Chapter 1 Suzuma X Introduction X Hunter
During the two hundred and eighty seventh hunter exam the abundance of people was staggering, more than half of the candidates were newbies. A woman with long raven hair and dark magenta hues walked right past the unusual man. She gently flipped her hair passing to see if the man was watching her, she felt the man's cold stare. The young woman smiled softly, stopping on the opposite side of the hall, she was starting to size up the other appliances.
The man in the jester outfit watched her intently, his interest peaked by a mere woman. A man not knowing clearly where he was going knocked into Hisoka, making Hisoka lose his train of thought about the woman. Annoyed, he glared at the man expecting an apology, the man walked away with no care in the world. The woman glanced over at the two mens exchange, in a mear moment the man was screaming. His arms were disappearing before her eyes.
The man's arms turned into flower pestles, admittedly they were beautiful to her but she was stunned in silence. Breaking the silence Hisoka spoke out over the man screaming in pain, "My how unusual. This man's arms seemed to turn into flower petals. Now you see them now you don't" He raised his arms up showing he had nothing in his hand.
"You should be more careful. Do apologize if you would." Hisoka grinned madly with his eyes scanning everyone else for a reaction. With everyone in a stunned silence , everyone seemed nervous to move. A few minutes went by and a man sauntered over to the woman, he stopped mid way seeing the little wrench known as Tonpa was striking up a conversation with the woman.
From the tone in her voice she sounded rather annoyed by the short man, "What's your name newbie?" He said with haist in his voice. Her response was rather cold and short. "Suzuma." Seeing she has no interest in allowing him to waste her time, he simply moved on to his other tactic. "Would you like this drink I have here?"
The man lifted the soda to give to her, a card flew into the can cutting it in half. Suzuma glanced at the way the card came from, Tonpa took that moment to make a quick escape. The jester of a man walked over with an almost purpose in his step. "Hello there, I thought I would spare you the pain of having to take the exam another time. He normally poisons newbies. He tried that one out on me last year. Clearly he hasn't learned his lesson yet. My name is Hisoka by the way." He said with a playful smile handing her a rose he pulled out from behind himself
"It's nice to meet you, Hisoka. That was quite the scene you found yourself in huh? Clearly I should stay away from you but it seems like you have a kind side." She seemed to relax her posture with him, she smiled warmly at him, He returned the smile saying, "You should be careful with the people you trust, not everything is as it seems Suzuma." With that he turned around, melting into the crowd of people.
'That was a strange man, is he alright in the head? I mean I can tell he knows Nen but to what extent and will he be using that during the exam. Most of the other applicants definitely don't know Nen. He is definitely someone I should keep my eyes on, he might try to fight me. It's a good thing my father taught me the basics of nen. ' Suzuma seemed to be lost in thought about the strange encounter with Hisoka. He did something nice for her but from what she heard about him, he wasn't a nice guy.
That said, it didn't mean she was going to take his act of kindness to heart, she knew better than that. Over an hour later, the proctor for the exam showed up. Everyone that was there seemed to perk up with attanton. "Come with me. We have a long road ahead of us. If you can't keep up you will be left behind and disqualified. But don't fret, you can always come back next year." The tall man said with confidence, Suzuma glanced over the crowd once trying to see where Hisoka had gotten to.
Stunned she felt his presents right behind her, she said nothing to him but felt his bloodlust pouring out from him. This new development made her shudder with anticipation, knowing she dodged a bullet talking to him earlier. Maybe she wouldn't be a target for him, little did she know he definitely was interested in her.
The crowd of people started to move, Hisoka moved gently through the crowd. People started to part ways, allowing him to pass them, almost like he was swimming through the people he made his way to the middle of the pack. With the opportunity presented itself she followed right after him but stopped halfway, the crowd saw what she was up to. Everyone seemed to ignore her and say nothing knowing she was following after a crazy man.
Suzuma made her way to a few people behind Hisoka, she overheard a few kids talking. Turning back she slightly smiled at the boy with the green hair. She noticed a boy with silver hair on a skateboard, the boys seemed to be having a present conversation. They didn't seem to be having any issues with the trial. Her eyes peaked forward locking eyes with Hisoka who smiled slightly as if to say 'Good job sweetheart.' Suzuma smiled proudly at him and gently waved her hand at him.
Looking around she took note of how many applicants seemed to croup out. Running was something she was decent at but she seemed to keep pace with the proctor easily. Saying nothing back to her focused on the task at hand. The stroll the group was going on was coming to an end shortly, Suzuma could feel the breeze and the wind coming from the end of the hallway.
Hisoka was the first one of them to walk out into what seemed like the wilderness, he soaked in the fresh air enjoying the Scenery. Suzuma exited the tunnel with a sigh of relief, soaking in the fresh air. She noticed some of the other applicants seemed to now ignore her, clearly some of them even feared her.
Shrugging she danced her way over to the crazy clown man, he greeted her with a warm smile. They say a smile is worth a thousand words and most people were right. Clearly his interest in her peaked the moment she showed no fear in him. She took a moment to relax and overlooked the other applications, she saw both of the boys again, both of them seemed to be arguing with each other over who won? 'Oh to be young again, if only I had taken the exam a few years ago.' Suzuma seemed to be lost in her thoughts when the green haired boy approached her.
"Excuse me Miss, which one of us was faster? Me or Killua there?" He said pointing to the boy who stood there, his hands above his head still holding onto his skateboard. Suzuma blinked once repeatedly, both of the boys seemed to be hung up on her word. "Erm, I heard the proctor say both of you finished at the same time. So why don't one of you buy meals for each other one night and the other buys the second night. That sounds beneficial to both of you." Killua retorted to the woman. "Well that still doesn't help on the fact of who should buy dinner tonight." He said firmly with a playful smile dancing across his lips.
"Well I say you." She pointed to the green haired boy first with a smile. "You should buy dinner for your new friend tonight." The boy seemed to let out a slight sigh but was taken aback. "Oh I am sorry miss I never introduced myself to you. My name is Gon." Suzuma smiled slightly, noticing that Hisoka had moved away from the three of them. She didn't seem to mind it though. The boys were definitely a ray of sunshine compared to what happened earlier . "My name is Suzuma. It's nice to meet you. Gon and Killua."
Killua smiled slightly and came back with a smart answer. "How old are you? Are you sure you're allowed to take the hunter exam at your age?" Suzuma glared daggers at Killua, almost wanting to pummel the kid into the ground. She seemed to restrain herself on the matter. "For your information I am only eighteen years old. I may look older than that but in truth I am eighteen."
Killua started to snicker lightly to himself not believing her, there was no way she was only eighteen. She appeared much older than she was saying she was. "There is no way you're that young, you have to be in your early twenties at least." Suzuma sighed slightly glaring at Killua, Gon spoke up. "It's not nice to be rude to a woman Killua no matter what. My aunt Meto taught me that." Gon smiled brightly at both of them.
Suzuma smiled slightly at the boy, she nodded agreeing with Gon. "Gon your aunt sounds smart. She must have taught you a lot of what you know." Gon nodded, smiling brightly. "She's basically my mother. She's the only mother I've ever known." Suzuma smiled slightly at the boy with a little hesitation in her voice. "That's good you feel that way about your aunt. That's very sweet of you, you seem like a good boy Gon."
Gon's cheeks lit up a deep red, he started to rub the back of his head out of habit. "There's no need to say that Miss Suzuma." Suzuma leaned down to his level. "You don't need to call me Miss. Suzuma is just fine or even Suzu." She said cheerfully.
"Well that's an interesting nickname. Suzu. " Killua said, saying her name. Suzuma glanced at Killua. "I didn't say you could call me Suzu. Killua." She said playfully. Gon laughed slightly at the two of them, Killua looked angry but softened his expression with laughter of his own. The three of them seemed like they would become fast friends despite their age differences.
The proctor started to speak explaining about the area they had entered. "The milsey wetlands, popularly known as Swindlers swamp. We must cross it to make it to the second phase of the exam. This place is home to truly bezoar animals. Many of which are crafty who deceive and feast on humans. So please be very careful and follow me closely." He turned to face the crowd and lifted a finger saying of fact. "If you are deceived you will surely die."
The crowd of applicants started to talk amongst each other, Suzuma glanced over at the boys. Killua seemed confident in himself, this situation seemed only natural to him. What kid grows up in that type of situation? Gon on the other hand seemed to slightly tremble with what seemed to be excitement. She glanced over to Hisoka who had made his way closer to the proctor. Behind her the door to the underground hallway closed. A man just reached the top. He yelled out to wait but the door shut in front of him.
"These wetland creatures are not to be underestimated. They will use every trick in the book to fool their pray. " The crowd turned back to the proctor quickly gasping. "This is an echo system in which all creatures hunt by the art of deception. And that is why this place is also known as Swindlers swamp. Now then please follow me closely so that way you wont be deceived." The proctor turned to face the wooded area ahead of them.