Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my OC.

Perfect Competence

"I saw your little one at the Hunter Exam."

Hisoka glanced over at Illumi, who came to see him out of a whim. How long had it been since Hisoka last saw his little companion, Kagome? It would be a lie if he had forgotten about the black haired beauty that managed make a place in his mind. But a lot had happened since then. He was busy constantly trying to seek out Chrollo who hid from him like a sneaky fox. And then there was Kagome, who always popped up in his mind out of nowhere. Combing through his own hair in frustration, Hisoka glanced at Illumi standing next to him.

"What were you doing at the Hunter Exam?"

"Ah, I had some work to do."

"Hm~"

Probably was another assassination work, he assumed. Though, it certainly came to Hisoka as a surprise when he heard that Kagome was at the Hunter Exam. How did she know about hunters, he didn't know, but it probably was the best for both him and her. If she had passed, his constant interest in the woman would be justified, and Kagome would be a worthy one to deserve such interest.

"Did she pass?"

"Why are you so interested Hisoka?"

At Illumi's question Hisoka merely closed his eyes and rested his chin on his hand, not wanting to answer him. Or rather, he didn't know how to answer him. It was natural for him to be interested in her since she did have potential to become much more than she was now. Illumi probably knew that too, except Hisoka couldn't just bring himself to answer a simple rhetorical question that Illumi asked.

Illumi stared at his red haired acquaintance with hollow eyes, not sure what the magician's hesitation meant. Not that it meant much to him, but it sure was weird to see him so indecisive about others. Seeing that Hisoka was not willing to answer him, Illumi just looked away into the distant horizon.

"I believe she was one of the three who managed to get their licenses. Of course, there was no need for her to go through the secret exam."

So she had passed. A small smile carved itself into Hisoka's lips and Illumi kindly decided to ignore Hisoka's arousing lust that manifested itself through the rising bump in the magician's pants.

Hisoka, on the other hand, was too occupied with his own emotions that he barely realized his arousal. So she had passed. She had passed! Within months of their departure she had grown strong enough to pass the Hunter Exam. Oh, how right he was about Kagome—he knew there would be a day when she would prove herself to him; prove herself as a worthy killing opponent.

He grabbed his fisted left hand with his right, trying to calm down his excited hands that were shaking with pure excitement.

At last his little fruit was starting to ripe.

"Congrats Kagome!"

A bright smile erupted from Gon and Kagome blushed from embarrassment. Gon's honesty was so innocent and childlike that it often reminded of the fox kit when he was young. She looked past Gon to see that even Killua was giving her a, 'I'm-proud-of-you' smile that she rarely received during the training.

"Congratulations."

Killua sent her a rather calm congratulation as he placed his hand on Gon's shoulder to calm his friend down. Kagome simply whispered a small thank you and smiled, knowing the silver haired boy was sending his earnest congratulations.

It had been a difficult time since her training had begun. Her general combat skills had improved drastically thanks to Killua's (what did he call it again?) "Near Death Experience Training," which actually did give her countless times when she thought she was going to die. Gon tried his best to help her with her nen abilities upon learning that she, too, was an enforcer like him, although Killua always ended up doing the explanation part.

"Alright! We are totally eating some good food tonight!"

Both Killua and Kagome burst out laughing at Gon's excitement for food, and Gon blushed as he pestered both to stop laughing and get going. Kagome laughed and laughed until her stomach hurt too much from her laughing while Gon shouted to stop laughing out of his embarrassment. Killua was joking around with Gon, his sly remarks making Gon yell out even more in his pseudo fury. And as Kagome laughed her heart out, she realized this was her first time laughing like this since she was forced out of Feudal Era.

She didn't expect to see Killua waiting for her in front of the inn. It was dark out and no one except her and Killua were out in the streets. She blinked as Killua just stared at her with his light colored eyes as if he was waiting for her to speak. Her mouth opened and shut, not knowing what to say. This was why she wanted to leave during the night when she knew, or she thought, that no one would be around to see her leaving, including Gon and Killua.

She was always bad at last goodbyes.

"Gon will be sad, you know."

Surprisingly it was Killua who spoke first, and she simply nodded, still not knowing what to say.

"I don't mind you leaving, though."

It was Killua who looked away when she snapped her eyes towards him at his statement. It still hurt to hear that from the boy she spent quite some time with, but she had also expected that from him. Since day one of them traveling together, she knew Killua wanted her to leave.

"I'm not leaving for your sake, you know."

"What do you mean for my sake?"

She chuckled at his feigned curiosity. He was good with faking his emotions. But no matter how many times she saw that seemingly innocent face with wide eyes and slightly open mouth, she wanted to grab his both cheeks and just pinch them until she was satisfied.

"I'm leaving for the same reason you wanted me to."

"Heh, so you knew?"

It was half true and half not in the sense that it was not just for Gon's sake. For the past few weeks she had felt Jurou's aura, but he hadn't caused much harm except just creepily watching her. For someone as keen as Killua she was sure he had felt Jurou's presence as well. If Jurou were to suddenly change his position from a mere observer to an attacker, she definitely didn't want Killua and Gon to be meddled in her business. Although it seemed like Killua was sure he could handle the mysterious spy.

"I hope we don't cross our paths again."

"Wha! That's so cruel, Killua."

It was Kagome's turn to feign her tears and Killua merely scoffed at her overreaction. It wasn't like Kagome didn't expect him to say that, Killua surely knew she would also try to avoid them as much as possible. If she was leaving because of such reasons, crossing paths only meant exposing Gon to possible danger. She was a considerate one—so considerate that it made Killua, who wasn't used to such, uncomfortable. She was a strange one, Higurashi Kagome.

"So, what are your plans once you leave?"

"Hm, I don't know. I'll probably travel here and there, see if I can at least pay for my food and find a shelter to sleep."

"Hope you don't starve to death."

"If I have to, I'll hunt!"

And he knew she was serious. He chuckled at he enthusiasm and her stupidity. With her Hunter license, it was as easy as breathing to eat and sleep at the most luxurious places. But of course, he wouldn't tell her that. Except that she had bunch of secrets that he didn't know what, she was a nice person. She was so cheery and bright, and her easy to please personality certainly reminded him of Gon from time to time. But her eyes, it was her eyes that gave Killua the shivers. Sometimes her eyes would just stare off distantly into the forest, and they would hold so much hidden emotions that Killua couldn't understand. Not that he wanted to know.

"Well best of luck to you, Killua. Take care of Gon."

"Of course."

The two shared a simple eye contact for some time before Kagome turned around without any regrets and started walking away. As Killua watched her retreating back, he wondered to himself if he will ever see her again. Of course, not that it mattered if he didn't. It was just that her company wasn't too bad at all if not for her secrets, and to depart like this certainly left some unresolved…feelings, he could say. He was definitely surprised when she stopped in her tracks all of sudden, turned, and started to walk towards him again, her face riddled with yet another emotion he didn't know.

"If anything happens, and I mean anything, call for me and I'll be there in seconds."

She took Killua's hand and gently placed her hand over it, brought the joined hands to her lips, and blew her breath into the gap between their hands. Killua shivered at her breath warming his hand, thinking it was a good decision to let this absurd woman, who breathes into hands, go. However, such thought vanished quickly as he felt something warm and fuzzy stir between their hands, and this time with genuine curiosity, he watched as Kagome slowly took her hand away to reveal a small bird.

It had silver feathers just like his hair, Killua thought. With its black beaks and soft silver feathers with few blue ones at the top of its head, the young boy thought the bird certainly reminded him of….

"I guess this is how I imagined you."

"…Me?"

Kagome softly spoke as she retrieved her hand and let the young boy observe the bird with pure curiosity. Killua watched as the bird chirped and organized its feathers on his palm. Had she created this bird just with her breath? No, perhaps it was a creation from her nen. But it was so real, so alive that it felt like she just grabbed any bird from the tree and gave it to him.

"If anything happens, all you have to do is simply let your aura flow into this bird, and I'll come for you."

It was a bit too much for a departure gift, but Jurou had seen her together with Gon and Killua, and she wasn't sure what might he do to them. Creating a bird shikigami was a bit too cliché, but it wasn't like she could create a bigger shikigami in her current situation. Using that much reitsu would only draw more attention to her. In all honestly, Kagome wanted to make him a cat shikigami; that certainly would have suited Killua much more.

"Well then, take care."

She smiled as she left the mesmerized boy with the bird, hoping that there will be no need to use the bird. She stared at the starry night sky, and sudden excitement rushed over her. For the very first time in her life, she was going to be traveling alone. With her Hunter license she could probably stay at expensive hotels and eat all the food she wanted, but that certainly would take out the fun in traveling. Distantly she heard Killua yelling 'I'm going to count and see if you actually get here in seconds!' and she chuckled to herself.

"Not cute at all, Killua."

Hiya! I think this is one of my longest chapters so far, definitely took me some time to write + edit it.

Thank you everyone for the review last chapter! :) Hopefully you enjoyed this one too!

Izno