"Hey! Gon!"

"Hm?" Gon hummed, turning around. He'd been on his way to his room after spending two hours playing cards in the common area. Luckily the boy with silver hair had left immediately after he'd finished eating, his two friends also.

He had one super muscular friend with a pompadour hanging low over his eyes. That guy looked super intimidating to Gon, but the other one was even more scary. He had long, pink hair braided tightly against his hair and held up in a ponytail. He always wore a hoodie with a front pocket, and always kept his left hand stuffed inside. He had a super serious face and looked like he was ready to take any one on at any given moment.

Gon had been more than relieved when the three of them had left, and the majority of his Wingmates had shared the sentiment.

Jispa trotted up to Gon's side, he had been the one to call out to him. Jispa was super nice! Gon liked Jispa! "A lot of the other guys are testing out the training grounds," the blonde said, "Do you want to go down there with me?"

Gon immediately grinned, "Oo! Yes!" The raven hopped excitedly up and down, "How do we get there?!"

Twenty minutes later, Gon had changed out of his nice clothes into a pair of tight green shorts and a baggy black tank top. Jispa was leading him out across the back lawn, down a path littered with sandy colored pea gravel. The trail was lined with pristine rose bushes, and the entire lawn was littered with enormous training fields organized into a grid pattern.

"Every Wing has their own personal training ground," Jispa explained. "They're all located in the back field, and each have their own personal shower house and equipment shed. As you can see, the training areas are all pretty huge."

"Yeah, no kidding!" Gon exclaimed, gawking as they passed the enormous fields assigned to the other Wing's. It seemed that everybody had gotten the same idea: grab one last day of training before the first Event. Champions littered their training fields, sparring with each other, lifting weights, some were even doing yoga!

"We have a whole lot of competitors, don't we?" Jispa murmured, watching nearby Champion train on a dummy with a set of silvery chains.

"Yup!" Gon chirped, committing as many faces to memory as he could. The more fighting styles he could get a feel for now, the less trouble he'd have to go through when he went up against them during the actual Events. "More than a thousand!"

Jispa rubbed the back of his neck, dumbfounded with how carefree Gon was considering their situation. Ikalgo could be cheerful and encouraging all day long… but no amount of light hearted words could gloss over what this entire fiasco was truly for.

Preserving human lives Jispa's ass. He knew what the real purpose of all this was.

"You're so young, Gon," the taller male observed. "What's a kid like you doing in a place like this?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty young for a Champion, I guess!" Gon mused. "I'm just seventeen, but my Reservation's Champion before me was only twelve when he first joined!"

"Twelve?!" Jispa sputtered.

"Uh huh! But that was a real long time ago. I'm here because I'm finally strong enough to participate with a good chance of winning." Gon held his fist up in front of him, flexing the tendons in his forearm and watching them tense and rise. That's right. He wasn't just some little kid anymore.

"Well, good luck to you," Jispa said with a sigh. "...I'm sorry you have to go through with this."

Gon laughed, taking Jispa aback. "There's nothing to be sorry for! I'm glad to do it."

Jispa shook his head. "Well, all power to you I guess. Anyways, this is our Wing's training area."

"Woah!" Gon cheered, "It's just as big as all the other ones!"

Jispa chuckled, Gon really had him at a loss for words. It was like he was a little ball of light. He stuck out like crazy against this monster of a place.

Gon trotted across his Wing's training field, Jispa struggling to keep up. It was a large field, about 60 yards across on all sides. There was weight lifting equipment set up on the left hand side, and the shower house and equipment shed on the right. Though "shed" was an incorrect term for a structure bordering on the size of Gon's house.

There were a few rectangles of plush green grass, though most of the ground was perfectly flat and lined with powdery dirt that looked like brown sugar. There were a couple of trees dotting the field, and even a track wrapping around the outer edge and going along the wall of rose bushes enclosing the space.

There were so many things to do! Gon didn't know what he wanted to try first!

"What do you wanna do?" Jispa asked, reading Gon's mind.

The younger male continued looking around, and then frowned when he noticed the boy with silver hair sparring with his two scary friends near the equipment shed. They were the only people in that area, everyone else giving them a wide berth.

Yeah. Gon wanted to go anywhere but there.

"Let's run a few laps to get warmed up!" Gon suggested, already taking off for the track.

"Oh, okay then– Hey! Wait for me!"

Killua narrowed his eyes when he saw the idiot - Gon, as Ikalgo called him - frolicking onto the training field like it was some sort of fucking fair ground. Knuckle immediately noticed his attention stray elsewhere, and took his opening for a swing at Killua's jaw.

The silver haired boy blocked it with a palm, not even having to take his eyes off of the spiky haired boy across the lawn.

"Aw, damn!" Knuckle cursed, stepping back and shaking out his palm. Shoot glanced over at them from where he'd been deadlifting off to the side. Curious as to why they'd stopped so soon. "Hey," Knuckle mused as he whipped the sweat off his brow, "Isn't that the kid you hate so much? What's his name, Gong?"

"Gon," Killua corrected. "He's Ikalgo's little guinea pig."

"Yeah, they did seem pretty close," Shoot mumbled, watching (fearfully) as Gon took long strides in the direction of the track. "He's fast," the pink haired man whispered.

"He does have a bit of a kick, huh?" Knuckle said with the bark of a laugh, watching as Jispa struggled to keep up with the pace Gon had set. "Looks like he's fallen in with Jispa's group."

Killua scoffed. "Figures, that's where all the lower-level competitors on our floor go. Crawling around at Ikalgo's feet like a bunch of sorry dogs. It's disgraceful."

"Yeah," Knuckle sighed, having seen enough of Gon's running and starting to roll his shoulders in preparation for another round with Killua. "He doesn't seem like much. Probably'll get eliminated in the second round 'er so."

"Right," Killua agreed, eyes still on the tan skinned boy.

And that's what's bothering me.

Why's a guy in Jispa's group with no threat level whatsoever act so nonchalant around me?

How come he's the one person that doesn't give me the fear and respect that my station commands?

It's really pissing me off.

"Hey, Knuckle. Shoot," Killua said with a growing smirk.

Shoot whimpered, "Oh no, he's got that look in his eye again. Please don't kill anybody this time…"

"Come on," Killua ordered, "I'm gonna go put that idiot in his place."

Knuckle snickered, "Oh, this I've gotta see!"

"Yess!" Gon cheered, trotting to a stop beneath a lush oak tree. "That was a great warm up! The track here is amazing!"

Jispa stumbled to a halt beside him, bending over and panting. "That, was a warm up?!"

"Yup! It was only two miles," Gon pointed out, head cocked to one side as he watched Jispa struggle to catch his breath. "It wasn't even that long!"

"Yeah! But you sprinted the entire time!"

Gon cackled, "I wasn't sprinting!"

Jispa choked on air, "Then how fast can you sprint?!"

"Hm, three times faster than that maybe?"

With an exasperated moan, the older male collapsed dramatically to the ground. Gon smiled down at him, sheepishly sticking out his tongue. "Are you even human?" the blonde male whined.

"Well, yeah, what else would I be?" Gon snorted, spreading his legs and leaning from side to side.

"Hey, fucktard!"

Gon stiffened.

Oh no, he recognized that voice.

Jispa's eyes blew wide, and he lurched to his feet.

Gon slowly turned around, knowing who he was gonna see but unprepared all the same.

There he was, the silver haired jerk. He was standing in front of Gon with his arms crossed and a pejorative smirk on his face. His two intimidating friends at his back.

"What do you want?" Gon asked, glaring at the other boy. He was sick of being treated like this! They were all Champions here, they were supposed to be brothers in arms! There was no reason to act like such an entitled prick all the time!

Apparently Gon had said the wrong thing, because the silver haired male's face morphed from a rude smirk into an enraged snarl.

All throughout the training field, the 20-odd other Champions stopped their activities. Everyone quieted down, watching the confrontation under the oak tree. Even others in the neighboring fields hushed up and migrated to the rose bushes to watch.

Why did it feel like Gon had just broken some unspoken rule?

He hated this feeling, everyone staring at him like this. It was seriously annoying… and not to mention nerve wracking.

"Alright, smart guy," Silver Hair spat. "I'll indulge you."

"In what?" Gon complained. "What are you even talking about?"

Silver Hair jerked forward, getting all in Gon's face. Gon didn't back down. He'd had plenty of experience going up against lower level Ants in order to protect Whale Island. This was nothing.

Sapphire eyes scanned Gon's, and the raven didn't blink. He had no idea what the heck this was about, but the way Silver Hair was treating him when they didn't even know each other was really starting to piss him off. Gon was never one to sit back and wait, if Silver Hair wanted to start something then Gon was gonna finish it right here right now!

"Come'ere," Silver Hair growled, tossing his head in the direction of one of the sparring rings.

Gon's heart started to pound in his chest.

Holy crap, were they seriously about to fight right now?!

The middle 13th Wing's field, as well as every single field bordering it, was dead silent as Gon followed Silver Hair to one of the circles of dirt breaking up the soft green grass. A crowd gathered, and Champions from other Wings even came over to their field to get a closer look.

All of a sudden, Gon was in the ring with Silver Hair, and they had an enormous crowd around them.

From the window of Peggy's office, himself, Ikalgo, and a couple of other Wing Masters watched from afar. Just in case they'd need to get involved.

The last time Killua had caused a scene he'd killed three Champions and they'd had to add a Mark to his record, as well as give him a Warning.

Ikalgo frowned. He was worried about Gon…

Gon glared at Silver Hair as they circled each other in the ring.

He wasn't one for crowds, but he'd be lying if he said the audience wasn't revving him up.

Silver Hair shot a wicked grin Gon's way. "Come on, I wanna see what you've got. Show me why you think you're better than me!"

Gon blinked in confusion, almost losing his footing. "What are you talking about?"

Apparently he'd said the wrong thing again, because Silver Hair snarled and suddenly darted in for a blow. The crowd gasped and drew back as Silver Hair shot to Gon's side and landed a vicious chop to the back of his neck.

Gon gagged, and bit the dirt.

Silver Hair stood over him, hand still extended. He smirked victoriously down at Gon, as if he'd just proven himself something. Silver Hair chuckled, lowering his hand and approaching the edge of the ring. The crowd whispered amongst themselves, sounding almost dejected.

But why was Silver Hair walking out like it was already over? Gon wasn't done yet!

With a huff, the raven sprung forward onto his hands, and flipped himself to his feet.

The crowd erupted into exclamations of shock, and Silver Hair whipped back around, an unreadable expression on his face.

"That hurt!" Gon exclaimed, shaking out his arms and dancing from foot to foot. "But I'm all warmed up." He tossed Silver Hair a challenging grin. "Sorry about that, you can come at me again now."

Silver Hair's eyes widened a fraction, and then narrowed in a grimace. "Oh, so you're not such a weakling after all," he mused.

Gon chuckled darkly, "Don't judge a book by its cover." He lowered his stance, holding his fists up before him.

The crowd stirred, gaining volume and energy.

Why was everyone freaking out like that? It was just a sparring match!

Silver Hair bared his teeth, and started circling Gon again. After a few passes, he darted forward for another chop.

But this time Gon was ready.

Honestly, he had a real bad habit of not getting into the zone until he'd taken the first hit.

Silver Hair was fast, but Gon followed his motion no problem. When Silver Hair went in for the chop, Gon pushed his arm off course with the back of his hand, slipping off to the side at the exact same moment.

To the untrained eye, Gon and Killua changed positions in a blur of motion.

Silver Hair stumbled to regain his balance, having been pushed off course by Gon's block. The raven grinned at him, and fists still held up in front of him. Silver Hair gawked at Gon with wide eyes and a dropped jaw, but then he straightened. And laughed.

"Hah! You're a lot stronger than you look. What's your name, Gon?"

He began circling again, this time with his body looser. His defense slackened. More open to an oncoming blow. An invitation for Gon to take the next move.

"Gon Freecss from H-234!" the raven rattled off.

Silver Hair snorted, "The middle of nowhere. I knew you were a backlander, but that's just impressive." He didn't return the introduction. Jerk.

Gon made his move, leaping forward and jumping into an arching roundhouse kick. Silver Hair bent over backwards to dodge, and Gon grinned as he immediately dropped to the ground, swinging his other leg to sweep Silver Hair's feet.

But he had a good eye, and folded into a back handspring to avoid Gon's sweeping foot.

The crowd was in a frenzy as the boys straightened, a wild grin spreading across Silver Hair's face. Gon grinned right back at him. This was all in good fun, right? Besides. He looked better when he was smiling.

But apparently, Gon had done the wrong thing again by smiling.

Silver Hair barked a laugh, a sarcastic laugh. His hostility shot through the roof.

Gon internally groaned. What was with this guy?!

Was it so wrong that Gon was a well matched sparring partner?!

Fine. He'd just have to fight a little closer to for real then.

"You're an interesting little thing, alright," Silver Hair growled, edging backwards until they were circling each other from all the way across the ring. He swiped his arm across his forehead, slinging droplets of sweat into the dirt. Drops trickled down Gon's spine, soaking into his shorts. The sun beat down overhead, it was crazy hot at this time of summer. Especially in Stellae.

Silver Hair darted forward again, and he and Gon exchanged a quick succession of punches, faints, and blocks. Neither able to take any significant ground, they leapt back apart. The crowd roared, still way too excited considering that this was just a plain old match between two fellow Champions. It would be different if Gon were fighting a Wing Master or a Soldier, but Silver Hair was just a Wingmate. What was the big deal?

Silver Hair huffed a laugh, clearly frustrated at how easily Gon was keeping up. "How strong are you, shit-for-brains?"

Gon frowned, this silver haired jerk was still being a jerk.

The two of them lurched forward at the exact same moment, crashing together at the center of the ring. They locked their hands together, shoving against each other to try and prove themselves stronger.

Gon gritted his teeth, Silver Hair was really strong!

Sapphire eyes blazed, and veins popped all up and down his arms as he shoved against Gon.

But to no avail. They leapt back apart, panting from excretion. The crowd may as well have been hysterical.

"Who are you?" Silver Hair growled.

Gon clucked his tongue, making those thin brows draw together in a glare. "I already told you, I'm Gon Freecss. Who are you?"

Silver Hair scoffed, "You seriously are stupid." He grabbed the hem of his shirt in both hands, and shucked it off. Sunlight sparkled against pale, sweat drenched skin, and he tossed the navy tank to the ground out of the ring.

Gon blinked, his stomach doing a weird flipping thing.

Silver Hair was really fit, corded with muscle and scars crisscrossing all over his body.

Challenge accepted, Gon peeled his own shirt off. He knew that this was literally the stupidest way to compete possible, but some feral instinct urged him to assert his dominance by proving that he wasn't afraid to take his shirt off.

A few of their audience members cheered, and Gon heard Jispa choking on air again. Silver Hair glared at him, and Gon gave him a lopsided grin in return. Nice try, you jerk! Gon was just as strong as he was!

The two males darted back to the center, kicking and punching and dodging and flipping in an intricate dance that was reminding Gon of his time with his martial arts master. Silver Hair was strong! Like, really strong! He would be an awesome training buddy! He was a total jerk, but what had started off as Gon just wanting to tell him to leave him the heck alone was turning out really fun!

With a frustrated grunt, Silver Hair suddenly took a dirty kick directed between Gon's legs. The raven dodged without issue, but it ticked him off. This was training! They weren't supposed to be trying to hurt each other!

But then Silver Hair took a dangerous blow again, jabbing his fingers for Gon's eye socket!

Easily dodgeable, but still! What the hell, man?!

Suddenly the entire atmosphere changed, and this little sparring match was starting to morph into an actual fight. Silver Hair was clearly ticked at not being able to get a lead on Gon, and now he was escalating the situation way out of proportion.

Maybe if Gon were a level headed person he'd just stop the fight.

But Gon Freecss was the shining opposite of level headed, so naturally he upped his game.

The raven changed his fighting stance, widening his legs and loosening his shoulders. He angled his body slightly to the side, so his punches could come harder. Fine, if Silver Hair wanted to get serious than serious was what he was gonna get!

Gon cranked back for a rib-cracking punch, but suddenly Silver Hair's eyes widened, and he jumped back several feet.

Huh. Okay then.

Gon straightened out of his stance, shooting Silver Hair a quizzical glance.

"I'm done here," he growled, giving Gon the nastiest glare to date and marching in the direction of the shower house. He passed Gon on his way out, roughly knocking their shoulders together. "Watch your back tomorrow, Freecss. You'll see where acting cocky gets you."

Gon turned on his heel to watch Silver Hair stalk off to the showers. What the hell? He was so confused! What, so were they making threats now? They had been having such a good fight! He'd been the one to go and make it all tense, why was he acting like it was Gon's fault?!

The raven "humphed" and decidedly turned his back on Silver Hair. He scooped his shirt out of the dirt, ignoring the way his shoulder was tingling where Silver Hair's damp skin had slid against his. He didn't know what that was about.

The crowd was chattering like a flock of crows, drawing back from Gon and quickly making him a path for where he was heading. It was weird. What the heck was everyone's deal?! Now it wasn't just Silver Hair acting weird, but everybody! This was so (and Gon doesn't like to use this word) freaking annoying!

Gon frowned at the crowd as they hurried past him to return to their fields. Why were they looking at him like he was some fancy new animal in a zoo?

"Gon!" Jispa squeaked, rushing to the raven's side and following him back to the oak tree.

"Jispa," Gon sighed in relief, feeling like an enormous breath of fresh air had just crashed over his head. Thank the gods, a reminder that civilized people indeed existed.

Jispa clung to Gon's shoulder, jostling him around with such a hyper expression on his face. It was funny, Jispa was only two years older but he came off as so much more mature. "That was completely insane! How did you do that?! You stood up against him like it was nothing at all!"

Gon pouted, frowning in confusion at his friend. "Well, yeah! He's just another Wingmate, why would I not spar with him? Why is everyone acting like I just renounced the Queen's name?"

Jispa stumbled to a stop, and Gon turned to face him, shirt hung around his neck.

"Gon, do you not know who he is?!"

All of a sudden Gon was overcome with the dread he paired with forgetting to study for a test. Was he missing something crucial here? "Um, no?"

Jispa rubbed his hands down his face, whimpering in horror. "Gon!" he exclaimed, grabbing the younger male by the shoulders and staring him dead in the face. "That's Killua! Killua Zoldyck!"

Gon quirked an eyebrow, "Zoldyck who?" Champions passing by from other Wings tripped over their own feet as they overhead Gon's question.

Jispa gawked at this dense, dense creature before him.

He lowered his head, whining in exasperation. "It all makes sense now."

"What makes sense?! Jispaaaa, tellll meee!" Gon whined, stomping his foot like a little kid.

Jispa pulled Gon to sit on the roots of the Oak tree. "Gon. The Zoldyck family has placed first in the Tournament of Decision for the past 50 years! They are the most powerful and the most respected human family in the entire world! They have the status of Squadron Leaders in the eyes of the Queen! They've wracked up so many rewards from Tournaments over the years that their entire reservation is on the level of the high ranking Ant cities! The Zoldycks live in their own palace, and are world famous! Ant world famous!"

Gon blinked, completely drawn aback. "What?! How is that even possible?! You're telling me that the jerk over there is in high standing with the Queen?!"

Jispa slapped his hand over Gon's mouth, "Don't call him that!" he hissed. "You don't understand! Killua is deadly! He'll kill you if you insult him like that! Zoldycks are bred to be Champions, they have 50 years of victory under their belts! That's longer than the average human lifespan! Killua is the most powerful contestant in this entire Tournament, and this is his rookie debut as a Zoldyck! All eyes are on him, and you've one and gotten yourself on his bad side!"

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Yes! It's the biggest deal you'll ever find yourself a part of!"

Gon frowned. "I don't get it! Just because Silver Hair's– er, Killua's family has won for a long time doesn't mean he can treat everybody else like trash!"

Jispa looked at Gon like he had grown two heads.

"He may have the status of a Squadron Leader in the Queen's eyes, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a human like all the rest of us! Everyone's afraid of him like he's just as bad as the Ants are! That's not right. We're all humans, so we're all on the same ground. I don't care who Killua's family is, I'm not just gonna sit by and let him push me around!"

"Gon," Jispa whimpered, "Sweet, innocent, Gon."

The raven pouted.

"Just… try to keep from aggravating Killua too much? You've really pissed him off, so just hang back in the Event tomorrow, alright?"

A spark of defiance exploded to life in Gon's chest. "So Killua's gonna be in the front?"

"...Yes, but that's why you need to stay in the back–"

"-Then now it's even more important that I stay in first place!"

"Wh-what?! Are you listening to a word that I'm saying?!"

Gon's amber eyes burned with passion, he grinned up at Jispa like a madman. "Jispa, my goal coming here has always been to take first place from the start and keep first place until the end. Nothing's gonna stop me from doing that, and certainly not somebody like Killua."

The taller male gawked at the raven for a second, before breaking down laughing. He sighed, "Gods, you're a real handful."

"Mito tells me that a whole lot, actually…"

Jispa hauled himself to his feet with a groan. He ruffled Gon's hair. "Whelp, consider yourself warned. I'll wish you luck, but that doesn't mean I think this is a good idea. Come on, if you're gonna be going head to head with Killua from here on you'll need to stay strong, huh?"

"Yeah!" Gon cheered, leaping to his feet and skipping along after Jispa.

Killua, huh?

That name really fits him, actually.

A pair of raging sapphire eyes flashing across Gon's memory.

He grinned.

This is a perfect opportunity to get stronger. If I'm gonna make first place, then I'm gonna have to beat Killua in the process.


AN: next chapter we'll see the first Event of the Tournament!