, "I don't hear a thing. Still, I can't doubt what I see in front of me."

"Guess not all witches are the same," he concluded after humming in a casually pensive manner, seemingly uncaring of the matter. However, showing genuine confusion, Killua continued to speak with arched eyebrows: "What makes you sure it's gods you're interacting with, anyway? Couldn't it be any other supernatural entity claiming it's a god?" The moment he stopped speaking, Reimu and Marisa froze for the fewest of seconds.

"Uh..." Reimu and Marisa uttered at the same time, caught off-guard by the simple question.

"Well," Reimu started with an uneasy smile, "I don't know how you define it here, but where we come from, gods are clear because they... Um..."

"What kinda shrine maiden are you supposed to be?" Marisa retorted.

"Look, come on, they give blessings and cast curses depending on faith! Yeah, faith! Gods are all about faith, right? That's how we distinguish them!"

"Took ya long enough," Marisa said.

"You hesitated, too," Reimu countered, "Besides, there are many different kinds of gods out there! Even in Gensokyo, there are divine spirits and the eight million gods, and they already work differently in some ways; not to mention gods like that weird one I took out on the Dream World!"

"On the Dream World...?" Gon and Killua weakly questioned, uncertain of how to take their arguing.

"Looks like there's no Dream World here, either," Marisa whispered to Reimu with another shrug.

"I get the idea already," Reimu shot back.

"I don't really get it, but it sounds interesting!" Gon commented, "I didn't think there'd be so much detail just from talking about gods!"

"You believe in a Dream World, too, though?" Killua questioned, "Just how many places are there in your religion?"

"It's kinda supposed to be our reality," Marisa pointed out.

"The magic's already surreal enough," Killua off-handedly stated, only for a thin smile to surface, akin to a subtle smirk. "Still, it is interesting. How'd you get the magic in the first place? Did you have to do some sorta ritual?"

"It comes with the job for me," Reimu said, "I remember always having some powers, and then, after rampaging for a while, I learned how to fly and I had more control over my attacks, too, so there's not much to say about that."

Killua whistled as if mildly impressed. "Talk about talent," he remarked.

"No wonder you can't teach it to us," Gon added. "But what about you, Ms. Marisa?"

"Me?" Marisa questioned, pointing to herself as if for further confirmation.

"You were throwing magic stars around on your own, right? How'd you do that?" Killua asked.

"Ya mean this?" Marisa snapped her fingers, and from the sparks surged a shining star.

"Woah! It's so pretty," Gon commented in pure awe. "Hey, could you teach that to us? Could you?"

Marisa blinked in similar awe, staring at the two boys for a moment until a smile slowly grew on her features. "Hell yeah, I can!" she asserted with an accomplished grin, but it faltered after seconds of thought, leading Gon and Killua direct a confused gaze her way. "I mean, that's what I wanna say, but it takes a while to get to this level. You need training, and specific materials, too. You can't just do magic without actually doing the magic from what you can find, after all. Magic power's not something you can just develop by yourself."

"Aw," Gon uttered, "I was starting to get my hopes up there, but with the Hunter Exam going, there's no way I'd make it right now. Sucks for me, I guess."

Marisa and Reimu frowned as if saddened watching over the disappointed expression on Gon's face, considering the circumstances that led them to that point. While Marisa glanced at Reimu, Reimu's lips twitched, only to form a gentle smile after the fewest blinks. "How about this? You might not be able to do our magic, but there's always this," Reimu said as she took from her sleeve a single red paper charm and handed it to Gon, who grabbed it carefully as widened eyes scrutinized the paper. Finally, Marisa smiled along seeing the confusion in both the boys' faces: their eyes were solely on the paper charm given, as Gon ran his hand through the inked writing he could not comprehend. Killua simply looked over from the side, but gave up quicker on the effort to understand himself and instead turned to Reimu with a frown.

"What's that?" Killua asked, pointing at the paper Gon was moving about slowly, as if to check how it would react against the faint wind in the area. Reimu watched it, immobile despite Gon's growing speed in waving the paper charm, and did not hesitate to offer a playful kind of smile to Killua.

"It's a weapon," Reimu explained, gesturing to Gon. "Why don't you try throwing it?"

"This doesn't even bend...!" Gon commented with his hand grabbing the opposing ends of the paper, attempting to fold it in half without success, seeing instead his own arms tremble from the sheer force he was utilizing. "This must be really special paper!" He finally lifted his head from the paper in his hands, figuring it useless to apply more force to it. and directed his gaze to the mist obstructing a good perception of the path the applicants would next go. "Alright, I'll go find a target!"

"Right now? You wouldn't wanna lose sight of the examiner before the phase starts," Killua admonished while stretching a loose hand in front of Gon's path, forcing him to turn to him. "Let's try that out while we're running instead." Then, Killua looked towards Reimu again, smirking. "Think you could give us a few more of those, Reimu?"

"What, scared you'll miss the target?" Marisa taunted.

"No way," Killua asserted with a glare her way, only to cross his arms. "I just thought it was unfair you gave one to Gon and not to me. I wanna try out the magic paper, too."

"I'll just give you one more, then," Reimu said, only to remove a purple charm from what seemed to be one of her detached sleeves. She stared for a second to note which it was, as if she could understand what was written down, and handed it to Killua afterwards, bending slightly downwards to reach his height. "Like this one. Here you go."

"What's the difference between the purple one and the red one?" Gon asked, staring intently at the paper charm Killua had received.

Reimu hummed pensively as she weighed her options, and her already playful smile widened. "I could tell you, but I think you'd have more fun if you found out yourselves, no?"

Gon nodded. "Right! Thanks, Ms. Reimu."

"It was nothing," Reimu said with a casual wave of her hand, "Though, if you can, could you return those charms to me after you use them? I'll be using a lot of them for my entire journey, so I could use recycling at this point."

"We'll try!"

"Magical paper, huh," Killua uttered vacantly as he stared it over meticulously now that it was in his hands. With exceedingly narrowed eyes, he offered Reimu a smirk. "How deadly is it?"

"It's not lethal for humans and animals, but they still hurt," Reimu absent-mindedly explained, uncaring of the implications of his expression or his subtle attempt at stabbing through the paper with his fingernails, "so I suppose it's good enough to get someone's guard down."

"Guess that's as much as you can expect out of paper," Killua said in a half-disappointed tone, only to look up at Gon. "Gon, once we're back running, let's see who shoots down the target faster. And we gotta pick the same one, alright?"

"Got it! But wouldn't we risk hitting each other's paper if we did?"

"Not if you're good enough to avoid it," Killua cheekily retorted. "Or what, you can't even do that? We're gonna be constantly on the move, too, so it's be pretty lame if you just missed and lost your only paper."

"Oh, you're on!"

Reimu and Marisa smiled as if satisfied, while Marisa looked towards Reimu. "Not bad," she remarked as she hit Reimu's shoulder, and Reimu crossed her arms.

"It was the least I could do," Reimu said, though the pride in her voice betrayed the content of her words. Then, from the exit of the tunnel they had run through, a voice could be heard calling Gon's name. Gon and Killua immediately turned to it, and the two headed swiftly for the figures awaiting them.

"Kurapika, Leorio! You're finally here!" Gon exclaimed as he reached them, his energy greatly contrasting with his friends' fatigued states. From a single glance, let alone a moment of staring their way, it was easy to see the two were older than the children Reimu and Marisa had gotten to know, but they welcomed them with wholehearted smiles, even if strained from lack of energy. The one best masking that was the shorter, blond figure Marisa remember faintly being cautious in their presence, while the oldest-seeming of the group, his glasses somehow stable on his face tilted downwards, sweat dripping down his body, was still kneeled near the stairs, having only crawled slightly to get out of the exit's way.

Though Reimu and Marisa wanted to continue watching the scene, bored and wishing for a distracted, more and more applicants were arriving from the tunnel as if unfazed, some of them obstructing their line of sight. For a moment, they grimaced as they spotted Hisoka only now exiting the tunnel as one of such examples, his gaze cold and nonchalant, but the very presence he released was such that all applicants were distancing themselves from him, and the four they were observing, in turn. He seemed unfocused, and had seemingly not yet seen Reimu and Marisa. They found solace in at least that, and shifted their gazes back to Killua and Gon, who talked cheerfully with Leorio and Kurapika while waving the red paper charm around.

"I wasn't expectin' this many people to get through that horrible passageway," Marisa nonchalantly remarked before fixating her gaze on Gon since she had spotted him pointing in her direction. "Only that guy Gon was with looks like how any normal person would be after this kinda test."

Reimu cast her eyes on Leorio when Marisa said that, and nodded upon seeing him groggily standing from his kneeled position and grimacing under the fatigue. "Should we go over to them? It seems like it would be more interesting than if we ditched them again," Reimu suggested to Marisa, but she was locking eyes with Kurapika, who was staring at them intently.

"You're right about that," Marisa promptly responded before walking over to their location without hesitation, considerably faster than Reimu. "Heya!" Marisa showed a friendly grin as she approached the four, while Reimu headed for them at a calmer, slower pace. Her gaze had finally left, Kurapika, especially as he, too, had focused on Marisa due to her greeting. "Name's Marisa Kirisame; nice to meet ya." Then, Marisa gestured to Reimu, who glanced at Marisa in confusion for a brief moment. "And this is my friend, Reimu Hakurei."

As if unprepared for the introduction, Reimu grimaced. "Nice to meet you, I suppose."

"We've already met Killua and Gon, but we don't know all that much about you two," Marisa conversationally added, "Gon said he'd introduce us to you, though, so I guess we jumped the gun already by sayin' our names." She winked their way, while Reimu noted Killua glaring at them from the corner of his eye, as if suppressing an urge to cringe. She smiled at him, finding the childish behavior, amusing, but that only served to make Killua look away, as if disinterested in the reaction he was not looking for. Meanwhile, Marisa turned to Gon, who locking eyes with her expectantly. "So, how about you do the honors of introducin' them before they jump the gun on you?"

"Sure!" Gon promptly responded while raising a fisted hand in seemingly carefree motivation.

However, he was unable to speak further and faster than Satotz, whose voice echoed assertively through the area where all remaining applicants were gathered: "The Numere Wetlands, also known as the Swindlers Swamp. In order to reach the second phase of the exam, we must cross these wetlands." Naturally, from the moment Satotz had begun his explanation, all conversation had ceased, and all eyes were on him simultaneously, Reimu and Marisa's included; Gon, on the other hand, was frowning disappointingly at the turn of events. Satotz's back was turned to them, as he seemed to be staring intently at the scenery that had only revealed itself a moment ago, seeing as the mist surrounding it weakened considerably. The humidity of the location was more than noticeable, and the foliage more or less what Reimu and Marisa expected from a swamp. While Reimu's frown deepened when she noticed the area, Marisa was neutral to the development out of familiarity with similar environments. "However, this area is the habitat of rather bizarre animals, most of them shrewd and gluttonous man-eating creatures whose primary method of attaining their prey is pure deceit. You must be very careful," Satotz calmly stated before turning around to directly faced the Hunter applicants. The index finger of his right hand was raised as though to emphasize on an important point he was going to make, and his eyebrows had creased, attributing a more ominous edge to his usual expression. "If you let yourself be fooled by them, you will die."

Most applicants kept a tense silence, glancing at each other in a mix of doubt and anxiety, perhaps even fear. Gon and Killua, on the other hand, were remarkably collected in light of the explanation, while Kurapika seemed to only show himself further cautious of the surroundings he was analysing by himself. Meanwhile, Leorio scowled, feeling as though underestimated.

Reimu and Marisa, however, were smiling in an almost carefree fashion. As far as they were concerned, they could finally part ways with simply traversing a location. Now, they noted, was the true challenge.

. . .

The challenge had started almost moments after Reimu and Marisa had acknowledged it, with a trial they hardly bothered pondering upon. They were expecting to be deceived while heading towards the location of the second phase of the exam, but a shape-shifting animal had immediately proceeded to attempt to trick the applicants into following the wrong path, leading them to their deaths. Reimu and Marisa, indifferent to the ordeal, had proceeded to simply watch by then, only to be reminded of Hisoka's existence when he had solved the issue by killing the creature.

Now, Reimu and Marisa were running near Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio, all following Satotz and the top runners in the mound of Hunter applicants who stepped over the unstable ground with mild difficulty. While Killua seemed to be slowly distancing himself from the group from his normal running speed alone, though he was glancing behind him as if to monitor his friend, Gon was accommodating for Leorio and Kurapika's speed like Reimu and Marisa, but it was clear his pacing through the wetlands was nigh effortless in comparison to his companions'. His grin was especially out-of-place with the tense mood surrounding the applicants, and his excitement was more so as the four near him stared him down in a mix of curiosity and amusement. "Ms. Marisa already named herself and Ms. Reimu, but now that we're just running, it looks like I can finally get you two introduced!" He looked towards Leorio and Kurapika specifically, his gaze in such a way ardent Leorio awkwardly frowned and Kurapika could not help but wryly smile. "I bet you'll get along great!"

"You certainly seem motivated," Kurapika cautiously remarked, uncertain of how to appropriately word his thoughts in face of Gon's innocently positive mood, especially as he was not adverse to it. However, it appeared Gon was receptive of Kurapika's underlying emotions, as his expression softened considerably before he offered them a weaker smile.

"Well, I really just wanna make sure you don't worry over Ms. Reimu or Ms. Marisa again, especially when they're actually not bad people," Gon explained, "Besides, if everybody else is already wary of them, they really only have us left, right? They might as well have more people to talk to than Hisoka!"

Reimu and Marisa glanced at each other as they took in Gon's words, only to break into poorly-contained smiles. "Heh, oh you...! Ya think we'd be lonely without anybody else?" Noticing Marisa's cheeks were ever so slightly reddened, Leorio and Kurapika blankly stared at her as she chuckled halfheartedly, almost as if to hide her flattered state. She swiftly approached Gon and proceeded to wildly ruffle his hair, warranting light words of protest from Gon while he giggled in amusement. "No need to waste your time thinkin' about us! You should just be worryin' about having fun with the exam, ya hear me?"

Meanwhile, Reimu nodded along with a smirk on her face, though it was increasingly clear through her own unsubtle blush that she was entirely flustered over the situation. "Right? It's what you get for fussing over something that minor."

"I just couldn't help it, seriously...!" Gon flailed his arms about carelessly in an attempt to reach out to Marisa's single arm and stop it from its haphazard movement, but Marisa was relentless in her movement as she continued to chuckle in an almost far too friendly manner to consider normal. Even despite that, Gon was smiling sheepishly, unable to hide the fact that he enjoyed the positive attention.

"Hey, stop torturing Gon, you witch!" As if on cue, to save them from the hopelessness, Killua had shouted to Marisa, who had picked up on his voice immediately. She halted her movement and retracted her arm as she snapped her head in Killua's direction, taking in his resentful glare with a another wholehearted chuckle.

"Right, gotcha," Marisa uttered with a thumb up for Killua to see, while Gon was shaking his head as if it could adjust his original hairstyle. "Wouldn't wanna waste your time. Let Gon introduce us to these two before you go have fun, will ya?"

"Then actually hurry with it," Killua retorted before rolling his eyes when he saw Marisa wink, "I wanna stop running like a snail already."

"Hey, you saying we're slow?!"

"By the way, that's Leorio." Gon pointed to the taller man with the small, circular glasses with a simple smile, and Reimu and Marisa nodded collectively as they witnessed him blink in confusion by the mention of his name. He whipped his head to his side, towards Gon, Reimu and Marisa.

"Wait, you're introducing me right now?! I mean— Well, uh..." Leorio scratched the back of his head bashfully as he smiled in a strained fashion, as if self-conscious. "How's it going? Reimu and Marisa, was it?"

"And you're the guy who was saying stuff about us cheating," Reimu remarked with a smirk. "Whatever that fuss was about, you probably already learned your lesson since Gon and Killua were around to tell you off for me."

"Flying might as well be a life cheat," Leorio begrudgingly muttered in his unwillingness to admit defeat in the argument, while Marisa frowned.

"Not a cheat of the exam, though," Marisa said.

"Besides, they're running right now so it's not like they can't handle it," Gon supplied.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, they're not breaking rules, they're somehow able to fly in the sky," Leorio quickly listed with a bitter, off-handed tint in his voice, "The Hunter Exam sure attracts all kinds of special people."

"Also, the one next to Leorio's Kurapika!" Gon exclaimed with excitement as he shifted his pointed finger to the blond young man next to Leorio staring vacantly in face of the light-hearted mood. "We all met back at the preliminaries!"

"It's nice to meet you," Kurapika calmly uttered, as his gaze softened with thoughts of Gon's efforts. "Though, I suppose an apology is also in order. I thought I was above being influenced by mere rumors, but if my previous judgments of you were any reference, I still have a long way to go before I can truly take pride in that." He closed his eyes for a moment, almost as if to make sure his composure would remain, only to face Reimu and Marisa with the slightest frown. "With that in mind, I'm sorry for my misconceptions. I should have looked past your relation with Hisoka and observed you directly if I wanted to grasp your true nature."

"Huh..." Reimu stared at Kurapika pensively, unable to ease the slight confusion in her mind. "Well, apology accepted, I suppose. It's not like I cared all that much about something like that, you know?"

"Water under the bridge, as far as I can tell," Marisa added, "But I guess it's the feeling that counts, so I'll take it, too."

Despite the overly casual responses, which would normally come across as unexpected, Kurapika appeared unfazed as he nodded. "I assumed as much, but I hold certain standards for myself, you see," he explained while placing a hand to his chest, "If I didn't apologize, I would have been failing to meet my own standards, and that is something I would rather avoid at all costs."

In contrast with Kurapika's dignified claims, Reimu and Marisa stared at him absent-mindedly, finding in said claims nothing to be truthfully concerned with. He's sure uptight for his age. He's not as young as Gon or Killua, sure, but he's pretty much a teenager, Marisa thought before she managed a wry smile, hoping to smoothen the conversation that she had assumed would come to a quick end if not for her contribution. "That's great and all, but Gon," Marisa called out as she faced the boy, who in turn shifted his attention to her out of curiosity. "Isn't Killua waiting for ya? How about you get over there before he starts sulkin' alone? We're done with the introductions, anyway."

Gon hummed thoughtfully as he weighed the factors required to provide Marisa with an answer. "I don't really wanna leave Leorio and Kurapika behind, but..." Gon looked towards Killua, who continued to run slightly distanced from the rest. "I guess there's no need to worry if you've got Ms. Reimu and Ms. Marisa around. You'll all be fine, right?"

"Of course we will!" Leorio proudly exclaimed, "Even if those two weren't here, we'd be just fine on our own! If you wanna worry about anybody, make it yourself!"

Gon could not help but giggle in light of Leorio's dependable stance. "Well, if you say so!" With that, Gon began to pick up his pace in an effort to reach Killua. He waved at the four he was distancing himself from, his smile unwavering. "Have fun together, alright?!"

"Will do!" Marisa shouted in response, though Gon was already facing Killua, dashing with him side-by-side. She and the three with her watched that in silence for a moment, musing on the situation, only for Marisa to turn to Leorio and Kurapika and catching Reimu do the same.

"By the way..." Leorio uttered in a remarkably low voice, belying a more tense mood. Kurapika noted the shift, but he had some idea as to what would spur him to be like that, while Reimu and Marisa had simultaneously frowned in confusion. "I know it's none of my business, but what's making you so desperate you'd take the Hunter Exam while injured? This exam's so hellish even people in full health can get killed in here, let alone someone with a broken arm. If it's nothing important, you should consider taking next year's exam."

"Huh?" Marisa uttered while blinking. "That's still a thing I gotta nagged about?"

"Long story short, it'd be riskier leaving Marisa alone to her vacation here and I can just protect her if push comes to shove so it's all sorted for now," Reimu clarified with a shrug, her narrowed gaze expressing nothing but pure boredom. "She did well enough on her own in the preliminaries, so I'm hoping she doesn't get in my way."

"Wait, though, what's this about a vacation? You mean you're taking the Hunter Exam for your vacation?" Leorio recoiled under the implications, his mouth twitching as if wanting to shift in more ways than a simple scowl. "What kinda leisure is that?!"

"I have serious business to take care of with the exam," Reimu said before pointing towards Marisa. "She's the one who's showing up for sightseeing."

"We're not plannin' on staying for long, so it's the only shot I have of checking the exam out, too," Marisa wryly supplied, and shook her head with a faint smile. "Wouldn't wanna turn back after I got this far."

Leorio grimaced, scrambling to find a comment for the bizarre circumstances, only for Kurapika to interject sympathetically, "They have special powers, Leorio. Though I do understand your concern, they very well may be able to fend themselves off without even needing physical attacks. You saw that paper Gon and Killua were given, didn't you?"

"I did, but..." Leorio muttered through gritted teeth.

"Are you still hung up over my arm?" Marisa curiously questioned after carelessly glancing towards her cast and frowning. "You sure are a worrywart."

"You're the one who's reckless!"

"Still, it's not like I'm gonna just keep going if it gets too dangerous," Marisa added in a matter of fact fashion, eyeing nothing in particular as she reminisced. "I talked to the green guy by the exam site and he told me I could spectate if I got permission from the chairman. Not that I'll try for it, but there's no way I can just leave Reimu behind when she's got all the cash, so I gotta be around even if I give up."

"If anything, couldn't you have just done that to begin with?" Reimu questioned.

"How do you even think you can get past the committee at all? You have powers, but they're Hunters, you know?" Leorio imposed as a question, leading to Reimu and Marisa offering intense looks of confusion the very moment they processed the question. He continued to grimace, adding: "They're the kind of people who usually deal with that supernatural stuff."

"They are? All the examiners are Hunters? You should've said so earlier!" Reimu shot back after dispelling the distraught hint in her widened eyes with sheer frustration belying her glare. "I just missed the chance to interrogate the examiner!"

"Hisoka totally knew that," Marisa remarked.

"That creep," Reimu cursed as she waved her weapon about, "I could be getting everything done much faster if he weren't playing games with me!"

"Well, you're the one who decided to get played by the guy," Marisa said.

"That's because I had a good feeling about leaving the tower! Oh, he'll get what's coming for him, though, just you wait!"

Meanwhile, Leorio and Kurapika stared their way blankly, and the two noticed in confusion. "What's up?" Marisa prodded, hoping to dispel the awkwardness.

"Nope, it's hopeless," Leorio stated grimly as a confirmation of a fact that Reimu and Marisa were unaware of, and they tilted their heads to the side as their quickest form of a response to the matter. "Are you two just crazy strong or do you just have no sense of danger?"

"Crazy strong," Reimu and Marisa uttered at the same time, both with a shrug.

Though, seeing a lack of reaction from Leorio, Reimu smirked, retorting, "What else?"

"I really shouldn't have worried about you, huh?" Leorio lowly remarked, as if lacking in even the motivation to speak at a normal volume.

"They certainly wouldn't be taking the Hunter Exam if they weren't confident in their abilities," Kurapika said, "whatever they happen to be." Kurapika looked to the side, now grimacing as he did so. "Though, even so, I'd be careful in your position: over-confidence can lead to your downfall."

When Marisa, Reimu, and Leorio followed Kurapika's gaze, they found themselves graced with the presence of a running Hisoka passing by the with a mask of apathy; though how fake it truthfully was in face of others was debatable still. Marisa nodded slowly, but intently. "Yeah, I can see what you mean with that," she said, "but I'm through with getting into danger nilly-willy. This time around, Reimu's doing all the dirty work for me. I'm just gonna watch."

"I was supposed to do all the work, anyway," Reimu retorted, facing Kurapika with a convicted gaze and frown, as if now truly considering the weight of her situation. Even so, Reimu's posture was still relaxed, easygoing, and she eventually smiled while speaking: "Besides, I'm not about to be fazed by things that get in my way when I've got my duties to attend to. I can't afford to have a downfall."

"All the more reason to exert caution, then," Kurapika said. "However, I'm starting to have a feeling this is simply the way you are. Either way, I hope you don't meet your downfall, myself."

"Not that they will since they're crazy strong," Leorio begrudgingly added.

"Well, their powers are decidedly an advantage over the other applicants," Kurapika said, "Since their mechanisms are unknown at large, their opponent will never be able to expect their next move. This means that conventional methods are unreliable before them."

"I mean, sure, but—"

A scream resounded from the front, rendering the four deathly silent in light of the raw, shrill sound of pain; the mark of an attack, perhaps a fatal wound. "The beasts already?" Marisa quietly questioned with her eyes locked onto the direction she had heard the scream from, and Reimu had grasped onto five paper charms as she surveyed the surrounding area.

"That came from the front, but they could be getting closer as we speak," Reimu said, only to break into a carefree smile, brandishing her paper charms between each finger. "I suppose this is as close as I'll get to youkai extermination."

"Youkai extermination..." Leorio muttered as if he were referring to a term of utmost importance, only to scowl. "The heck's a youkai?"

"Not what we got here, that's for sure," Marisa quickly said, her gaze set in the same direction Kurapika was looking, to her right. She grimaced, and the others mirrored her expression when they noticed the cleanly laid corpse, the blood and blank eyes being the only pieces of evidence to the death. From a distance, screams continued resound, but of a nature so faint they only added to the gruesome mood of the situation. "And if it were one of the beasts, they'd have at least left more traces on the body or taken it away to eat: the most we can see's the bleeding."

"Not only that," Kurapika uttered in vacant fashion, as if far away from the people beside him, "but this isn't the only victim." He pointed towards the horizon, forming a line of corpses spread out unnaturally. The four ran slowly, more than before, towards the eerie path being formed by the sacrifices of others, and the closer distance allowed them a better look at a few open wound indicative of a deep cut, some through even the skull. Kurapika did not endeavor to stretch an arm out for the imagery to illustrate his point, though the fact that none of the people around him appeared as affected mentally as one normally would was telling of their own experiences, and simply continued for an explanation: "The method is the same, for one. However, the culprit is clearly in movement as they kill the applicants, rather than possessing a deliberate strategy to fool the victims; unlike the beasts as described by the examiner himself, if I might add."

"In other words...?" Reimu muttered impatiently, looking around as if more concerned with presences that would be alive to oppose her than the dead near her.

"The killer's moving the same way the applicants are," Marisa concluded, "so it's also an applicant." Leorio turned to Marisa with widened eyes from shock, fists trembling as if holding back on a strong urge to speak, if only so Marisa could justify herself. "These beasts would wanna eat the bodies, defend its territory or have a place to hunt them, but not just keep moving and killing anything in its way."

"You mean there's a serial killer on the loose in this exam?!" Leorio immediately voiced, cutting through the last audible trace of the continuous deeds occurring on the horizon, but Marisa was somehow keeping the same grimace, as if expecting the reaction.

"He's always been on the loose," Marisa said, only to shift her gaze to the foliage ahead, "I'm bettin' it's Hisoka. He was already acting weird enough before the phase started, and the wounds remind me of the guy he did kill when he tried to kill me with his cards." Marisa's eyes narrowed, as she preferred thinking back on the images rather than to look towards them as examples. "Bleeding's showy but the wound isn't, small cuts..."

"What a massacre," Reimu idly commented as she directly witnessed the situation, less tense somehow as she assumed Marisa's logic to be correct. "You'd think with all the monsters lurking around the forests, no one would need to be killing the applicants."

"Wait, wait, wait, so he already tried to kill you, and killed somebody else while at it, but you were hanging out with him anyway?!" Leorio eyed Reimu and Marisa as though his eye sockets could empty themselves from the nonsense he noticed, and Reimu was the first to retaliate with a glare of her own.

"He's the one who butts in on his own!"

"More importantly, assuming this is Hisoka, he could easily get farther to the front with his speed and reach Gon and Killua," Kurapika said, interrupting the possible argument, "They could be in danger." He locked eyes with Reimu then, and the calm composure combined with his grimace was still effective in conveying what all were sure to be his concern for the situation. "Reimu, how effective is the paper you've given them?"

"The paper charms?" Reimu almost as if bit her thumb bitterly mulling over the topic, giving serious consideration to the hypothesis Kurapika proposed. "They're only two, so I doubt they could stun Hisoka for long, and that's really as much as they could do to him. Depending on how fast they are, they could also miss."

"As I expected, then," Kurapika stated, "If so, we should catch up to them, or warn them somehow." Despite his words, it took only a glance at Leorio for Kurapika to close his eyes as if holding back the urge to sigh.

"How are we gonna warn them if they're already so far away?! The only way's to get to them, and we can't just let them fall victims to that maniac! I've gotta...!" The sounds of Leorio's feet hitting the ground forcefully intensified, and he was able to advance ever so slightly, only to return to his normal pace while panting heavily. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! The tunnel's already tired me out enough; I can't speed up at all! But if I don't, Gon's toast!"

"Even if one of us were able to outclass our current speeds and reach Gon, we could still be too late because Hisoka's moving as we speak." Kurapika then faced Reimu and Marisa, whose conviction was reflected in their focused gazes. While Kurapika was admittedly agitated, unable to hide a small part of the panic that came with the prospect of Gon being attacked, Reimu and Marisa seemed to have exchanged said fear for sheer determination and willpower to act, something that brought slight hope to Kurapika. "Our only option is to rely on Reimu and Marisa: their flight is much faster than Hisoka's current running pace, so the chances of catching him before he can hurt Gon are higher."

"I'll go, then," Reimu immediately asserted before Kurapika's intent gaze, able to smile regardless of it. "Marisa's faster, but I'm the only one who could possibly stand a chance against Hisoka! Just leave it to me!" With that, her feet began to float and she slew forward with a single thrust of her body, with a speed to the point Reimu was already hard to spot from the thick mist that surrounded Marisa, Leorio and Kurapika.

"Hey, you better be careful out there! Don't go picking fights you can't win, you hear me?!" Leorio shouted out into the mist, but there was no response. Only the faint shadows of the hunter applicants running ahead could be seen, while Reimu was presumably too far away to hear Leorio. As such, he turned to Marisa with a wry frown. "He said you were the faster one, but she's pretty fast, herself. How can she just fly in the air, anyway?"

"It's her ability," Marisa plainly responded. "If she wants to float away from something, she does."

"No wonder Killua calls you witches," Leorio remarked with just as much apparent apathy, but his was out of lacking the energy to give a retort fitting of the grand dimension of what he was witnessing, especially considering his grim surroundings. "If I weren't seeing it with my own two eyes, I'd be questioning your sanity."

"I can't help but agree with that," Kurapika interjected, "I won't press you for details, but I must at least say you two are one of a kind in various senses."

"That doesn't sound a whole lot like a compliment..." Marisa bitterly muttered, as if uncertain whether to be angry or not in face of the conversation.

"It's an observation," Kurapika clarified. "Either way, we are in some debt to your otherwordly abilities. If not for Reimu, we wouldn't have a means to assure Gon and Killua's safety. I only hope she doesn't have to face Hisoka directly..." Kurapika's wistful gaze rested on the horizon, focusing more on the prospect of Reimu than on the ground indicative of nothing but negative outcomes. SAid outcomes were fresh in the minds of all three, and they originated the silence in the conversation for a few seconds, as Leorio and Marisa were just as well reminded of their surroundings.

"Yeah..." Leorio finally muttered back, but he himself was aware of the fact that his input was more than lacking in the multitude of words he could have chosen to describe or add to the situation.

"If it's Reimu, she'll make it through," Marisa, however, suddenly stated, her expression remarkably cold, perhaps uncharacteristically so. Even so, despite the odds, she mustered a smile, though a wry one. "Don't ask me how, but she'll do it."

"That better not be just a bluff," Leorio slowly countered, the rough phrasing masking the concern in his gaze. "I'm only counting on her to keep them safe because I can't do it myself." Marisa nodded, acknowledging the weight behind Leorio's words, each one of them genuine.

"I'll even bet you on it," Marisa said, her smile widening. "No need to worry about her."

While Leorio continued to speak to Marisa about how he was relying on Marisa's judgment and Reimu's capabilities, Kurapika snuck at glance at Marisa, whose stance remained strangely calm; it was not a facade. That fact was etched onto Kurapika's mind, serving as a factor from which he was deriving deep thought. I can see now why they were speaking with Hisoka before. They don't truly fear him; they don't see him as a threat to begin with. However, if they're to the point Hisoka is not even worth their fear anymore, just what kind of people are Reimu and Marisa...?

In the end, Kurapika could not see a conclusion to that train of thought. As such, he shifted his focus to inwardly wishing for Gon and Killua's safety, hoping that Reimu would live up to the expectations Marisa was so readily placing upon them.

. . .

"Out of my way, already!" Five needles flew for the flowery back of the large monster in front of Reimu while she floated over it with a scowl on her face, uncaring of the injuries she had inflicted on it. She was currently leaving five other applicants behind, though she assumed they were capable enough to face a creature that was already incapacitated, and she only meant to make sure it would not shoot the strange gases it was showering the other applicants with at her.

She attempted to make out her surroundings, but only the whiteness of the mist prevailed. Figures resembling trees would faintly surface, and some running figures could be spotted in the horizon, but Reimu was already starting to learn she could not trust what the naked eye would show her. Almost as if to confirm it, Reimu closed her eyes and sighed before conjuring a ball of light of moderate size. In the blink of an eye, it was shot towards the running figures, but the screams that ensued from the attack were not human, but of voices reaching the screeching highs of some sort of creature Reimu was not familiar with.

"Now it's not boring, but I didn't want it to be troublesome," Reimu sourly muttered as she surveyed the area from above in hopes of finding real people. "Besides, at this rate, Hisoka will have reached Gon and Killua without a hassle..." In times like these, I could ask divine spirits to help me, but I can't feel any of that from this weird dimension; just Nen everywhere. This place feels almost eerily godless... Her glare settled on her right, where a breeze had coursed by her. In that direction as well was nothing more than mist covering tall trees, so Reimu decided simply fly up, to watch for the wetlands from above. She exited the path, seeing only the top of the trees faintly, and while the mist did end before the trees themselves, the forest covered some of the ground she wanted to see, and she looked around her, failing to find other people in the midst of the mist.

Reimu grimaced, flying further forward as if to confirm the failure of her idea, and was disappointed with the prospect of having to lower herself back without a clue as to Gon and Killua's whereabouts, frowning thinly. She edged herself further to the trees, thinking of landing on a branch which could give her more of a perception of the ground and from a safer distance, but the mist was still obstructive, and Reimu was figuring it would affect her even if she were on a high enough branch that the mist did not reach her, but the rest of the wetlands below.

"Watch out!" Reimu blinked, only to propel herself back noting the tree she was approaching as a reference point to land twitch as if about to move. However, that was not the origin of the voice she heard. As she avoided a branch swinging her way, intending to catch her with what seemed to be claws hidden between makeshift leaves, a projectile that was not her own flew for it, causing the beast to falter. Reimu looked around with the time offered by the created opening, and eyed the first human-seeming figure she could spot near the beast disguised as a tree. Nearby was the examiner, along with similarly fast applicants simply passing by; Reimu grimaced. Did I overshoot it when I decided to look from above? What a bother. "You alright over there?!" The young man who had warned her asked from afar, while Reimu flew closer to the beast, paper charm in hand.

She saw what appeared to be a kunai lodged onto the branch hit, and a swift attempt from the beast to hit her with another of the branch, constituting as multiple arms within a body that on closer inspection was far from being as hard as wood. Reimu swiftly floated above the branch, pressing then a paper charm of a bigger size than the rest towards what she identified as the middle of small, equally as brown eyes of the creature. While she was doing that, two branches were heading her way, and though the young man on the base of the tree was preparing more projectiles of his own, Reimu flew away, reaching the branch with the kunai and removed the kunai from the beach, who finally screamed in agony, caring in little measure about its disguise. The paper charm took effect afterwards, petrifying the animal under the shock of the spiritual energy contained in the charm spreading through the body, and it fell unceremoniously towards a real tree, which collapsed as well under the animal's weight. Reimu was uncertain if it remained alive considering it was a different species from a youkai, but she brushed off the fact by turning away from the body and throwing the kunai back at the applicant with the red scarf who was blinking in awe watching her.

He had swiftly caught the thrown kunai, even though Reimu was aiming for the ground, and as she landed near him, she saw his eyes narrowed as he processed her presence. "Now we're even," Reimu affirmed with a carefree smile, "not that I needed any help." She glanced the animal's way, the effect of the charm having still not worn off, and crossed her arms. "Aren't you going to keep running? You just lost the examiner."

The bald young man flinched in face of the truthful statement, looking back only to note a staggering lack of applicants in the area. "W-well, I can still catch up to them by myself," he stated, though the smirk on his features was ever so slightly apprehensive, as though he was caught off-guard. "More importantly, I'm thankful you retrieved the kunai, but I didn't know you were there until you started closing in on the beast; I don't exactly keep track of flying presences thinking they're human."

"You didn't notice me?" Reimu questioned with arched eyebrows, "Then who were you calling out to?"

"It was this female applicant carrying a small backpack," he explained, "You see, I was watching all applicants from the corner of my eye, keeping a distance close enough to assess whether I'm near the real examiner and far enough to observe anyone in case they try anything against me. Then, she happened to be struggling to catch up with the frontliners, coming near my position, and she looked like she was going to rest near the tree for a moment before catching up again, so I of course made sure to keep watch on her just in case, but since she didn't even notice she was going to lean on an animal in disguise, I figured she couldn't possibly disarm me and decided I could at least neutralize the animal before catching up, myself. Besides, there was always the chance the animal could give chase, and considering I was also closest to the creature, it was convenient to take care of the matter, so I was practically expecting her to leave me behind, as she should if she knows she's taking the exam. But then again, I didn't think she'd go about it so fast, since she couldn't even stick around to answer..."

Reimu was naturally frowning as she realized the fact that the man was going to continue on speaking, but an opening to leave had arose then when she felt a presence very similar to her own; the kind of spiritual power that would only be conjured out of her amulets. It was faint, and disappeared quickly, but the fact that it was nearby was a good enough revelation for Reimu to simply charge away flying, turning her back to the young man talking to her as she attempted to follow the trail of a moving presence that had already dissipated. "And— Wait, where are you going?! I was still talking to you!" Disregarding the young man shouting behind her, Reimu was certain it would only be lightly telling of their exact position, but that was a concern void in her mind, and she smiled as though determined, praising herself for giving the paper charms to Gon and Killua, even if she did not plan for them to have such a convenient use.

Just you wait, Reimu thought as she advanced farther from the examiner, noting other applicants attempting to catch up to her side, I'm coming for you, Gon; Killua...!

. . .

Meanwhile, on a mound of aggregated bushes, some of which intersected by thick tree roots, Gon and Killua were standing idly in light of the position of the animal they had apprehended with their paper charms. Said animal had been a bird similar to those the two had seen eating the corpse of the examiner's impersonator the moment he had shown no signs of life, but the similar form was only a disguise constructed by a considerable inflation of feathers that fell off the immediate moment the paper charms were closing in on it, revealing a much smaller target quickly attempting its escape. Curiosity for where the paper charms were being led, particularly Killua's homing purple variant resulted in the decision to take a small detour, in which they found its small body twitching from the paralysing effect of Killua's paper charm which had inevitably hit the bird, while Gon's had been thrown unaware of the animal's true size.

"No fair! Yours was chasing the target by itself!" Gon exclaimed precisely in protest of the unfair advantage, moments after Killua had loosely removed his paper charm from the bird at Reimu's request and the two had witnessed it fly away disoriented. Killua was only lightly glancing at the paper while regarding Gon curiously, as if uncertain of what could possibly originate his opposition.

"Hey, if you're gonna blame anyone, blame Reimu for giving me the superior magic paper," Killua countered with a smirk as he casually waved the paper around, the writing on it having somehow dissipated with the energy charge on the target. "Doesn't change the fact I won, though."

"Yeah, because the paper got to chase the bird when it changed shapes all sneaky-like! I want a rematch!" Gon said after pouting, only to crouch down to the bushes, touching through small branches of the bushes in his surroundings. "After we find my paper, we're doing it again!" His focused gaze, clear with determination only reinforced the weight behind the affirmation, which Killua verified in contrasting simplicity by tilting his body aside, getting a glimpse of Gon feeling for the paper charm within the bushes.

"Do you even know if you can use them again? Mine's all crumpled now." Killua dangled the purple paper charm near the left of Gon's face, enough that it was caught by the corner of Gon's eye. "Doesn't look like it's got juice left in it at all; can't have much of a rematch with that."

Gon shifted his gaze to Killua, his expression of conviction intact. "Well, we can just get Ms. Reimu to fix them up for us!" he offered and turned back to the bushes immediately afterwards as though that were a main priority, leaving Killua's expression of doubt unseen by the boy.

Eyebrows furrowed just as much from displeasure, Killua grimaced before retorting, "What, from back in the path? We're already gonna stall enough trying to find the paper 'cause you wanna act the goody two shoes for Reimu, but we're not about to backtrack." Killua straightened his standing position, looking back towards the path from which they had momentarily left the examiner behind in the same way one would roll their eyes. "Did you forget you're taking the Hunter Exam right now?"

Gon flinched, his concentrated determination broken for a moment of small reflection. "I-I mean..." Gon scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly before saying in a slightly less imposing tone of voice, "I guess we can ask for that after we're done with the phase." Then, his smile seemingly stabilized, assuming a gentle, lacking edge that was only slightly mismatched to the intense nature of his gaze. "But we are getting the paper back for Ms. Reimu. It's the least we can do for her when she went out of her way to give them to us."

"You sure are fussy," Killua remarked with a frown while pocketing the paper charm haphazardly before resting his head over his hands positioned behind him, showing his complete lack of an intention to help Gon. "She just gave us the stuff so we'd settle for less than getting taught how their witch magic works. She probably has way cooler things on her arsenal that she didn't wanna give us."

"That's not what matters," Gon countered easily, though also in an absent-minded manner, "Ms. Reimu was trying to do what she could to make me experience what it is to do her magic because she could tell I really wanted to try. It's only fair I pay her back when she went out of her way, and she even asked. She probably has something even bigger than the Hunter Exam going on, but she managed to spare us this, too." Gon's smile widened, albeit subconsciously, but Killua only noted the detail that could imply from the rising softness and pitch in his voice, cheerful to a fault. "Besides, it was fun trying to get the target, wasn't it? It's thanks to her."

He's sure something else, was the first thought on Killua's mind upon a quick examination of his logic and stance, and his gaze was clouded with thought that derived more than confusion; curiosity, interest, even. And Killua stayed, standing as if dissatisfied staring at the boy his age uncaring of the small scratches created by brushing against the bushes' thorns. "Geez, I get it," Killua uttered flatly, though his raised eyebrows indicated the fact that it was nothing but a half truth, "What do you think I'm here for? Not only that..." However, distracting Killua from the lighter moment was a sound reaching ever closer to their area, and a kind of tension achieved only through forced silence in the wetlands. He glanced back, a grimace surfacing on his pale features complementing the coldness his eyes were exuding as he carefully examined the direction he was focusing on. He quietly, coolly specified: "But there's something off about the path to the examiner right now. Killing intent. You'd think Hisoka would be by the back, so who's..."

"Oh, found it!" Gon suddenly stood from his position, raising his right arm to the highest height in order to display the spoils of his venture: a red paper charm devoid of its scriptures, slightly torn at the edges. Killua was not yet noticing his expression, but he was smiling, content despite the fact that the paper was leaning aside, depicting its powerless state. "It's all crumpled, too, so I don't think I can throw it again, but it's in good enough condition I can hand it back to Ms. Reimu." Then, noticing Killua's attention taken by other matters, Gon's smile faded, and he blinked, curious. "Anyway, you were saying...?"

For a full second, Killua's gaze was still locked to the horizon, but he then turned slowly back to Gon, silently processing his question until he shrugged. "Whatever," he said, his position now relaxed as he gestured forward with only his head, tilted up. "If you finally got the paper, let's just catch up to the examiner. From this distance, I can still hear their footsteps so we're basically on track."

Gon hummed pensively before he started to run along with Killua on the same direction he was pointing towards. He was peering into Killua's expression, uncertain, resulting in a thin frown that accompanied sounds of an eerie nature. "Right," he stated as though assertive, but he looked around, scanning his surroundings with pointed confusion. "But, also, haven't you been hearing screams around? I wonder if Leorio and the others are alright..."

"Shouldn't they be?" Killua quickly responded, but his voice was distinctively vacant, "They've got magic on their side and all. One thing is Leorio and Kurapika, and another's Reimu and Marisa. So, even if they happen to get stuck with some weird animal, those two can cover for them."

"Well, they do make it more reliable, but I wouldn't think Leorio and Kurapika can't handle themselves," Gon said in return, frowning wryly in face of the implications of Killua's words, but his concern was further assailed with the distance accompanying Killua's gaze.

"Then there's no reason to worry," Killua summarized casually, "If they all pass, good; if they don't, it just means they weren't cut out for the exam."

"I would want them to pass, though— Killua?" Seeing Killua's expression shift from a neutral frown to a grimace of pure deathly apathy, Gon noted Killua's widening eyes and blinding speed as he ran away with a few blinks, only for Gon to quickly trace the direction Killua was headed; further into the left, away from what they were assuming to be the path the examiner was taking. Gon proceeded to go for his fastest speed in order to catch up with Killua, and found himself near a mound of trees near each other, with one tall enough it could harbor a person on its branches. Gon looked up, jumping swiftly upon the branches to witness Killua entirely concentrated on the horizon he was watching from one of the tallest branches; Gon regarded that with some awe as he climbed the rest of the tree, eyeing him curiously from behind. "Killua? Is something wrong?"

Killua shushed Gon hastily while shooting him a glare, turning quickly back to the horizon much to Gon's disappointment. He tilted his head to the side, attempting to see Killua's expression, but the most he could identify was his entirely immobile stance; a presence he did not want noticed. Gon frowned beyond the childish extent he had been previously upon considering the degree of caution that Killua's hidden self between the leaves exerted. He attempted a similar stance, and saw the slightest movement overcome Killua's position: his face moved centimeters to the side, as if due to the urge to look behind him due to the lacking presence he could now feel from Gon, but he stopped himself, continuing to gaze ahead. "It's Hisoka," Killua whispered, coldly, "I thought he was gonna fall behind, but he's going for the kill right here, right now. I can tell."

"Right now?" Gon asked quietly in confusion before he finally stared out from the branch, seeing part of the surroundings through the leaves. The distance from the ground had the slightest details smaller in comparison, but as Gon squinted, he could pick out what appeared to be white cards stuck to a tree, as if thrown in such a way they could pierce through wood despite their usual material. Gon blinked, his frown deepening as he registered the tree he was observing was one the two were almost going to pass by on foot, now meters away from their current position. The footsteps of the top runners were no longer verified, but Gon could understand from faint sounds in the distance that they were not alone, and that was equally applicable to the presence of other applicants, and their expressed agony. "Why?" It was the first thought that occurred to the boy as he processed the situation, relating what would normally be harmless playing cards in the context of Killua's ominous words, and confusion slipped readily through his firm voice.

It implied little fear despite everything, and the tone rang anxiously in Killua's ears. "Does it matter why? If he's targeting us, we'll get farther and farther away from the examiner," Killua lowly reprimanded, his eyes narrow, intent on tracing what could be a potential threat. Hearing a defined scream within the exceedingly faint sounds of footsteps, Killua continued matter of factly: "Luckily for you, if he's not around, it means he wasn't targeting you in the first place. You can hear the others, right? They're the real victims, so we've got a chance to get away without wasting our time." Gon saw Killua's head finally move more than the instinctive milimeter, surveying the trees surrounding the dense area. Some were short enough that the impact of jumping towards a branch from that height could break it entirely, but with enough care and utilizing a quick momentum not to stay on the branch and let it do so could perhaps give them a differing form of movement, but Killua was also attributing his attention to the ground afterwards.

In the middle of what Gon assumed to be his analysis of an escape route to return to the examiner, he could not help but ask as though unconvinced, grimacing, "But what about the others? If they're the victims, it's not like they did anything wrong, right? Then I don't understand why Hisoka would have to kill them." Against Gon's expectations, and as a motive to soften his expression momentarily, Killua turned to him, but his frown was lopsided as if from the weary prospect of having to offer an answer to Gon's doubt. How obvious the matter was to Killua was itself a point of doubt for Gon, and he blinked, wondering as well if Killua had confirmed whether he was safe enough to turn his back to the surroundings. The footsteps had suddenly ceased, and Gon was only vacantly connecting the dots.

"Look, it's not about 'having to kill' in this situation," Killua quickly explained in a hushed tone, bringing Gon's focus back to Killua himself, his words uttered as though ordinary trivia and a horror story combined were being conveyed, "It's about feeling like it. So, if anyone's in his way, he'll do it. For real. Got it now? That's just how it is." He glanced aside, to a prospective and familiar image of corpses he could imprint onto the surroundings not yet tainted by such deeds; though he knew that was not true for the furthest meters away from their hiding spot. Killua wryly smiled, perhaps even smirked, and added with the slightest hints of pride: "For him, and me, too."

"You, too?"

"We're similar, Hisoka and I," Killua said, "The only difference is that I do a better job of hiding it."

Gon pensively hummed, taking in the response in a surprisingly calm fashion. Even in Killua's perspective, Gon seemed undisturbed, albeit slightly uneasy; a strange reaction when it came to a revelation of that caliber. "I don't really see it, though..." Gon muttered, "You don't feel like Hisoka at all."

Unfazed, Killua shrugged, taking Gon's reasoning as nothing but an amusingly naive perspective. "Like I said, I'm just better at hiding it. You'll see what I mean eventually." Gon remained unconvinced, his grimace unwavering, but Killua was not seeing that as he looked back down to the ground. "Anyway, Hisoka's no joke." As if to match his own words, Killua frowned. "I mean, I could manage something, but having you around would mean putting you in danger if I tried anything on him, so we gotta catch up with the examiner and make it to the second phase without being noticed by Hisoka on the way. You can jump through the trees, right?"

"Sure," Gon responded, "I'm pretty good at moving around in these kinds of places, so I don't think I'd get caught by Hisoka, either."

"Who wouldn't get caught by who, now?"

Killua froze in place, unable to flinch or twitch in reaction to the unfamiliar voice referring to Gon's statement from so far away in height. Regardless, the smooth voice they could identify, though deliberately louder than normal, reached them perfectly, almost too perfectly for it to belong to a normal person. Gon's eyes widened in shock as he saw a tall man look up at them from near the base of the tree, his presence having been lacking to both boys despite their attentiveness to their surroundings; his yellow eyes were visible from afar, glinting dangerously in their direction. "Is that a challenge, little boy? You should know better than to doubt the abilities of a magician." The man known as Hisoka smirked up at the two boys, relishing in their apprehension even from afar.

Killua stepped back in spite of himself, almost colliding with Gon, but he knew there was nothing behind him that could allow him to escape. More importantly, he noted, he could not simply escape by himself... Or could he? If he were to use Gon as a distraction, Killua could just as well make a run for it and reach the examiner somehow. "I don't wanna hear that from someone who's barging in on a conversation!" Gon countered before letting his tongue out and making a silly face, almost as if he were intent on provoking Hisoka. The ludicrous sight snapped Killua out of his thoughts, which he dismissed with a swift shake of his head.

"What're you provoking him for? Are you trying to get us into more trouble than we need here...?!" Killua argued in a hushed voice, glaring Gon's way relentlessly. At that, Gon grimaced, unable to respond to Killua in kind due to his confusion over said response. "One wrong move and you're dead. You got me?"

"If you say so..." How can he be unconvinced by that?! Killua thought upon hearing Gon so vacantly mutter that as his reaction to Killua's warning, only to shake his head again in order to focus. But more importantly, if Hisoka decides to climb this tree or bring us down from here, we're screwed. Reasoning with him isn't an option either; he's itching to kill. At this point, we could use a distraction, or a sure-fire way to escape, but there's nothing we can use to hold Hisoka down because we already spent Reimu's paper. Then our only option is a distraction...

Meanwhile, Hisoka chuckled as he processed Gon's behaviour. "Such an interesting duo," he commented. "Did you climb that tree in order to escape from me? Running away was a wise decision, but the method wasn't very effective, to be honest. You've not only lost track of the examiner, but you've also cornered yourselves." Not that running would have let you live much longer, Hisoka thought, They probably figured I hadn't noticed them and decided to hide to make sure I wouldn't spot them. Though, considering the spot, they must've also accounted for a chance I would be here and knew to pick somewhere I'd likely be adverse to reaching. Such crafty children...

Killua mustered a smile, albeit one with a bitter edge as he stepped past Gon. "Well, we didn't think you'd bother with two random kids on a tree," he retorted in a pseudo-nonchalant fashion, hands hidden in his pockets. His skateboard remained under his shoulder, and Killua's gaze was blank as his mind was clearly elsewhere. "Don't you have easier targets to play with?"

"I've been getting bored of those, you see," Hisoka immediately responded, noting that Gon was glaring at him, contrasting with Killua's careful approach. "When I noticed a familiar kind of presence where you are, I figured you'd be just the right fit for my current mood. The only problem I have is whether it would be more fun to come for you, or to have you come for me. Just for reference, which one would you prefer?"

If I try something the least bit shady, Hisoka'll attack for sure; I won't have the upper hand if I make the distraction too obvious. This can't become a full-blown fight, but we'll probably need to make it seem like we want to fight him because we're out of options and get his guard down, Killua thought, having paid no mind to Hisoka's words as he had only intended on buying time with his own approach. He's strong and he knows it. If he becomes confident he can take us down, we can use that opening to plan an escape. Still, which one of us should take the risk? I've got higher chances of coming out of a fight with him unscathed, but I'm also the best person to devise our escape. Could Gon hold his own just enough that I can get us out of this area? Killua glanced towards Gon, and saw in his gaze an unwavering sort of conviction he did not share. Well, if he can't, that'll be his problem. I'm not about to get held back. The conclusion was telling of his lack of faith, but from Gon's twitching fists, and the illusion of a smile, genuine despite the situation, Killua could not exactly predict his reaction, and as such decided to focus back on Hisoka.

"That's so obvious you didn't even need to ask," Gon countered for Killua then, before he could open his own mouth, causing an abrupt contortion of his facade due to unease. What's he doing? What's he planning? Is he even planning something at all? While Killua's eyes were wide from Gon's abrupt statement, Gon seemed to speak with a resolute gaze, his voice clear and lacking in hesitation. It was almost as if he were trying to hold his ground against Hisoka, the reaction equivalent to staying in place to face an animal rather than triggering its predatory instincts by cowering away. Upon noting that, Killua blinked, wondering if there truly was more to his actions than pure whims. Even as Gon began to run on the branch, passing by Killua with ease, Killua frowned half-heartedly, in a mix of awe and disbelief as he processed the full extent of his actions. Gon jumped from the tree all the while grabbing at the fishing rod behind him, stored in a side pocket of his bag that was far too short to truthfully accommodate its full size. Regardless, it effortlessly slipped from the pocket, and when both hands grasped it, Gon exclaimed, "We don't have time to deal with someone like you in the middle of the exam, so we're putting this to an end ourselves!"

I didn't even tell him to, but he ended up following my plan anyway, Killua thought before following Gon, jumping out of the branch seemingly without hesitation. The reasoning is different, but it's sound: buying any more time would just get us farther from the examiner. Guess I shouldn't have expected any less from him. I'll get us out of here, Gon. Just you wait. Killua surveyed the area mid-air: trees encased the small space they had to face Hisoka, its ground mostly filled with roots belonging to them; it was not a particularly optimal battleground, as far as Killua could discern. However, it was also not the best for Hisoka, and that was a bonus in his eyes. Due to the lacking space, ranged attacks were not recommended, so it would be easy to force Hisoka, who had only been seen throwing playing cards so far, into close quarters combat. Furthermore, Gon seemed agile, especially as he landed on the ground and proceeded to immediately roll to the side before running around Hisoka, gauging his reaction time.

They had a chance, Killua noted. With a smirk, he cast his eyes on Hisoka, who appeared to be snickering in face of Gon's efforts. "How nice," Hisoka remarked in an almost longing voice, "I've always liked that sort of stance. Such a captivating look..." In Hisoka's hand was a single card, which he threw at blinding speeds, to Gon and Killua's surprise. The card landed precisely in front of Gon, almost deliberately so, and had him halt his movement with an apprehensive frown.

"Watch out, Gon!" Killua's voice was enough for Gon to jump back and swing his fishing rod sideways, letting the line course through his left and ward Hisoka off of the very opening he had made. Unfazed, Hisoka saw that Killua was approaching him just as he was running for Gon, attempting to get to Gon's front without regard for the fishing line. He could still see Killua's slowly approaching figure from the corner of his eye, weighed down by the skateboard under his shoulder, but it was no threat before his own speed, enough that Gon could not yet recognize he was on the verge of coming into contact with Hisoka's right hand as it swooped down mercilessly for his throat. Gon's tactic had already been set up implying his own speed in swinging the rod would be enough to force Hisoka back, adding to the surprise that Hisoka was able to simply approach without stop or hesitation; as if he could have predicted Gon's capabilities beforehand, in but a look.

However, the corner of Hisoka's right eye spotted something rather curious flying in his direction when his fingernails were brushing against the boy's soft skin: an equally as quick throw of a skateboard towards him, supported if only by the physical talent of the other one nearby. Gon, who had earned seconds of reaction time needed to process Hisoka's actions by the fact that his face had turned slightly to regard the object being thrown in his direction, moved again for a swing of the fishing rod as Hisoka stepped back, deliberately so in the precise moment the skateboard was less than a second away from colliding with his face. Moreover, he had been taking something from his pocket the very moment he had released the skateboard, and his hand, holding a single card, twitched with overflowing interest. Though the color was different, he was immediately able to recognize the piece of paper as one of Reimu's belongings, if only because she was going to use them against him in Heavens Arena; a time he would hardly forget.

Hisoka's hand was raised abruptly, resulting in a vertical cut through the presence he had felt nearly connecting with his left cheek. He only spared it a glance because he expected the sensation of something akin to a thread, but was met instead with the hard surface of the skateboard connected to the fishing rod's hook, likely caught skilfully mid-swing for a more elaborate plan to incapacitate him. Hisoka glanced back to Killua, as his speed was dramatically higher now that he was simply charging with an object Hisoka had little knowledge on. Though, one detail was strange, in his perspective: the paper emptied of any scriptures, it also swayed with the wind provided by the speed Killua was dashing at; it was different from what he had also seen previously on the tunnel's exit. He stepped back again, letting Killua need to change trajectory and Gon's aim to be changed by another swing of the fishing rod, but he curiously noticed there was no Gon where he had previously positioned him in his mind. Hisoka saw Killua pass by him with a smirk, strained though it was, but it was indicative of confidence; his smile widened. "I won't let you escape," Hisoka uttered, his stance effortlessly calm as he looked further to the left and began to run as well, without paying mind to Killua. In fact, he threw a single card in Killua's direction, forcing him to slow down in order to dodge, to stop accompanying Hisoka's pace; almost as if to get him away from his sole target. "And I mean you—" Hisoka looked upwards, towards the trees, from which Gon alone had gained a head-start constructed by Killua, who undoubtedly was confident enough in his own speed to escape. "Gon."

Was Gon his only target all along? Killua scowled in light of the thought, his eyes wide from not only surprise, but agitation he could not quite comprehend. Part of Killua urged him to run and easily save himself any trouble, but he simply stood as if frozen, considering all that led him to that point with an unstable, twitching gaze of surprise. The way he's catching up, it's almost like what I did didn't matter at all, he thought, Even though I was trying to keep him alive. I thought we could make it. Overtaken by resentment, even frustration more than willing to replace the sheer disbelief, Killua clicked his tongue, grimacing. Is this gonna be the end of the line for you, Gon? Killua trembled, as if having attempted to move forward, to chase them further, but failing; the indecision caused him to look down towards the ground, glaring at it the same way one would glare at an enemy. The lacking reaction from the meaningless target of his emotionality warranted, despite everything, his expression softening, replaced with disappointment, and he despondently thought, wondering why he was somewhat sad to begin with, Sorry... "Fantasy Seal!" Killua snapped his head to the direction of the trees then, spotting colorful orbs of light spinning around a single figure, floating near the trees with a reassuringly bright smile. Killua watched with wide eyes the aid beyond his control causing Hisoka and Gon to stop, and Hisoka to retreat from Gon as the orbs of light began to fly in his direction, homing on him specifically. Reimu approached the more Hisoka jumped back, out of the trees, and Killua moved aside not only to get a better view of the events transpiring at the moment, but also to avoid getting close to Hisoka as he still proceeded to dodge the multiple orbs, running back and watching a few explode when in contact with the trees, though the damage inflicted on them was minor at best. As he seemed to misdirect them from a more or less safe distance, Reimu flew near Killua and looked back to watch Gon dash in her direction with a smile.

"Ms. Reimu!" Gon called out to her in a mix of awe and pure happiness, as her presence let him know that she was in no trouble. On the other hand, Killua was still silent before Reimu's presence, staring in surprise and caution as she frowned their way, as if reminded of the negativity of the situation.

"It looks like you two really were in danger with Hisoka," Reimu remarked before setting her eyes on Hisoka again due to the sound of trees falling down. The orbs had hit them rather than Hisoka, who had swiftly managed to outrun their homing prowess and watched as the orbs were able to apply enough force to the trees to bash through them. When reminded of Hisoka, meanwhile, Gon turned to him with awe in an almost equal amount to seeing Reimu, staring intently his way as he reminisced.

That attitude stood as a far cry to the current Killua, who was unwilling to even set sight on the topic at hand, instead looking towards the horizon in an unfocused manner to coldly state, "We were just about to escape from him, but we probably wouldn't have lost him if this was anything to go by." He glanced Hisoka's way once, his gaze narrowing then, as if deep in thought. Reimu saw his lacking motivation and only crossed her arms, regarding him confusedly with furrowed eyebrows.

"Didn't you have the paper charms I gave you?" Reimu asked in an attempt to assess the extent of the situation that had occurred, hopefully to get through to Killua. He seemed to twitch ever so slightly, the topic holding some meaning to him, and Reimu continued in a nonchalant manner: "That would have given you at least more of an opening."

"We'd used them already," Killua flatly answered, clearly out of obligation. He had not met Reimu's gaze in any capacity yet, and the fact only caused further apprehension from Reimu, who was tapping her foot at a mild pace.

Reimu awkwardly nodded, her frown uncertain. "Right," she said as the first word to occur to her, even if it contributed little to the situation, before attempting to smile. "Then you weren't very lucky. Hisoka's already bad enough on his own; I'm definitely glad I could get here before he could do anything to you." For an easygoing Reimu, the genuine show of concern was a rare moment, and even Gon had lightly glanced in her direction to discern the discussion between the two, even if with little actual concentration. Killua, on the other hand, had shifted his gaze away even from the horizon, looking aside, towards almost the angle opposite of Reimu's position, to the point she could not notice the lacking emotion in his pale expression.

"I could've escaped," Killua muttered, his voice so quiet it would have been inaudible if further noise were in its background, but the orbs of light had already met their end by Hisoka, and nothing was obstructing Reimu's hearing. Instead, due to the hesitation present and the content of his softly-uttered words, Reimu tilted her head to the side, blinking.

"Huh?"

Killua then huffed, as if to dismiss her confusion and his own affirmation. "Forget it," he ultimately said, but he had not yet turned back forward, and Reimu grimaced in face of the bitter hint to his voice. She looked towards Hisoka, who was in the process of walking back to the three, and considered the situation: next to her were two children; human, without a doubt. Reimu's clear gaze was tinted then with slight disgust as she glared Hisoka down, thinking of his behavior so far; as another human being, notably with his own proper way of life.

Then, the passing seconds she observed that served as a reminder to Killua's low mood, and Reimu, though she did not shift her gaze to him, said firmly, as if absolutely certain of her words, "You didn't do anything wrong. The part that was wrong was the opponent you had to face, you hear me?" Killua was unresponsive, as expected, but Reimu continued just as assertively, if not more so now, enough to catch Gon's attention yet again: "So, the only one you should be blaming if anything went badly is him over there."

Said culprit had eyes only for Reimu, listening only vacantly to the conversation she was trying to have with Killua as he approached, only to stop still at least a meter away from the three. He smirked, confident and with needless flourish as he interjected, "Well, well, what a coincidence, Reimu. I hadn't expected to see you so far into the wetlands, much less to receive a welcome like that one. Did you come to save those two boys?" He gestured lightly to Gon and Killua beside her, but had still not shifted his gaze away from Reimu.

"Something like that," Reimu responded before locking ardent eyes with cold, yellow ones in kind, unwavering in her own nonchalant, albeit bitter stance. "What about you? Don't you have an exam to pass? You'd think there wouldn't be enough time to go around killing random people now."

"You're underestimating me, then," Hisoka dismissively countered with a wave of his hand, from which he no longer held the cards he was going to use against Gon in his chase. In comparison to his previous demeanor, he was even calm, gauging Reimu's reaction with calculating eyes while speaking: "When it comes to things like that, I always have plenty of free time."

Although he was unsure if he was to expect it or not, Reimu displayed nothing even remotely close to fear, or even irritation. Instead, she smiled, as if feeling challenged. "Is that so? You know, where I come from, people like you..." Then, she brandished her Purification Rod and stepped forward, but was notably refraining from truly attacking. "Don't live very long after meeting me."

"How scary," Hisoka commented in carefree mock-concern. "Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"It was a warning," Reimu responded with ease. "I don't care what you do with your life, but if you get in my way, you'll regret it."

"Would you chase me down to the ends of the Earth?" Hisoka asked, his voice lowering in octaves implying danger beyond simple intimidation. He appeared to be smirking, eyeing Reimu perhaps expectantly, but he now moved away from simply her gaze, looking up and down her figure as if for further confirmation. Seeing Reimu deliberately cross her arms, showing finally the fewest hints of caution, Hisoka's smirk widened, and he continued almost as a whisper: "Because that sounds more tempting than anything, in my view..."

"It won't be when I catch you," she sharply countered.

"If you catch me, you mean." However, before Reimu or Hisoka could speak further, a beeping sound was heard from Hisoka, garnering the attention of everyone in the area, including Killua. Hisoka took what seemed to be a walkie-talkie, though Reimu shot the unfamiliar device a skeptic look as she recalled an incident where a similar apparatus was used.

From it came a voice none could recognize, seemingly distorted from lacking reception: "Hisoka," it uttered, "You should come back here right now. It looks like we're getting close to the site for Phase Two."

"Okay," Hisoka casually answered to the device, "I'll be right there." Then, he pocketed it just as casually, and faced Reimu, Gon and Killua once again with a smirk. "A friend is all you need, am I right? All things considered, your relationship with them was both their downfall and saving grace in this situation." He waved at them as he smiled cheerfully, while Reimu, Killua and Gon frowned in contrast to his seemingly bright mood. "Well, see you later, Reimu."

"Don't think you'll be getting away this easily the next time around!" Reimu exclaimed, "If you cause me any more trouble than this, consider yourself exterminated!" Seeing as Hisoka did not glance back, slow down or stop to give her statements any response, Reimu took to shifting her gaze to Gon and Killua. "Hisoka doesn't seem like he's out to kill anymore, so you're probably safe from here on out. If anything, I'm more worried about our chances of getting to Phase Two. Since this mist is so thick and there are all these trees everywhere, it's really hard tracking anything down even from air."

Faced with a topic so important from Reimu's own words, Gon and Killua looked her way with curiosity. "How did you find us, then?" Gon asked, being expectedly the first to voice what surged to his mind the moment Reimu spoke, as he had nothing else to be distracted with.

Reminded of better moments, Reimu smiled, gentler than normal as she faced Gon, and explained, "Well, since you used the paper charms I gave you, I ended up sensing the spiritual power from them and finding you here. I didn't plan for it, but it did come in handy, in the end."

"You're right about that!" Gon brightly exclaimed, seemingly impressed by Reimu. However, his expression softened as another thought occurred to him, and Reimu conversely regarded that with curiosity. "Oh, and thanks for dealing with Hisoka for us. I wasn't really thinking about it at the time, but we would've been in real trouble if you hadn't come over any sooner."

Reimu shrugged, before bluntly saying, "It was nothing." Despite her previous smile, Reimu was as if forced to frown despondently as she glanced to the side, towards where Hisoka had gone. Then, she grasped her weapon tightly, having already retracted her crossed arms and transitioning to a more active kind of stance, even if contrasted by her currently lacking energy. "It's not like I got to really beat him up, anyway."

"Speaking of, that attack you launched on Hisoka was really cool! Is that also something you just do where you come from?" Meanwhile, Gon was somehow more excited with the progressing conversation, flashing a genuine grin in Reimu's direction before waving his arm in a makeshift circle, symbolizing Reimu's attack against Hisoka.

Reimu eyed that awkwardly, perhaps even in a flustered manner, but she mustered a smile again so as to absent-mindedly say, "I concentrate and it pops out. Since it's a spellcard, it's pretty easy to make up."

"A spellcard? What's that?" Gon asked, curiosity laced strongly in his voice as he blinked.

"Oh, it's a kind of attack pattern we have back home," Reimu carelessly elaborated, with one hand over her hip as she spoke: "We represent them with cards in a formal duel, but they were always supposed to be normal attacks, so I also just use them in situations like these. Though, I usually have youkai on the receiving end of it."

"That sounds really complex," Gon remarked with a frown, originated from what seemed to be mere needless thought, "Is it like some sport? I don't have anything like that where I come from." Gon scratched his head, and Reimu conversely nodded, albeit with slight hesitation.

"Well, I suppose you could see it that way."

"More importantly," Killua interjected bitterly, cutting through whatever prospective answer Reimu would have gotten from her succint conclusion, "We can't keep stalling for time or we'll fail the phase. Didn't you hear whoever was talking to Hisoka there?" He gestured to the trees off to where Hisoka had last been seen, a grimace evident on his features, warranting a saddened frown from Gon, who turned to him with eyes narrowed only from worry.

"Killua," Gon called in a soft, though firm enough tone that hesitation was not shown. "Are you alright? I wasn't paying much attention before, but you looked like you were arguing with Ms. Reimu." Reimu perked up considering the topic, and Killua now felt two expectant gazes on him, which he scowled in light of.

"I'm fine," Killua countered almost as a first reaction, plain in tone, "If anything, aren't you being too carefree? You were almost getting killed by Hisoka if Reimu hadn't shown up." The following statements were uttered then with distinctive venom, resentment that Gon's mind had not yet registered as he had to process his question before giving out a proper answer.

"I mean, I get that part," Gon said if only to kickstart the explanation, his frown deepening with every thought. "When he was almost gonna grab me, I actually got scared for a moment; I didn't know what to do." With the continuing sentence, however, Gon saw a change in himself from a grimace of hopelessness to a surging small smile, against the expectations of even Reimu from the back, who was still curiously staring their way. "Then, when I started running, it was almost like I wasn't so scared anymore: well, I still was, but then again, I was kind of excited, too."

"Excited? Even though you were almost dying?" Killua's eyebrows were arched in full doubt, while Gon had a hand over his chest as a gesture of his conviction. Said conviction, regardless, was displeasing to a scowling Killua hoping for a more normal response out of Gon, who shrugged ever so slightly.

"I guess," Gon responded before faintly patting his chest, which his hand had been touching beforehand, "It was all stuff I haven't even felt before, but it really got to me. Like I wouldn't even mind experiencing it again..." Gon muttered the last sentence as if distracted by his own imagination, his voice low and spacy before he noted after blinking the confused frowns on the faces of both Reimu and Killua. Gon smiled apprehensively, chuckling weakly before asking, "Am I really the only one?"

"I don't want to die, so I'd say so," Reimu promptly answered.

"Ditto," Killua added with further apparent apathy. "Still, if you were that suicidal, I should've just not bothered saving you, huh?"

"It wouldn't have been worth it if I didn't survive," Gon retorted with light unease before mustering a smile despite what he perceived to be a joke from Killua. "So if anything, I'm thankful you two saved me, too." Killua blinked as his only sign of confusion, without much time for thought, but Gon took note of the slight reaction and more assertively explained: "If you hadn't distracted Hisoka with the paper charm, I might've been done for before Ms. Reimu arrived."

Killua's expression had suffered no changes after that, perhaps because he was thinking over Gon's words, but seeing as the moment given for an answer had yielded no results, Reimu decided to ask expectantly, "You still have the paper charms, right?"

"Oh, I've got mine," Gon immediately said with a proud grin, only to remove the paper charm from a pocket of his shorts. He handed it to Reimu quickly, then eyeing her with an apologetic edge. "It's a little torn, but I couldn't take it out any better from the bushes." Reimu, on the other hand, was noticing the scratches on his hand as she took the paper charm from it, and figuring he had even bothered to search for it, she smiled in her most reliable manner.

"It's alright," Reimu said, her voice energetic in timbre, "As long as most of it's intact, I can manage."

"Here's mine, by the way," Killua said just as suddenly as Gon, but his voice was comparatively neutral. Though he had always been in Reimu's line of sight, she had hardly even notice him take the paper charm from his own pocket, instead already seeing him stretching his arm in her direction, loosely so. Killua glanced at Gon, and when Reimu took the paper, he smirked slyly. "Also, thanks for the easy win." While Reimu raised an eyebrow questioningly, Gon's smile faded immediately, replaced by a strangely harmless scowl directed to Killua.

"Ah, now that you mention it—!"

"Just drop it, Gon," Killua dismissively uttered with a shrug, pointing at Reimu with a blank gaze, "You want her to waste more paper on us?"

"It would be bad if we just spent it when she wanted to recycle for herself," Gon said, his expression softening as he considered Killua's words.

"Yup," Killua said before even Reimu could understand and speak out in regards to the topic, as she blinked in curiosity. Killua, meanwhile, was looking aside with a wry smile, half-focused on his thoughts and half-aware of the conversation. "Figured you'd end up thinking that. You're a huge weirdo, after all." He then set his eyes on Gon again, narrowed with the implication of condescension belying them.

Gon pouted at first, before countering, "What's that supposed to mean?"

The show of innocence warranted a snicker from Killua. "Nothing," he vaguely responded before turning to Reimu, who had been previously smiling in reaction to what she noted as children's antics. However, now that Killua seemed to be frowning in a less playful manner, she eyed him curiously seeing him begin to speak: "Seriously, though, you've got magic, right? Wanna use it so we can get back to the examiner?"

"If I could do that, I'd have done it already." Reimu crossed her arms and directed her gaze upwards, pondering absent-mindedly. Her casual frown was not especially indicative of agitation despite the stakes of the matter, and she simply responded, still without much focus, "As far as I can tell, our best bet would be to just regroup with Marisa and find the examiner then. We don't have much time to waste."

"But if we don't have time to waste, we can't just regroup with Marisa," Killua retorted. "Searching for her would just make us have less time to search for the examiner."

"I can't leave her alone much longer without knowing where she is. She's under my jurisdiction, you know?"

"What about that backdoor you have?" Gon suddenly interjected in the middle of the discussion before both could start glaring at each other imposingly. Instead, both shifted their gazes to Gon in confusion, expecting him to continue his reasoning. Gon then smiled, gaining confidence in his own words while he continued: "Didn't Ms. Marisa say that you could use it to reach her? Since Ms. Marisa's probably still with Leorio and Kurapika, we'd find the three in no time if we used the backdoor, and that would make it so we could all search for the examiner together!" His bright conclusion had warranted no reaction from the two near Gon, and he frowned in turn with the silence. "Is that still bad? I do know it'd be bad barging into someone's house, but we'd just be passing by."

"That's..." Reimu paused, stumbling over her words as she considered the exceedingly simple suggestion Gon had brought upon her so effortlessly. "That's not a bad idea, actually," she ultimately said with a frown, as if still mulling over it as she spoke. "I might get scolded for it, if anything, but that's better than not passing the phase."

"Well, it's not like we have any better options," Killua said. "Besides, Gon has a point. With more people on our side, we have a higher chance of finding the examiner."

Reimu sighed. "I can't argue with that either," she tiredly admitted, seemingly despondent. However, in a fit of sudden anger, she scowled, causing Gon and Killua to tense from the change of mood. "And really, if this exam and that Hisoka guy weren't so troublesome, I wouldn't have gotten into this mess to begin with! I'll seriously take him down if I find out this whole thing was useless and he was tricking me!" Reimu proceeded to close her eyes with a huff, concentrating on the energy stored in her back; the energy that was not truly hers. Sensing the backdoor showing itself, Reimu opened her eyes again, which were burning with conviction. "Anyway, you go in first, but don't go any farther into the place than you have to!"

Gon and Killua were leaning to the side in awe as they stared at the purple door, which led its way into an abyssal realm they could not see the end to. Needless to say that for the two boys, the sight was nothing short of awesome, so they nodded in unison to Reimu's words. "Alright!" Gon exclaimed before jumping to the door without a single trace of hesitation. Instead, his grin was so bright it was almost contagious, and Killua could not hold back the urge to at least flash him a smile as he watched and took to following suit without sparing Reimu any parting words.

"I hope Okina doesn't nag me over this..." So went Reimu's last words before she sunk into the open backdoor and was met with the Land of the Rear Door, as expected.

. . .

Although Mai and Satono were hard at work, Okina's free time did not increase. Even before her reveal, she had always been a busy entity, governing the resolution of all problems unseen to the general population of Gensokyo. However, now that she was just as occupied with the recent incident, there was no time for rest. She had deducted Yukari had a plan, but Okina, too, had crafted a plan of her own and its effects were felt strictly in her abode for now.

Okina was leaving her two servants behind after questioning them on their progress, and it was clear that she would see results soon enough. In the meantime, her own task lay on inspecting the barrier, but said task had already been executed to no avail: no matter how long she took in analyzing the exact amount of energy in each corner and edge of the Great Hakurei Barrier, it was painfully clear that there was no significant fluctuation in the distribution of its energy that would indicate it had ever been open for the passage of a foreign individual, especially one from another dimension. As such, she could only conclude that the mastermind had entered Gensokyo from within, without passing through the barrier.

In other words, Okina would have to broaden her scan of Gensokyo's energy levels, though she had long but figured she was too late for that. We'd already concluded the mastermind has been in Gensokyo for at least months, Okina thought, and had they passed through the barrier, I would have noticed then. If I were always supervising the entirety of Gensokyo, I might have been able to note the fluctuation from the mastermind's entry, but I only do that in case of an emergency... How troublesome this mastermind is. By now, whatever change in Gensokyo's life force caused by the mastermind's arrival is non-existent, so I have no leads on the method used to enter—

Her train of thought came to a halt at the mere magical presence of an open door in her realm, a sensation she was especially in tune with due to the nature of the backdoors, as they were all connected to herself, ultimately. Okina knew of Mai and Satono's whereabouts, as always: if they were ever to be sent somewhere, or if they endeavoured to come and go from her abode, she would never be unaware of it. Due to this, it was easy for Okina to assume that either Reimu or Marisa were entering the Land of the Rear Door so as to reach Gensokyo, just as they had done before. It's coming from Reimu's backdoor... Okina flew for the location, which was far into the opposite corner of where Mai and Satono were presently stationed; a corner where the backdoors Reimu and Marisa would never use lay. Marisa has to come and go in order to tend to her injury, but Reimu shouldn't have a reason to come back when she took a rest only two days ago. Regardless, Okina had the obligation to meet Reimu or Marisa whenever they traveled to her realm since she was the only available person with intricate knowledge of all backdoors existent in her home, and she would not waste the opportunity to receive any kind of report on Reimu's findings on Nen or the other dimension. The last time I spoke to her, she mentioned she was going to take an exam that would get her closer to leads on Nen. Did she pass the exam already, then, and has come for me with crucial information?

The prospect was certainly satisfying, and Okina's stance was perpetually confident as she felt she had nothing to fear, but the sight originating from her arrival to the location of Reimu and Marisa's backdoors immediately countered all of her expectations. She halted her movement, her eyes wide with shock, and scrutinized the presence of three different people, one of them Reimu herself. "Woah, this place is amazing, Ms. Reimu! It's all full of doors; just how far does this place stretch for? It feels like I could go anywhere from here!" The enthusiastic voice of a boy in green resounded in the area, its volume loud enough that it was more than audible to Okina, who was far enough from the three that they could not yet note her presence.

"You better not get any funny ideas!" Reimu promptly snapped, "If you wander off for a second, you'll be lost in this door maze of a place!"

"Doesn't this door dimension thing belong to someone else?" Okina approached the three in order to better hear the inquiry that came from the boy with white hair and similarly light clothing, but she had only been able to understand the last four words. The boy's expression seemed nonchalant at first, but his gaze was cold with calculating caution as he surveyed the area. Seeing him then turn precisely in her direction, Okina grimaced, figuring his senses were sharp because his guard was up. "And since we're being watched right now, I guess she's the one who owns the place." He pointed at her, leading both Reimu and the boy in green to face Okina in curiosity. However, Reimu's curiosity was soon replaced with displeasure when she noted Okina's expression, and she suppressed the urge to groan.

"It's her, alright," Reimu dryly responded as she stared at Okina, who floated for them at a moderate speed.

"She's also flying," the boy in green commented, his bright gaze unwavering. To Okina, that sort of admiration was only natural when it came to regarding her godly existence, so it did not improve or worsen her mood.

"That's because she's a witch like Reimu is," the other boy added as though he were uttering common sense, only to glance his way vacantly.

"You're close, but she's actually a youkai sage," she said as if mentioning a piece of curious trivia, which only Gon was taking with interest in his bright eyes.

"A god, Reimu," Okina asserted in quick succession to Reimu's own claim, "Not a youkai."

"A god?!" the boy in green uttered in pure shock, "Really?!"

"Of course not, you dork," the boy next to him argued, "She's lying."

Okina coldly glanced at the two boys, and the one who had just spoken locked eyes with her in an equally condescending fashion. However, Okina did not see worth in wasting her time with children. She faced Reimu with a domineering expression, frowning her way. "And really, Reimu, what is the meaning of this? I doubt you'd bring guests from that world to Gensokyo considering the circumstances."

The two boys frowned in light of Okina's seemingly unwelcoming behaviour, while Reimu locked determined eyes with Okina. "Look, we don't have much time right now. I got separated from Marisa, so I just need you to open her backdoor and get us back on track with the exam I'm doing."

So that exam isn't over yet... I hadn't thought the applicants for a supposedly infamous test would be so young, but these children couldn't possibly be anything else, all things considered. Okina huffed, only to snap her fingers. "If that's all you need, I have no objections." To the awe of the two boys nearby, a door located behind Okina shone the same way they had previously seen Reimu's shine a purple colour, while Reimu was far too familiar with the system by that point to have a reaction to the phenomenon. Okina, on the other hand, smirked as she continued to ponder on Reimu. "I suppose I underestimated your dedication to your duties. Let us forsake my misunderstanding," Okina imposingly offered as she cast her gaze to not only Reimu, but to the two boys who she had been previously ignoring. "Seeing as you're the ever-responsible Hakurei Shrine Maiden, I'll trust your judgement and welcome all those you bring in and out of my abode accordingly. With that in mind..." Okina moved away from the open backdoor, and watched as Reimu approached it, while the two boys watched. "I wish you all luck."

Unimpressed by what he perceived as Okina's theatrics, the boy with white hair simply followed Reimu with a grimace out of the Land of the Rear Door. The wetlands' mist-shrouded scenery could be seen from the backdoor to Marisa, so there was no hesitation in him when it came to passing through, and since Okina seemed to be on good terms with Reimu, he did not doubt her in that regard. The boy in green, however, looked towards Okina in wonder before smiling her way, a reaction Okina was not especially adverse or privy to, especially as she had meant to smoothen her animosity towards the residents of the other world. "Thanks," he said, but it took him almost not time to continuing speaking, even though Okina had assumed that was all he had to say in reaction to her friendly display: "For helping Ms. Reimu and Ms. Marisa, I mean. If it weren't for you, they wouldn't have been taking the exam, after all." Okina's eyebrows rose in doubt, perhaps curiosity for the boy's intentions, which had been admittedly unexpected. However, before she could respond to him in any manner, he waved at her as he ran for the backdoor. "Bye bye, Ms. Goddess!"

With that, he was no longer in her realm, and Okina watched as the backdoor closed on its own, likely on Marisa's admission. In spite of her busy self, her thoughts currently resided on the boy that had just spoken to her rather than Reimu or the mastermind, particularly on his thought process. She knew he held no ulterior motives; his reasoning was perfectly straightforward. In fact, he had assuredly added those final words because he had, in the spur of the moment, realized he had invited a misunderstanding, as his show of gratitude was entirely genuine. Unnecessary, but innocent and honest, without malice or an especially concrete benevolence; a mere set of words expressing a specific kind of joy.

Okina chuckled. As expected of a child, she thought, If that's the kind of visitor Reimu is willing to bring me, I might just entertain myself with their presence. Indeed, she concluded with a content smile on her face as she gazed at the two materializing doors corresponding to the two boys that had stepped on her realm, even if she were busy with the incident, she would surely find time for Reimu and whoever else she would bring. If that visitor happened to be that boy again, all the better for Okina.

Either way, she had nothing to lose, and plenty to gain.

. . .

"Looks like we caught up to the top runners," Leorio remarked with weary eyes fixated on faint shadows of people running. He frowned almost tiredly, and he panted heavily with each moment of his perpetual run through the wetlands. It would seem that Leorio was beyond his limit, but something within him kept him from giving up; a fiery determination burnt strongly, never to waver. "Right? Right?" Though, when it came to his perception of his current surroundings, he most surely did waver, as he looked towards Kurapika and Marisa in pure apprehension. "It's not another damn beast, right?! Marisa, go check!"

"On it," Marisa dryly responded, if only to ensure that she had at least loosely acknowledged his request. She reached under her skirt, grasping from a secret compartment a bottle filled with an unappealing brown substance. She rose it high, holding left arm back back so as to increase the propulsion of the bottle, and squinted so as to better aim it. "Take thaaaaaaaaa..." Marisa's arm twitched in place, ceasing to move from the clear sight she had quickly processed. She had planned on shouting, on loudly proclaiming her attack so as to feel some satisfaction from an action she had frankly executed far too many times for her liking, but the volume of her voice instantly shrinked to a mere drawn-out whisper in face of the person she least wanted to see.

Hisoka's entirely apathetic expression lended itself to a slight show of curiosity when he heard a familiar voice from behind him as he ran for the examiner. His eyes wider from the piqued interest, and his eyebrows arched in unsubtle doubt, his head turned for Marisa, followed by Kurapika and Leorio. The three were staring at him warily, with Kurapika and Leorio scowling almost reflexively as they recalled the heinous acts he had commited, and the various corpses they had seen. Unlike the other two with her, Marisa mustered a smile, even if a bitter one as she was also recalling the needless bloodshed, and uttered, "'Sup, Hisoka? You headin' for the top runners over there?"

Marisa's presence reminded him of Reimu, so Hisoka slowed down his pace and decided to humor what he perceived to be Marisa's feeble attempt at information-gathering. "Does it look like I'd be doing anything other than that?" Hisoka did not miss the trembling fists of Leorio or Kurapika's eyes shifting to the side as if to suppress disgust, and the reactions were exactly as he wanted them to be. He smirked at Marisa, his tone eerily conversational, while Marisa tried her best to match it accordingly.

"If the dead bodies I found are any reference, I'd say serial murder's pretty high on your list of things to do other than actually takin' the exam." Truthfully, Marisa's words were dripping with bitter venom, and she was frowning by that point, but she knew better than to argue with Hisoka any further in her state. However, considering Hisoka was chuckling at the remark's expense, as if the topic were in any way amusing, Marisa could not help but find herself somewhat distracted from her main goal.

"But I am taking the exam," Hisoka lightly retorted, fully aware of the contrast between his cheerful expression and Marisa's. Even so, he was not yet done with the true fun. His eyes glinting with meaningful wonder, Hisoka spoke with only the purest of neutral tones: "Though, speaking of, were those corpses helpful? As far as I could see, you and Reimu did seem a bit lost in the back. Since they almost make a path, it's rather easy to stay on the right track by following their direction."

"W-wait, you..." Marisa paused almost involutarily, as no coherent word made its way onto her mind fast enough for her to voice her shock. "Did you..." Regardless, she had not failed to process the implications behind his words. She scowled, pure hatred coursing through her. "Was that why you killed them...?"

"Oh, that was just a coincidence," Hisoka casually, if not dismissively responded, utterly immune to Marisa's clear resentment. "I only killed them because I felt like it."

"You bastard..." Leorio muttered, resulting in Kurapika snapping his attention to him in urgent agitation. Hisoka willfully ignored his words, focusing on Marisa, but Leorio was sure he had heard him; the fact only had his anger intensify.

"Leorio, don't," Kurapika whispered, "You'll just get us into danger. Didn't you see enough of what he's capable of already?"

Meanwhile, Marisa grimaced, and steeled her emotions so as to render her emotional gaze cold enough to pass as assertive. "Where's Reimu and the others? You saw them, didn't you?" He's just trying to get a rise out of us, this prick. If I fall for it, I'll just make it worse on me 'cause he'll be the one laughing last.

"I left them just a while ago," Hisoka plainly answered fast enough that Marisa was slightly surprised at his momentary honesty. "They're safe, so I'm sure you'll see each other again very soon." Marisa frowned, noting that she had already showed herself affected by his words due to the surprise that came with his response. If anything, he may have framed it that way precisely because he realized Marisa had figured he was purposefully taunting her, crushing her mental fortitude simply for his amusement. Really can't let my guard down on this guy... "Was that all you wanted to know, Marisa?"

A simple assertion, disguised as an innocent inquiry; Hisoka himself no longer had any business with her. Similarly enough, he knew that Marisa no longer had any business with him, either. "You better not be lying," Leorio interjected, finally garnering Marisa and Hisoka's attention, "Those three'd better be safe and sound, you hear me?! Because if I find out they aren't...!"

"Leorio...!" Kurapika shouted, both reprimanding and interrupting Leorio's threat in one swift, albeit strained exclamation. Leorio glared back at him, protesting in silence only because his thoughts were not being as fast as his own emotions, leading him not to have words to say for a moment long enough for Marisa to shift her gaze to Hisoka again out of sheer caution.

Hisoka had decided to do the same, focusing on Marisa again. Despite Leorio's heartfelt outburst, assuredly daring considering he was facing Hisoka, Hisoka smirked in amusement, as if he had seen a seen a child rambling about a fictional story. Marisa asserted one thing out of this exchange: she really could not stand Hisoka. "I have someone waiting on me, so I'll be hurrying now." That statement was nothing but refreshing to Marisa and Kurapika, who stared at him expectantly. "See you later; preferably with Reimu the next time around."

With that, Hisoka rushed into the mist with a remarkably casual stance, mixing into the shadows they could now knew with certainty to be real people. The three took to watching that for a moment, attempting to determine whether he was truly far away from them or not. Then, a groan broke the ice, and Marisa and Kurapika immediately turned to Leorio. "That damned psycho! If he weren't such a freaking landmine, I'd have decked him in the face— No, that wouldn't be enough, I'd have beaten him 'til he looked unrecognizable, just like he deserves!"

"You would have tried to punch him anyway, considering your reckless attitude," Kurapika sourly retorted before sighing, almost despondently so. "If I hadn't stopped you, we would have all been in danger."

"C'mon, Kurapika! You can't tell me you didn't wanna deck him in the face, too!" Leorio ardently argued, "Did you hear the crap he was spouting to Marisa?! That guy's an unforgivable murderer and he doesn't regret what he's done one bit! He might've even hurt Gon and the others!"

"Don't think I didn't find him just as reprehensible as you did, Leorio." His gaze unwavering, Kurapika's tense stance only appeared to indicate a fraction of the multitude of emotions he could recall simply by the topic Leorio was introducing, but it served as a good reference for how serious he was about his words. "Hisoka is a despicable, cruel man. And that's precisely why I don't want to see you or anyone else dying to him in vain. If you're so quick to accuse Marisa of loosely throwing away her life, you, too, should start thinking about treasuring your own for once."

Kurapika's sound arguments stabbed through Leorio like sharpened knives. The fire of his fury erased by wistful reflection, Leorio had no words to truthfully use against Kurapika, or even Hisoka now. "Kurapika..." Regardless, at Kurapika's consideration for his wellbeing, Leorio could not help but find himself in some awe of his strength of character, even if it so wildly differed from his own.

"I just thought I could get Hisoka to tell me where Reimu or Gon and Killua are, but it didn't do us any good, that's for sure," Marisa said as she stored the bottle she had been gripping all that time on the compartment underneath her skirt yet again, only to look towards Leorio and Kurapika with a grimace. "Sorry about that."

"No, there is no need to apologize," Kurapika calmly responded. "Your idea wasn't bad by any means, especially considering you not only have enough familiarity with Hisoka to start a conversation without any physical risk to your wellbeing, but also the fact that there was a very high chance that he had come across either Reimu or Gon and Killua. It just so happened that Hisoka was too deranged to constitute a reliable source of information."

Marisa clicked her tongue in irritation. "Tell me about it: if Reimu's intuition weren't at work, I'd have long but assumed that guy tricked her into taking the exam just so he could spend more time with her. Still, he was decent enough a tour guide for me, so I thought he'd at least cooperate this time around when even Reimu's involved, but he just had to piss us off instead...!" Marisa almost growled as anger continued to more freely pour out of her, something Kurapika and Leorio did not see as surprising if only because Hisoka was that unlikable. "Seriously, I gotta agree with Leorio on this one: I sure wish I could deck him in the face..." She paused while rummaging through her clothing, only to remove her signature weapon, aiming it at nothing in particular. "With lasers!"

"You've got a good imagination going there, Marisa," Leorio remarked with a hint of pride in his voice, as if Marisa's supposed accomplishment were partially his. "But in my opinion, nothing beats the old school punch when you wanna feel like you got them good. If you ever get close enough, make it count for the three of us, alright?"

"If whacking him with a stick still counts as old school, I'll leave that to Reimu and do the lasers anyway," Marisa said, "Then it'll be double the damage."

"Wait, you've got actual lasers?" Leorio questioned incredulously, even if part of him wanted to praise Marisa for her exceedingly ingenious tactic regarding her revenge against Hisoka.

"More importantly," Kurapika stated, "while Hisoka said that Reimu and the others would get here soon, there's no guarantee that he was saying the truth. You said there was probably no need to search for Reimu, but your basis was only her luck. Even if Reimu is supposedly blessed with otherwordly luck and a keen intuition, she could have failed to meet up with Gon and Killua, forcing her to return here by herself. After all, Hisoka never specified if he had seen the three together."

"Nah, Reimu's found them," Marisa loosely said, "That's what her luck's for. I'd only be worried about Reimu not figuring out a way to carry them over here."

"If she had your broom, it'd be a no-brainer," Leorio added, "but she's only got two arms, so it'd make more sense for her to be tracking our location down before pointing Gon and Killua in the right direction."

"There's also that, but with this mist, it'd be way too hard to track anything down while flying," Marisa responded, "So she'd be better off just sticking close to the two all the way through and getting her intuition to figure out the way. Even if she had my broom, she'd still have a tough time comin' back. Basically, this whole place is tricky to navigate, but since this is Reimu we're talking about, she'll pull through somehow. Just don't ask me how she'll do it 'cause I've got as much of a clue as you do." Then, sensing something on her back, Marisa smiled, while Leorio and Kurapika's eyes widened noting the light shining on her back. "Speak of the devil." Marisa continued flying without even looking back, but Kurapika in particular was recording all details of the forming door in his mind, seeing it open with meticulous precision and the fading light revealing a dark space. "Didn't expect her to use this, though."

"Wha... That weird door again?!" Leorio exclaimed in shock, especially as he saw from that door Reimu flying into the wetlands as though that were perfectly normal; her nonchalant stance was only further indicative of that. "Reimu...!" However, the surprise was not over with just her. Right after Reimu, Killua jumped from the purple door, his expression even more neutral than Reimu's as he effortlessly landed and turned around so as to accompany the four's ever-advancing forms. "And Killua, too!"

"This door thing sure is convenient," Killua flatly remarked as he looked over Kurapika, Leorio and Marisa, as if to ascertain whether they were real or not. However, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Killua immediately prioritized his main concern as he spoke out: "So, how far into the wetlands are we now that we regrouped?"

"I can see people running from afar, but I can't tell if they're real or just another pesky monster," Reimu responded with a grimace. She squinted towards the shadowed figures, but she did not find herself with a clear enough view of them to reach a conclusion.

"They're all real," Marisa said, "No doubt about it."

"We're back!" Gon's enthusiastic greeting had the five shift their gazes to him, noting that he had only now left the backdoor on Marisa. Said door quickly faded afterwards, with Marisa, Reimu and Killua watching that briefly. Meanwhile, Kurapika and Leorio smiled at Gon after Leorio had breathed out in pure relief from simply laying eyes on his cheerful, entirely unscathed self.

"Gon! Do you know how hard you got us worried?! If it was gonna come to this, you and Killua should've just stayed with us and avoided Hisoka!" Leorio protested, though his clearly brightened disposition considerably dispelled the effectiveness of his words. At the reference to Hisoka's mere existence, Reimu and Killua glared at Leorio reflexively, as if seeing him in place of Leorio.

Meanwhile, Gon chuckled weakly. "I guess you were right all along when you told me to worry about myself instead of you," Gon admitted with a hint of hesitation, as if he were not entirely convinced of his own wrongdoing. Regardless, he looked towards Reimu and beamed as he recalled her reliable presence. "At least Reimu showed up in time to save us, so we ended up okay."

"But in the end, I didn't beat him up," Reimu muttered in a voice strained with resentment, even sadness.

"What? Why not?" Marisa asked with indignation, eyes wide in simultaneous surprise from the lack of violence involved in one of Reimu's ventures.

"I took so long getting to them I didn't even have the time for it," Reimu explained, "Besides, he sure wasn't trying anything by the time I arrived. Whenever I'm around, he's basically all talk."

"I'd say something about you having a thing for fighting, but even I can get being depressed over not being able to beat Hisoka up," Leorio said. "Still, if you arrived late, how'd you also get there in time like Gon said?

"Well, by the time Reimu arrived, Hisoka was closing in on me—"

"That's not in time at all!" Leorio exclaimed over Gon's justification, glaring intensely Reimu's way, almost fuming as he noted her flinch. "The hell were you doing while Gon was taking Hisoka on?!"

"The mist's a pain, alright?! And the animals weren't helping, either!" Reimu shot back with an equivalent glare, even if her voice trembled slightly in apprehension originated by guilt considering the situation.

"Uh," Gon uttered then, awkwardly and with an uneven smile as he garnered the gazes of Reimu and Leorio again with his own interruption. "Besides, we only managed to get found because Reimu gave us the paper charms to use. She can apparently sense them, too."

"Of course she can," Leorio stated plainly, his eyes squinting from sheer suspension of disbelief.

"Normally she can't, though," Marisa supplied with curiosity in her voice. She looked around as if searching for the answer in her surroundings, only to shrug. "Maybe it's 'cause it stands out in comparison to Nen?"

"And in the end, you were being targeted by Hisoka," Kurapika summarized, only to gentle smile as he laid eyes on Gon first and foremost. "I only took it as a possibility, but knowing it was true all along makes me all the more glad she was able to retrieve you. Incidentally, if she arrived at such a dangerous time, that would mean you bought enough time for it, right? I'm curious as to how you got to defend yourselves against Hisoka for that long."

"It wasn't that long, really," Gon answered, "But while I was facing Hisoka and he was almost getting me, Killua threw a skateboard to get him away and showed off his paper charm to distract him. That's when I got to run away."

"Doesn't that mean Killua gave you an opening to run away and sacrificed his? He could've been in danger," Leorio pointed out with a frown, glanced Killua's way with notable concern.

Said concern was met with a scowl from Killua himself. "Me? I don't wanna hear that from the old timer of all people," Killua snidely commented, faking neutrality before breaking into an uncontrollable smirk watching Leorio's face contorting in anger.

"Hey!"

As Leorio continued to shout about his real age, Kurapika simply interjected, "Rather, I'm more surprised you thought of throwing a skateboard at Hisoka of all people at the time."

Killua grimaced. "Shoot, I forgot all about that skateboard," he hissed out in a mix of shock and bitter disappointment, his words shot at speeds so fast it was hard to make out exactly what he was saying. "And since he even cut through it like it was nothing, I can't even get you to ask the old hag to get it back for me. What a drag..."

"O-old hag..." Marisa looked towards Reimu questioningly, while Reimu only shrugged in response. Unable to contain herself, she began to snicker, particularly the more she thought of it. "That Okina you're talkin' about? 'Cause that's sure one way of putting it..."

"Okina? Who's that?" Leorio immediately asked with a voice flat with blunt skepticism, the foreign name putting his anger into a complete halt.

"It's the goddess who lives in a land full of doors." Against Leorio's expectations, it was Gon who had offered an answer to a question he thought only Marisa or Reimu would have substantial knowledge about. Furthermore, his cheery expression and straightforward phrasing was extremely telling of his confidence in the information he had, though Leorio and Kurapika could not help but vacantly stare as they processed that there was no hidden meaning behind the supposed nonsense Gon had uttered. "She's the one who's making it so Ms. Reimu and Ms. Marisa can travel here from their homeland! She's also the one who got us to catch up with Ms. Marisa!"

"I'm sorry, Gon," Kurapika said, "I assume I misheard you, but for the sake of confirmation, I'll ask anyway. Did you just tell us that Reimu and Marisa are cooperating with a goddess of doors?"

"It's just a witch friend they have," Killua interjected, "but the part about the land of doors is true. We just came from there; that's where the purple doors they got lead to."

"That's..." Kurapika paused, struggling to choose the best, most tactful phrasing for the situation. He buried his intense doubt under his closed eyelids, and he uttered, his voice vacantly strained, "Admittedly hard to believe, but considering Reimu and Marisa's mysterious abilities and the fact that we have actually seen that door, it really shouldn't be surprising."

"But wait, that Okina person isn't an applicant, right?" Leorio asked, blinking as if unable to yet process the full extent of the circumstances. "Isn't that cheating, then?!"

"Mr. Satotz never said we couldn't use outside help to follow him," Gon stated in an almost innocent voice, as if his words were entirely obvious.

"Not like he needs to know, anyway," Marisa added with a sly smile with her index finger leaned straight on her mouth in order to signify silence. Seeing Leorio sigh dejectedly, likely remarking inwardly on his lacking magical gifts, Marisa retracted her gesture and causally spoke: "Besides, without this, Reimu and the others might've been lost, so all's well when it ends well."

"Seriously though, I kinda want that skateboard back." Killua frowned as he faced Reimu, though the unenthusiasm implied by the plain tone of his voice seemed to express that he was not that invested. "It was new, so it's feeling like a waste now."

"I could always buy you another one of those board things, you know? I've got money to spare," Reimu offered with a smile.

However, Killua stared at that assuredly unconvinced, his eyebrows arched as he casually voiced, "You're like that now, but who's to say you're not gonna bail afterwards? It's not like you can even tell if you're gonna pass the exam."

"Well, I'll be passing for sure," Reimu asserted, "so as long as you pass, too, I can hold up my end of the deal."

Killua hummed pensively, and even that sound was nonchalant with implicit doubt. "I'll pass," he succinctly stated, his frown thin for a few seconds before a smile of an almost eerily innocent nature crept into his features. "But it's definitely not enough passing just so I can get a skateboard in the end. If there's anything that'd be worth the effort, it sure would be a flying broom." He glanced at Marisa then, whose own broom was currently being utilized in comparison to when the phase started.

Marisa shook her head, smiling wryly back as she remarked, "Reimu doesn't mind throwing me under the bus to pass and I haven't been making more brooms in ages, so tough luck, Killua. Nice try, though." Hearing Killua huff begrudgingly, Marisa and Reimu glanced each other's way with cheeky smiles, seemingly amused with the result of the conversation. Then, in light of the mound of applicants they could see simply standing near a large gate made of steel, Marisa landed on the ground and took to surveying the area, while Gon and Killua passed by them with a final dash.

Leorio had stopped behind Reimu and Marisa to catch his breath, while Kurapika stood beside him with cautious eyes, as if on the look out for something or someone. "I didn't think there'd be a place like this one in the middle of a swamp!" Gon remarked in wonder as he walked about, his gaze restless in looking through every applicant. "So this is where Phase Two's gonna be!"

"It seems like we made it in time," Kurapika said. He glanced at Satotz, the examiner, who was focused on his wristwatch; Kurapika immediately figured the time limit was nearing the Hunter applicants. "Though I don't feel very proud of how we got here, to be honest." He had planned on laying eyes on Gon and Killua so as to attain some peace of mind, but he saw them almost frozen while staring to the left, a state that far differed from when they had first stepped onto the site of the second phase.

When he followed their gaze, Kurapika understood why: Hisoka was leaning on a tree in a corner of the area marking the stopping point of the first phase, his stance unfairly relaxed. He gave Gon and Killua a smile, and when Reimu and Marisa noted the tension coming from the two boys, they shifted their attention to Hisoka, who proceeded to wave at them. "I wonder how he managed to get here on his own," Reimu uttered in an absent-minded fashion, choosing to ignore Hisoka's greeting and instead focus on Marisa and the others.

The strangely carefree inquiry served to break the concentration of Gon and Killua, as they both faced Reimu. "That walkie-talkie he used doubled as a tracking device," Killua promptly answered, "so we weren't the only ones resorting to outside help. The reason he could go around killing all those people without any worries was definitely because he wasn't working alone after all."

"He had more friends than Reimu and Marisa?" Leorio questioned, but upon feeling the intensity of Reimu and Marisa's glares, he corrected himself: "I mean, they were never actual friends, but who'd ever wanna associate with that guy?"

"It could be a case similar to Reimu and Marisa's, where the association was circumstancial," Kurapika offered. "Either way, it goes without saying that Hisoka is untrustworthy."

Reimu and Marisa nodded, their thoughts alligned under the same notion as the other four: Hisoka was not an ally. Meanwhile, Gon meant to intervene, to participate in the conversation, but it was brought to a halt by the booming voice of a calm and collected Satotz, who stood in front of the giant gate: "Excellent work, everyone." Every applicant turned to him simultaneously, their attentions solely fixated on his words. "The second phase of the exam is to be held here, in the Biska Forest Park." Reimu looked up in an attempt to see beyond the examiner and the gate, but the most she could take in from the location was the thick and tall stone wall surrounding the premises. While Marisa thought it to seem like a castle, she found some confusion in the name of the area, as it did not have any relation to what she had imagined. "As such, this is where I'll be taking my leave. I wish you all the best of luck."

After politely bowing before all of the remaining 107 applicants, he stepped forward with thin legs raised tall at each moment in order to leave the phase behind once and for all. Everyone's eyes were on him as he did so, almost as if in anticipation for some sort of trap. When they saw his figure fading into the horizon, thinking there were now grounds to relax, the ground trembled and brought them to look in the opposite direction.

The metallic gate slowly slid aside, filling expectant and cautious gazes with an unfamiliar building akin to almost a mansion coloured a pristine white, surrounded by multiple different stands. Their purpose was unknown to every applicant, even if some could associate them with kitchens, though only barely. "Would all the Hunter applicants who passed Phase one..." A female voice broke all of the focus they had put on observing the site of the second phase, directing it instead to the very front of the mysterious building. "Please enter?" The voice was assertive, straightforward. While the most they could see was an exceedingly large man, the tiny figure sat in a couch in front of him could not be missed, as she had been the origin of the voice.

Admittedly enough, none could tell what the second phase would offer to them. Regardless, Reimu and Marisa were the first applicants to step forward, and the four who they had been accompanying soon followed. In fact, Leorio, who scrambled to catch up to Reimu's side proceeded to whisper cautiously towards her, as she eyed him curiously, "By the way, weren't you gonna interrogate the examiner or anything?"

Reimu froze in place, and Marisa was forced to stop a slight distance after her position, looking back with furrowed eyebrows, seemingly disappointed. Other applicants passed them by, while Gon and Killua neared Reimu casually. "If you're taking the exam to get the answers anyway, can't you just pass and get it over with?" Killua suggested with clear disinterest, "Not that I know what you're doing here, but still."

... Reimu smiled lopsidedly, and settled for leaving it at that as she continued to walk. "For now," she added, determined as expected of her easygoing figure, "because there's no way I'd ever fail the exam, anyway!" The surrounding five smiled, the status quo in place, and they reached for the examiner of the second phase then, caring little for what could await them in light of the willpower that would carry them forward, despite the adversity they could encounter.

Author's Notes:

Damn, this whole chapter was a journey of its own! Chapter 8 was where I did start feeling that I was finally at the meat of the crossover, but this is more of the introduction of the meat. Even then, I felt like this chapter was chock full of content, much more than the initial chapters, which all served to set things up to this point.

As always, I did a bunch of research on this phase, but there thankfully wasn't much I needed to retain for it to be accurate. The Numere Wetlands have mist, but it seems to come and go and by the site of the second phase, it's pretty much no longer there. When Gittarackur contacted Hisoka, he said he was almost at the site of the second phase, but then there's a scene in the anime where he's pocketing the walkie-talkie thing while already at the site. I assume this was Gittarackur checking on Hisoka's location, and not that he'd talked to Hisoka when he was at the forest park's entrance. Similarly enough, Gon and Kurapika, along with Hisoka and Leorio originally took some time to reach the phase, though Hisoka got there before them because he had a headstart. I kept all of this in mind when going about the later scenes, so I do think I'm not being horribly loose with the canon time. For example, the beginning of the second scene has Kurapika and Leorio already running, and the mist starts thicker more or less in the middle of the interaction; this is because the six had already been moving before the beginning of the scene, but only started really talking when Gon piped up with the introductions. Thinking of that, I also gave some time for Hisoka through the separation of Gon and Killua and more conversation between Leorio and Kurapika and Reimu and Marisa to account for Hisoka not just charging like a madman at enemies at the very beginning of the second half of the phase.

Still, the thing I'm most thinking about after finishing this chapter was how I made this part of the series pretty much unrecognisable because of Reimu and Marisa's involvement. Sure, a few tiny parts remained, but this drifted from canon way more than I'd even planned out originally. I actually had a huge range of plans for this section since, unlike the tunnel one, there was a lot you could do with the wetlands: from the animals to Hisoka and the four main characters, there was a lot on my plate. In my roughest plans of this section, Reimu and Marisa wouldn't have even met Gon and the others beforehand, and only would because they would come across Hisoka messing with Gon and whatnot. Though, due to the previous Author's Notes, you more or less know why that ended up not happening (Leorio, the story's saving grace). Then, I thought Reimu and Marisa would accompany Gon and Killua because they weren't well-acquainted with Leorio and Kurapika, only for Gon to worry about the two and making Reimu come to their rescue from Hisoka while Marisa stuck around with the kids. However, because it would be extremely awkward of Gon not to introduce Leorio and Kurapika and just hang out with both them and Reimu and Marisa arbitrarily, I discarded the idea and in going with the flow, Reimu and Marisa ended up with Leorio and Kurapika because it made more sense that they'd leave the two kids alone to have their fun with the phase.

Seeing as Reimu ultimately ended up staying with Gon and Killua and Marisa with Kurapika and Leorio, you can see that the opposite of my plans happened, instead. Reimu dealing with Hisoka was also something I spent a lot of time hypothesizing about: would they have a whole fight despite the exam? Would they not? Would Hisoka go even more bonkers at the sight of her? Just what would go down? Reimu's Fantasy Seal was a good cooling off method for Hisoka, I suppose, and I didn't feel like Hisoka would lose control in this particular instance, mostly because he's had his fill of serial murder. Well, whatever the case, a lot of plans were thrown about, and I found that the chapter became much, much better with every change, even if I ended up scrapping and replacing a lot of stuff. The first scene alone had a huge amount of re-writes. At first Reimu and Marisa were gonna take a nap, then they were just gonna not talk to Gon, then they were but Killua was gonna be mean, etc... I feel like what I have now is really all I needed.

Speaking of, Gon acts out very simplistically, but when it comes to interactions with other characters, he's very prone to putting thought into how to best emotionally benefit the other party (while accommodating for his own emotional benefit aka his pride). I don't really relate with his methods; to me, a lot of how Gon operates borders on emotional manipulation. However, his intentions are never malevolent: I'm talking about instances like how he went on that date with Palm, or all of what he pulled off in the Phantom Troupe arc, combined with him not telling Kurapika about the Phantom Troupe and wishing he'd just stay in sick in bed just so he wouldn't go around getting revenge. Regardless, something more striking about Gon is his never-ending curiosity and love for excitement. This, he shares with a lot of shounen protagonists, but Gon is still a different breed. Not only is Gon observant and not emotionally dense like the usual protagonist, but his love for excitement is more... Primitive than anything. Other protagonists are more into having actual fun (outside of dangerous situations); Gon is more about feeling the adrenaline out of heart-racing situations. I feel a bit bad that I was not able to explore that part as much as I wanted to in this chapter, because it's an integral part of Gon's character. It ended up a bit overshadowed by Reimu and Killua's presence, for better or worse.

Still, I don't put much thought to Gon: it's a bit like writing Hisoka; Gon's a simple kid. I shouldn't complicate what Gon himself doesn't complicate. As such, pretty much everything he does is plain as day, along with all of his motivations. Even so, Gon isn't a flat character, and not just a normal kid who's all friendly and stuff. If anything, I think even Killua's more of a kid than Gon is. Regardless, I found that it made a lot of sense for Gon to want Reimu and Marisa to get along with Leorio and Kurapika so they'd have cool people to hang out with besides Hisoka, but I was a bit stunned by the idea of Marisa getting flustered by a kid. Even Reimu's seen flustered more times than Marisa...! I think Marisa's more prone to awkwardness, and what she did was basically a way to erase the awkwardness and also something to express what she thought of Gon as pretty much a kid being too nice for her own peace of mind lol. Or more like, to adults like Reimu and Marisa, the thought of a kid being so considerate is something they would find adorable, but also something they'd tell said kid off for, because they want to be seen as reliable. In Touhou, Reimu's actually nice to children, and I'm pretty sure Marisa would be no different. Even if ZUN says Reimu doesn't have biases, he means she lacks all biases a human can possibly lack. I find it cool that Reimu and Marisa are written more like people in that aspect; they aren't inhumane in their generally cold attitudes. Anyway, I struggled writing that part, but it was also somewhat necessary.

I at first was gonna make Gon's introductions more intricate, but I felt like Gon himself wouldn't do that to Leorio and Kurapika out of respect for their privacy; he's the kind of kid who actually considers these things. Meanwhile, I was uneasy about combining Reimu and Marisa with Leorio and Kurapika, but I actually started liking a lot of the dynamics, particularly with Marisa. I honestly was fearing Leorio and Kurapika at first because I assumed they'd be very hard to write, but damn, they're actually rather easy on me, especially Kurapika, to my shock. I think it's because Kurapika's the character I can most relate to in the main character cast of Hunter x Hunter, revenge angst aside. It also helps that his collected and dignified disposition, combined with his intelligence make it extremely easy for him to say precisely what you'd want said plot-wise. You want someone to hypothesize logical stuff when Killua's not around? Kurapika's on the job! You want a foil to the other characters? Kurapika's on the freaking job! You want a well-rounded character who can balance being nice with being serious and being cautious? Kurapika. Is on. The damn. Job!

Kurapika is just a really convenient character, and the best part is that he can pretty much work off of anyone. A lot of times I'd get stumped on dialogue, I could just rely on Kurapika to get me back on track. Kurapika is very reserved and he's rather cold, especially after the Hunter Exam arc, but the fact that he cares deep down even if it contradicts his goals makes him a very good character. Kurapika's just a good person, plain and simple, so he's very sympathetic to the point we can be invested in his revenge, even if he's a little edgy about it; after all, he makes up for it by being just as human as anyone else. I'm getting reminded of Naruto, because Sasuke is pretty much a Kurapika rip-off, and this is really where Naruto failed, for example: Sasuke just had a stick so far up his ass that nobody could care about him, especially when he'd just keep being completely and utterly stupid every single time with barely any consequence; he ended up just being a pain in the ass because of his stupid revenge. Meanwhile, Kurapika is not a pain in the ass: if anything, Kurapika doesn't even want to involve other people with his business. He's just a revenge-driven character done right, really.

I felt like Kurapika wouldn't be very cold towards Reimu and Marisa, but not especially care either. Rather, Reimu and Marisa are such freaking aliens that being cold doesn't really pop to mind more than 'what kind of people are these?' so pure curiosity is more prevalent. I think Kurapika's also somewhat curious: for example, he met Gon and decided to accompany him just because he thought Gon was an interesting fellow; he didn't have any basis beyond Gon's likability. It's a bit of the same in this situation, as Reimu and Marisa are interesting, even if in a different way. I'd also talk about maybe how Kurapika's portrayed in other fanfiction, but to be perfectly honest, Kurapika in them doesn't really have much of a presence, even when he's actually there. Since a lot of fanfiction copies the dialogue from canon, too, it's really hard to judge in what way people actually write Kurapika, but it seems to me he's so convenient that even in other fanfiction he's the one who's asking the pertinent questions and moving the plot forward lol Maybe if a lot of Kurapika related fanfiction weren't Chrollo ships I'd have more of a reference! (Kurapika and Chrollo is just... How do you even conceive this?) Kurapika deserves better.

I said I feared Leorio in the previous chapter, but now I really don't, because if Kurapika's the convenient character, Leorio's more or less the life of the party, said party being character interactions. He's also very convenient because he's emotionally-driven enough that he'd pose any questions you'd want, but said emotionality is a double-edged sword because it can also slow down interactions or get in the way, so you need to be somewhat careful in writing Leorio. However, he's really worth writing. He had a rough start with Marisa, but as you then see later on, they start getting along a-okay; it's actually kind of scary how fun the Marisa and Leorio dynamic is. Leorio's got a big heart; he's got the biggest heart out of the main characters, Gon included. This is why he can worry about so many people and feel so strongly about events, and you really feel that Leorio treasures life. Still, I was starting to see that Leorio was being a bit hypocritical, so I made Kurapika set that straight. The thing is, Leorio isn't necessarily reckless, as in, it's not like he doesn't have a sense of danger; it's just that his morals can override said sense of danger if his emotions see it fit. He doesn't jump into danger blindly all the time, like, for example, if he never had to directly face Hisoka, he wouldn't have talked to him at all, but it was because Hisoka was right there in front of him spouting stuff that he felt the need to intervene. I really hope I can balance these nuances in his character.

A thing I note about how Leorio is portrayed is that writers either love or dislike Leorio, and that's reflected in how their OCs interact with him (yes I do dabble in reading OC insert stories): they either treat him like an annoying nuisance, or as the kindest most bestest dude in existence; the latter seems to have surged as a way to counter the former. I get both perspectives, since the original series isn't very kind on Leorio, but I think it's because Leorio's the heart of the group as a whole; the emotional center. This is why that's his focus, rather than his actual fighting ability. He's also supposed to be more of an every man, but he takes on a rather unique identity regardless, a lot like Marisa (who's also supposed to be the relatable perspective in Touhou but is unique anyway). Anyway, I think both sides of how Leorio is seen aren't very accurate: first off, something I've been wondering for a while, why is Leorio written as sexist? As in, going like 'oh why's a chick taking the hunter exams that's dangerous and you're a chick', does Leorio ever even imply that in canon? Not even once! He's a bit of a perv, sure, but he wouldn't assume a chick applicant isn't at least somewhat capable. When he found out Ponzu was his target over at the fourth phase, he didn't just go like 'what? It's a girl, why is she here I can't fight a girl', he took her seriously. As such, I didn't even think Leorio would for a second see Reimu and Marisa any differently from their gender, especially since they're young women who can fly and talk to Hisoka like it's nothing. No way he'd treat them like they're weak. Another problem I see on both sides, whether Leorio is seen poorly or like he's the best thing ever, is that Leorio just doesn't have that down-to-earth, almost comical edge. Leorio's a fun character, but it's like people never have fun with Leorio, even though Hunter x Hunter was constantly using him to be upbeat (more like energetic, positively and negatively) and quirky, but in the way a normal person would just yap on and on; why does nobody do that? Because of it, Leorio just gets boring. Just go wild with Leorio! He's the comic relief for a reason, have fun with the man!

Seriously, Leorio's the kind of guy who up and punches Gon's dad like it ain't no thing, he's the guy who faces Hisoka head-on because he damn can't take it, he's the guy who snaps and the guy who can go all prideful; look at all the things you can do with this guy! Do them! He didn't get the same spotlight he had in the original episode or chapter where he was the one getting involved with Hisoka, but I felt like he was just working so well with the other characters that it's totally okay. Reimu's always a more neutral character than Marisa, so Marisa did a little better in terms of interactions; one of my favorite parts of this chapter is definitely when I cut back to Marisa, Leorio and Kurapika, with Marisa about to throw a bottle of toxic mushroom magic stuff that she legit canonically has hidden under her skirt. Marisa, Leorio and Kurapika were the highlight for me.

Meanwhile, there's Reimu, Gon and Killua. Naturally, Killua was my biggest problem. There is a very clear reason: in the entirety of the Hunter Exam arc up to his match with Illumi, he doesn't face off people stronger than him, and for good reason (unless you count Netero later on, though while he's got the needle on he faces a bunch of stronger people head on like a few members of the Phantom Troupe so he's not absolutely defenceless; it seems more like he'll avoid conflict if possible and react when necessary to his survival). As such, a deviation from the plot in which Killua and Gon are the ones who have to initially face off Hisoka is a huge deal that requires a lot of thought. Originally, Killua was not at all involved with the whole Hisoka thing because Gon was the one who left him behind out of concern for Kurapika and Leorio's wellbeing. So, in the end, Killua arrived safely at the site of the second phase, and nothing happened to him. Here, Hisoka had moved over to nearly the front because Reimu and Marisa were at the back, so Killua got surprised by this since he'd assumed he'd be at the back for easy kills. This forces Killua to be involved, and that was quite a ride.

Incidentally, Gon is a very useful and convenient character. Even towards way strong opponents, he can be really cheeky and that is as fun to write as you can imagine. Just having Hisoka be super threatening and Gon countering that through pure childish logic was kind of epic. Originally, he'd come to save Leorio but Hisoka totally overpowered him in any possible way, which is when he learned true fear, so to say. Or more like that was Gon's first encounter with a creature that kills for fun and so loosely; Hisoka is an abnormality to Gon. I wanted that to come across in how he reacted to Hisoka, and then for that fear to translate as a sort of excitement Gon enjoys. However, even after the encounter with Hisoka in canon, he acts all cheeky, so Gon doesn't really change. Speaking of the source material though, curiously enough, the 2011 anime makes Gon more capable than the manga when fighting Hisoka, prolonging his fight with him and having Gon do all these cool moves. I can get why, because that would show the audience that Gon does have some potential, but I feel like conversely, the point of the manga was that Hisoka was so damn strong in comparison to Gon that Gon could not even continue the fight for more than a minute before he just strangles the poor kid. Which is why there's more impact to the Heaven's Arena arc when Gon does get stronger enough that he can have a more prolonged fight with Hisoka, or something along those lines.

And while I actually had very solid plans of Gon and Killua get a hit at Hisoka, I had to give up, mostly because Hisoka was too stronk and as I thought about it, the point was to escape. In my earlier drafts, Gon and Killua would've gotten the hit on him and ran, but the tactic back then didn't make sense considering Hisoka's power level and most of all didn't even give them an opening to run. Meanwhile, this version has a lot more emotional weight: Killua had decided to make it so Gon could escape first knowing he at least would have the physical prowess to escape from Hisoka on his own... Only to fail because Hisoka was targeting mainly Gon, with Killua only as an extra he couldn't actually roughen up much. Killua was always gonna get on the conflicted side after this showdown, mostly because he kept acting all high and mighty but then failed at everything he was trying to do despite his efforts, but in here considering he was even trying to be altruistic, though he didn't even really understand the extent of his reasoning since he at first thought it was just something he was doing for convenience. But after the convenience is gone, why's he still hung up over it? I don't know, but while Killua is super difficult to write, I did try my best at a bunch of facets of Killua, particularly negative ones on that scene since I could squeeze them out there.

As for Hisoka, I don't think Reimu and Marisa would condone unjustified serial murder (even if Reimu says she does), so they do make a few jabs at him. They've killed before, but the circumstances differ drastically, especially from their own considerations of life. More importantly, Hisoka's dialogue is lots of fun, but other characters don't like it at all. The way he treats Reimu, and the way he'd treat Gon or even Marisa are totally different, but they're all interesting sides to explore in Hisoka. Hisoka and Marisa are an especially interesting combination, and oh damn, that scene with Marisa trying to get information out of Hisoka was the shit. Hisoka just completely ruins everything for her and gets a kick out of riling them all up; Hisoka's always been good at that. In canon, that's pretty much how he usually works: by making his opponent break down mentally, and then physically when he's done. This makes Hisoka especially effective as an antagonist, particularly because he chooses pretty much all of his words when speaking. They all have a purpose. Yukari is also a little bit like that, but Hisoka's motivations are much more clear than Yukari's (*Hisoka is a simple man intensifies*). Either way, feels bad for Marisa, she got verbally rekt.

In that scene where Reimu shows up to save Gon and Killua, the most troublesome thing beyond Killua and Reimu, admittedly enough, was how the hell Reimu would get back to Marisa. Well, I had a bunch of back-up plans, but Gon decided to be convenient and cool to me and got the backdoor idea out so it'd all go full-circle in the chapter. So Gon and Killua went to the Land of the Rear Door, and there was a partially ominous scene with Okina! You end up seeing a lot of what Okina's thinking in there since it's all in her perspective, but I feel like that scene raises more questions than answers, which was actually my aim. Reimu worked pretty nicely with Okina, and that bit at the end with Gon was also very satisfactory. After the scene with Okina, Killua started being easy to write again, so that was also really fun. Killua's half-easy, half-hard, if anything. It just depends on what facet of Killua you're portraying. Even so, since the amount of people talking doubled by the end, I had to really balance out who'd speak and who wouldn't. Still, overall, I'm very satisfied with how it went, and I can only hope the second phase of the exam will go the same way. Look forward to that?