"Hey, sweetheart!" a gruff and thick voice shouted, "Come out here, you're gonna love this!"
"Over here!" A shrill and thick voice shouted back, separated by maybe two kilometres. Those are some serious lungs. What did she mean by 'over here'? She made it seem like whole giant ass forest was as if another room?
"Mother you're gonna love this too!" Our Leorio Kirriko added his two cents.
Leorio, Gon and the other Kirrikos were already waiting when we got there. The Leorio Kirriko quickly went to join then, but not before changing back into his natural human form with a series of crunching and squishing sounds. So that's the sound of changing your entire body structure…
Guess this is where we meet fate, how were they gauging our abilities? I wonder if anything good came out of that near-death experience…
~oOo~
"How many years has it been since someone could tell us apart?" The male Kirriko wondered, "And suddenly, two at once!"
"I'm ecstatic!" The female laughed. Kurapika and Leorio just stared.
"Can you tell the difference between their voices?" Leorio whispered to Kurapika, who shook his head.
"You see, the one Kurapika and I beat up is the husband." Gon explained, overhearing them. Honey, Kurapika didn't touch it that one. Kurapika and Leorio's faces screamed, which one? So I helpfully pointed at the Kirriko on the left.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves." He said. "We are the Navigators. Our family has been helping the Association for some time now."
"I'm their daughter." The woman said, happily.
"And I'm their son." The man added. That makes sense.
"Man, you had us fooled." Leorio grumbled. I agree, but it was cleverly staged. I wonder what they used for the blood. Does it come off? It would definitely come in handy.
"The Hunter Exam site changes every year." Daddy Kirriko said. "It's quite difficult to locate it."
"So our job as the Navigators is to guide the applicants to the site." Mummy Kirriko explained.
"But we don't help every candidate." Warned the Daughter Kirriko.
"We test the applicants to see if they're qualified to take the Exam." The Son Kirriko explained. We held our breath. Blood rushed in my ears with the possibility that I would not make it.
"Kurapika-dono." The Daughter Kirriko called out.
"Yes?" Kurapika said, straightening his back.
"You successfully use the vaguest hints to understand we aren't spouses." She pulled up her sleeve, letting the tattoo speak for itself. "In this region, these tattoos mark a woman as wife of God. By knowing such an uncommon fact, you showed us you are well-informed and knowledgeable. Your saving Risumi-san is also commendable. Therefore you pass." She smiled. The blonde beside me fist bumped with Gon. It's amazing how Gon can be so happy about someone else's success when he still has a chance of failure. So pure hearted.
"Gon-dono." The mother called.
"Yes." The boy chirped.
"Your superhuman physical abilities in tracking and your keen senses make you worthy to take the Hunter Exam, you also pass." She said, smiling. Gon cheered and fist bumped everyone, even me.
I glanced quickly at Leorio. He was positively freaking out. His forehead was shiny with sweat and at the rate his foot tapped the ground he might drill a hole. He stared fixedly ahead at a tree.
"Leorio-dono." Daddy Kirriko said. Leorio stiffened and narrowed his gaze at the tree. "You may not have realised my true identity," Leorio swallowed nosily, "but you showed you are very educated in medicine and first aid. You dressed my wounds faster than any doctor and you kept reassuring me about my wife." Leorio's body relaxed so much his legs went slack. He blushed on the ground and fidgeted with his sunglasses, smiling goofily. "Your kindness makes you worthy to take the Hunter Exam." Leorio fist pumped the air with a happy grunt.
My fingers were drumming dents into my arm. When I noticed, I stopped drumming and ran a hand through my hair. Then I wiped my sweaty palms on my short skirt. The muscles in my lower back were tense.
"And finally, Risumi-dono." Son Kirriko said. I twisted the hem of my skirt. "Your senses are even sharper than Gon's, your eyesight in particular, and your athletic abilities are on par. I wonder where you grew up." He laughed. "You fell from almost 20 metres but you had the courage to keep going. You also have a hard knee . . ." he trailed off. I felt the others staring at me. "You pass." The relief that coursed through me was so strong I felt laughter bubbling up.
I succumbed to it. I was so relieved. I'd put off taking the Exam for so long with so many excuses that failing so early in the process would definitely be a sign from above – stop, Risumi Kanata, you'll never make it.
"So," said Leorio, when I finally stopped laughing, "What was it about Kurapika saving you, hmm?" Gon nodded.
"I fell," I said.
"From 20 metres high, right?" Leorio said. If you knew, then why did you ask? "Gee, Kurapika, you're a hero!" He danced around the blonde who looked slightly irritated. "Risumi-chan, when he caught you, did he catch your heart as well?" Leorio ruffled Kurapika's blonde hair cheerfully. The blonde himself attempted unsuccessfully to escape the older man's headlock. I blushed furiously and stared at the ground.
"Thank you for catching me." I said stiffly to Kurapika.
"You're welcome." He sounded just as uncomfortable. A moment of awkward silence followed. Oh my gosh, this didn't need to happen what did you do Leorio you idiot?
"But hey, aren't you lucky he caught you?" Gon piped up.
"Yeah," I said. You don't say!
Father Kirriko stepped forward. "Okay, you guys. The Exam will begin midmorning so if we leave now we'll get there with a little time to spare. One of us will stay behind to hold the fort but Risumi-chan is so small she could share with Gon, right?" He laughed. Share? Share what?
As it turns out, we're riding Kirrikos to the Exam. Leorio and Kurapika each hold on tight to the feet of the son and daughter Kirrkos while Gon and I each grip a foot of the Daddy Kirriko. This has got to be one of the weirdest things I've ever done. They have leathery bat-like wings that fold out from under their arms. How convenient.
The wind swept my hair back from my face. I laughed at Gon's extended reaction to being up so high. Below us the landscape slowly transformed from dark forests to a blanket of city lights. So many lights! I've never seen so many before, it's so pretty. Even this late at night it was so alive.
"Whoa, we passed, isn't it great?" Leorio deep voice cheered from my left. A curt, softer voice reprimanded him.
"This is nothing to celebrate about, we merely earned the right to take the Exam."
"Jeez, can't you just loosen up a little?" Leorio bristled. I laughed. Well, neither of you are wrong, pipe down, I thought. This is a good development and we should celebrate but if the preliminary was so hard I can't even imagine what the actual exam will be like. No use worrying about it now, I suppose.
I fell asleep, once again holding tight to something far off the ground, as we bobbed through the night.
~oOo~
