This is who we are, I don't think we'll ever change
They say "just grow up", but they don't know us
We don't give a fuck, and we're never gonna change
After boarding the airship that would take us to the Third Phase, we all gather in one room on the airship where the Chairman will explain things to us. So here we are, and I'm already itching to take a nice and warm shower.
"Allow me to introduce myself to the forty-two remaining applicant," The Chairman says. 'Wow, forty-two? A lot of people dropped out since the First Phase'. "I am Netero, Chairman of this year's Hunter Exam Selection Committee." 'I was right! His name is Netero!'
"I am his secretary, Beans," a small, green man says. Whoa, it's the little pea guy who gave me my tag!
"Originally, I planned to make my appearance during the exam's final phase, but as I'm already here..." Netero pauses and stares at the remaining applicants including me. "I'm loving this tension in the air!" he proclaims. I have totally forgot about the tension since the First Phase, I guess I just got used to it. Killua and I yawn at the same time. "So I think I'll stick around for the rest of the trip," Netero continued and laugh.
"We are scheduled to arrive at our destination tomorrow morning, at 8 AM," Beans announced. "You'll find dinner waiting in the dining hall. You are also welcome to get some rest. In other words, you're free to do as you please until you are contacted."
"Okay, Gon, Rin! Let's explore the airship!" Killua says, crushing my dreams or relaxing. Another world or not, I'm sure he and Natsu know each other.
"Yeah!" Gon agrees and they both start to run towards the exit, but Gon waits for me at the door. "Are you coming, Rin?" He asked.
"Yeah!" I say with a sigh as I ran towards them.
So we explored. We found a small gym, the dining hall, and several rooms filled with sleeping applicants, who I envied deeply. Killua started to mess with some of the heavy sleepers, like putting their fingers in their noses or tickling their noses with a feather.
After that, we snuck into the kitchen where the boys found chicken, and I found cupcakes. Before I could decide which I the delicious looking flavors I wanted, a chef caught us and kicked us out. I was able to snatch a chocolate one and Gon and Killua had chicken legs in their mouths and we all ran for our dear lives.
We walk the halls lined with windows showing a great view of a city at night. I continue to eat the cupcake. Suddenly, Killua rushes over to the windows and pressed his face against it. "Look, Gon, Rin!" He exclaims.
"Hmm? What is it?" Gon says and goes to his side and I reflect his actions.
"Huh? Whoa! It looks so pretty..." I say as I gaze out the window, completely mesmerized by the sight before us.
"It's like the ground is covered in jewels!" Gon exclaims. He was right, it looks like I had just opened a treasure chest filled with jewels and gold.
"Yeah!" Killua says, equally amazed.
"Hey, I was wondering..." Gon says and Killua let out a 'hmm' in response. Oh, he's talking to Killua. "Where are your mom and dad?" Gon asks as my eyes widened. I hadn't even thought about Killua's family. Now that I think about it, I don't really know that much about Killua.
"Hmm... They're alive. Probably," Killua say in response. That's it? What's that supposed to mean?!
"What do they do?" Gon asked.
"They're assassins," Killua says nonchalantly as I finished my chocolate treat, Assassins?! Th-that's so cool.
"Cool~" I say.
"Huh? Both of them?" Gon says innocently and looks at Killua.
Killua tore his eyes away from the city and look at Gon and I. He smiles and starts to laugh. "That's your first reaction? You really are a riot!" Killua says, still laughing.
"Huh?" Gon says in confusion as we all sat down on the bench.
"Well, you're telling the truth, right?" Gon asked.
"What makes you think that?" Killua says as his smile faded.
"It's just a hunch."
"Your eyes," I say as they both look at me. "Your eyes don't give away the fact that you would lie to us." They both stared at me shocked.
"What? That's weird... People only like me because they can't ever tell whether I'm serious." Killua says.
"Who told you that?" I ask him, getting his attention.
"Nobody. I can just tell," he says and directs his gaze towards the city lights again.
"I can assure you that Gon and I don't like you just because of that," I confirm, waving my index finger from side to side. "So stop thinking like that, because I doubt other people like you just because they can't tell whether you're serious." Killua and Gon glance over at me.
"Mhm. He's right, Killua," Gon agrees but Killua just shrug and letting his eyes linger on me for a second and then back at the window.
"I'm from a family of assassins. So they're all assassin's," Killua says after a long silence. That would explain the assassin parents. He rested his chin on his hand. "And my family has really high hopes for me... But I can't stand it. Who wants to have their life planned out for them?" That would also explain why he didn't have friends up until now. "When I told them I wanted to decide my own future, they all snapped! My mother had tears streaming down her face, as she told me I have the potential to be a top assassin." Gon laughs nervously as I just stare at Killua with an unnoticeable eyebrow raise. I don't think a mother is supposed to do that...
"Horrible parents, right? It's natural their kid would go bad," Killua continued, earning a chuckle from me. I'm glad he agrees. "We ended up fighting. So I stabbed my mother in the face, my brother in the side, and ran away from home. I'm sure they're out for blood now. But if they find me, I'll send them packing." Killua says it all smugly and smirks. I noticed his aura go happy and I immediately grimace. "When I become a Hunter, I'll start by capturing my family. I'm sure they're worth some hefty bounties..." Killua continues, looking way too happy about it.
"What about you" I turned to Gon. They both look at me wanting to explain my story, as soon as I was about to speak. Suddenly I felt someone's presence behind me and I whip my head back, only to see no one there. I saw that Killua and Gon had looked that way too, but Killua's eyes widened considerably.
"Something wrong?" a familiar old voice says from my right. It was the Chairman, of course.
"Hello, Netero." I greet with a slight smile.
"Ah, Netero-san... Did you see anyone coming from that side?" Gon asks the Chairman, pointing to where I had felt the presence. I look over to Killua and Gon, with Gon looking as innocent as ever while Killua's eyes were narrowed towards Netero.
"No," Netero says. Killua's eyes narrow even more if that was possible.
"You're pretty fast for an old man." Killua states. 'Huh?He noticed too,' I think staring at him. He was really fast, probably faster than even my eye can see, but I heard that small clank of shoes hitting the floor.
"That little trick? I barely moved," Netero says, his grin never leaving his face. The tension in the air grows, even worse than it was with the other applicants.
"What do you want? You don't have to do anything until the last phase right?" Killua says, annoyed. "No need to be so unkind. I got bored, and was looking for some companions," Netero explain. "By the way, I meant to ask you three…Any thoughts on your first attempt at the Hunter Exam?"
I blanch, no way had he done all that just to ask us that stupid question.
Gon speaks up and grins. "Uh-huh! It's fun!" He exclaims, an excited gleam in his eyes. "And there haven't been any of the written exams I had been dreading!"
I smile at the typical Gon answer before turning to Killua in curiosity, what does he think of the Exam?
Killua narrows his eyes. "I'm disappointed…I expected the exam to be more difficult. I assume the next phase will be more entertaining?" I lowered my presence so he wouldn't notice me. "Well, now…I wouldn't know about that." I roll my eyes at the old man's attempt at being nonchalant. 'Liar.'
"Let's go, Gon! Rin!" I really wanted to take a nap or take a shower, so I just turned around and follow him.
"Now wait just a moment," Netero says, causing Killua to stop in his tracks. "Would you care to play a game with me?" The question causes Killua to actually turned around, interested.
"What game?" I ask and I could still tell that Killua was still glaring at Netero from the corner of my eye.
"If you're able to defeat me, I shall let you be Hunters!" Netero says making Gon and I smile.
"Really? I'll play!" Gon says, excitement feeling his words.
"Me too." I agree. Now it was just Killua.
"What about it, eh?" Netero says, challenging Killua. So of course, he agrees and Netero leads us to the gym we found before. Before he explains the rules to the game, Netero changes into a t-shirt and shorts.
Netero goes over the rules of the game and to put it simply, we had to take the ball he was balancing on his hand away from him. If we took it from him before we reached the Third Phase, then we would become Hunters. Seems simple, right?
Killua had a go at the old man first and slowly starts to walk around him. Suddenly it started to leave after-images of Killua until it looks like there were twenty Killua's. "No way... is that Rhythm Echo?" I mumbled, remembering that technique in one of the books I read at a random library in Fiore. It seems similar to a type of magic in my world, but how is that possible?
"Huh? What's that?" Gon asks me, noticing how shocked I am.
"It's an assassination technique..." I say, only half-interested in Gon. He nods nonetheless as we both continue to stare at the multiple Killua's and Netero. Suddenly the real Killua jumps out and attempts to grab the ball, but Netero easily dodges. And that happened over and over again until Killua decides to try something else. Killua kicked the old man's leg and they stayed in that position for a bit before Killua jumped back and cried in pain.
"Killua! Tag! Tag! It's my turn!" Gon says happily, holding up his hand. Killua limps towards him and high-fived him, then sat down against the wall. I stare at Killua then smile, and hold out my fist. "If it's any consolation…that was amazing!"
I swear, Killua's cheeks turn a slight pink as he bumps his fist against mine. "Yeah, thanks."
I grin and turn my attention back to the game just as Gon shot off towards Netero. I widen my eyes. 'Wahhh he so fast,' I think, surprised by his speed.
I saw Netero relax just before Gon disappears.
I looked around for the green boy, only to see him reappear above Netero just as said old man did. My eyes widen in shock when I realized Gon's mistake. "Baka!" I cry out. "You jumped way too h-!"
Too late.
Gon's head smashed into the ceiling and he went tumbling back to the ground, landing on his behind as he rolled around on the floor in pain, rubbing his sure to be throbbing head.
"H-high…." I falter at his failure.
"Baka!" Killua yells in annoyance. "We know that you can jump really high! Control your strength!" Killua crosses his arms and pout. "For a moment, the old man relaxed his guard!"
Gon, seemingly unfazed, got back up and began to walk around Netero, rubbing his head. "I messed up there…" He tries many different tactics but nothing works. "Gon! My turn! My turn!" I say, jumping like a child who is getting candy for being good. He walks back towards me, and high fives my hand. 'It's been a while since someone did that' I think happily.
I walk towards Netero and just stood there. From someone else's point of view, it would seem as if I was staring at him, but I'm calculating what to do. After some time, I an idea pops into my mind. I start walking to the wall and jump off doing this for a while confusing him. ''Cause I'm just too fast for you,' I think arrogantly.
Instead of slowing my momentum and gaining my footing, I continue to sail towards the wall and dashing back at Netero, who is beyond shocked. I felt my hand touch the ball when a force pushes it farther. I stop and stare at him, amazement. I try to do it again. He dodged smoothly but I repeat what I had done before and continue to launch myself off the walls, getting faster and faster as my momentum builds. I'm surprised that my hood stayed on the entire time.
This is getting nowhere and I'm getting tired. I yawn forgetting to cover my mouth, and Netero looked straight at my fangs. "Ya know it's rude to stare into a person's mouth," I told him trying to distract him.
"Oh, but I wasn't staring, just analyzing those teeth," he says in a testing tone.
'He's playing me,' I think to myself getting annoyed. "Fine, I'll just end this quickly," I say in a laughing voice. I raise my hand, doing weird things in the air. 'They mean nothing, but I just loved the look on their face when they realized I'm doing sketching wrong, and plus just moving your fingers a little are boring,' I think smirking slightly.
His movements stop. Good. I quickly walk towards Netero and grabbed the ball, letting him go after I got a few feet away from him. "I win," I say while grinning. He looks shocked before registering what happened, sighing in defeat. "It's as you said you win, I'll go make preparation for you to-" I cut him off
"Naww It's fine, I'll wait until till they get the ball, and if they can't get the ball, I won't take the promotion. The Exam would be boring without them. Plus I'd most likely get killed if I left Gon here." I said, mumbling the last part to myself, grinning again handing him the ball back and went to my side next to the boys. The two boys look like they had gotten a boost of confidence, and went to try.
Hours passed by and they had yet to get the boys had stripped down to their undershirts and were already panting, sweating messes. I sit against the wall on the sidelines, tired and bored.I sat by a sweating Gon and I watched Killua going for the ball again, but still being unsuccessful.
I winced when Killua slammed face-first into the back of the old man's head. Killua collapses to the ground and held his nose. 'Geez, I hope it's not broken…' I think sadly
Netero turned and looked down at Killua with a chuckle. "You kids aren't getting anywhere. Why not attack simultaneously?"
'That's right. They haven't tried that yet!' I think happily. Killua shoots up with a glare and darts for the old man again. "Why, you-!"
Gon suddenly shot forward as well. "Right! I'll get you this time!"
Netero dodges Killua's attack and slams Gon's head to the floor while Killua has already tried to grab the ball, which Netero doesn't have a hold of. Netero jumps over Gon, he quickly hit it down, and, again, Netero has the ball.
"OW!" they say in unison as Netero balance the ball on his nose like a seal, mocking the boys. I grimace slightly. Gon turns on his heel and charges head-on towards Netero again.
"Your attacks are getting boring," Netero says with a smirk. Gon ignored his smug comment and tried to kick him, of course, the older man dodges, but suddenly Gon's boot fell off and hit Netero in his face. His head snapped back and in the next split second, Killua goes behind him and hits his back. Netero drops the ball and my eyes brightened.
'Yes, they can do this' I think happily. "A chance!" Killua says as he tries to grab the ball, but Netero kicked it away from him at the last second. Netero swiftly gains his balance back and reaches for the ball, but Gon kicks it away with his remaining shoe.
"You and your little tricks!" Netero shouts as the two of them ignore him, heading for the ball.
"It's mine!" they shout at once, reaching for the ball. Right before they reach the ball, I feel the same intense aura from behind them and in that moment, Netero shot past them and grabs the ball. The two of them are knocked out of the way while Netero takes on his usual position, balancing on his right leg.
"I commend you for your efforts," Netero says. I can feel Killua's glare, even if it isn't directed towards me. Gon looks amazed, though, why wouldn't he be?
"You're amazing, Netero-san! Really amazing!" Gon complements as Killua and I both looks at the smoking black patch on the floor.
"Wow, you did that?!" I say, referring to the smoking floor. "That's so cool!" Netero just nods and closes his eyes. Suddenly Killua stands up.
"Forget it... I give up. I lose!" Killua says and starts to walk towards the entrance to the gym. He grabs his white V-neck and pulls it over his shoulder.
"Why? We still have time. And just now, we came really close," Gon says and points to the clock on the wall. I notice that a little over four hours had passed. I know they should be committed, but that is ridiculous
Killua turned to Gon and sighed. "Jeez. You really have no clue, do you? The old man-"
I cut Killua with a sigh, "The old man hasn't even used his right arm and left leg."
"Eh!" Gon was clearly shocked by this.
"But we're still powerless against him." Killua continues, a mixture of defeat and frustration in his voice. "We could chase him around for a year, and still not get that ball…"
The Chairman hums. "Oh, so you figured it out? And here I thought I had you fooled!"
"So that's what he was doing…" Gon mulls over this information.
From the doorway came a very fake laugh from Killua. "You really know how to piss me off, old man!" He turns to walk away. "Let's go, Rin! Gon, come on!"
I nod and begin to follow him, too tired from boredom. "Oh, I'm gonna play a little longer!"
I stopped mid-stride at Gon's words, 'Wow he is just..wow,' I think happily.
"Huh? Didn't you hear what I just said?! It's useless! You won't be able to take the ball from him!" Killua barks in Gon's face while Gon just smiles back. I watch the exchange between them, I held my laughter in.\
"Yeah! I don't care about the ball!" Gon replies happily, making Killua blanch. "We've only used up half of the time limit. I'm gonna make Netero-san use his right hand before the time runs up."
I slowly slide my hand down my face and sigh, grinning at the hyper boy.
"Good luck with that…" Killua and I spoke at the same time, beginning to walk away again. I wave a hand over my shoulder lazily. With my other hand, I reach into one of my backpacks pocket and grabbed a strawberry lollipop.
I grip the thin stick and I skilfully unwrapped the candy and popped it in my mouth, my tiredness practically slipping away at the sweet taste, as I follow behind Killua. I glance at Killua from the corner of my eye as we walk down the hall. He had such a dark look on his face.
'I'd get like that if that happened to me.' He either didn't notice I was next to him or he's too deep in thought to notice me. I follow him, but kept my distance, since I could feel his bloodlust from here. Killua passes by a couple of guys and bumped into them accidentally. I gulp. I know how mad the people here would get if you bumped into them, accidentally or not, and now I'm guessing something really bad was about to happen.
The men yells at Killua then runs at him after he didn't respond, but once they touch his shoulders, they immediately fell to the ground. Blood splattered along with torn clothing all over the floor. I'm frozen in shock as I see Killua harm the men, my blood running cold. It makes me uneasy, seeing him like this isn't right. On instinct, I run after him, which was a pretty bad idea. He only grazed my cheek slightly before I shoved another lollipop, this one cherry flavored, into his mouth to calm him down.
His eyes turned back to normal after a second or two. I feel relief wash over me as he look normal again. Wiping the blood off my cheek, I smile at him.
But then soon after, a wave of nausea hits me. I feel my body begin to numb and I bet if it wasn't for the thickness of my hoodie, Killua could see the glow from my side caused by the moon mark. I have sixty seconds.
"Hey, Killua, calm down," I say in a soothing voice. "I'm going to show you that, the thing Gon and I were talking about earlier." He doesn't know what that is, but it's to calm him down.
"What's that?" He asks, trying to figure out what I had meant.
Thirty seconds. I touched my neck and a white cloud was formed under me, before he could say anything I shoved him and myself on the cloud, knowing it can expand to enough to hold the both of us. The last thing I hear is a weird yelp from Killua before going unconscious.
I bounce up and down anxiously on the century old bed. I stare out the broken window, eying the nearly empty steer nervously. The only sounds are the scurrying of mice and the creaking of the bed. No matter how much I get up and pace the room, I know my movement can't control Iris'.
She has been out for almost two hours. Being gone for that long isn't out of the norm for either of us, but she said she'd be back in half an hour. She said she was getting some food, and that takes her only a few minutes. I don't doubt her ability to defend herself, she's been on the streets for years, but there are so many things that could happen to her.
I hear the door to the abound on house crack open. The sound makes me freeze as I sense someone coming. The mirror crystal Iris setup interferes with my surreal senses, so I can't smell the intruding person. I don't know what to do as I hear whoever get closer to the barrier, a smooth, crystal wall. The mirror crystal that Iris made is like a double mirror, only she can see through and it's quite hard to break through.
Not knowing if I'm going to face an enemy, I ready an attack, just in case I have to fight. The relief I feel when I see Iris' face when the crystal part is unmeasurable. My relief soon turns to concern when I see her olive skin scratched and bruised. I launch off the bed and hurry to her side.
"Iris, what happened, why are you so beat up?" I say as I go to her. I see that there is blood bleeding out of her lip and left brow.
"Rin!" she says in excitement, smiling with glee. Her joy takes me back and I stare at her in confusion. "Do you know that young wizard fighting tournament thing that they were hosting in town?"
I nod my head as I recall the event. It was this really big battle royale thing that was happening. The gears in my mind begin to turn and I stare hard at my friend. "Iris, you didn't..."
She smiles sheepishly and walks over to the bed. She sits down on the ancient furniture and shrugs off her bag. "Well, there was this cash prize for the top four competitors and we both know that money is something that we could always have more of."
"Iris!" I get to the bed and take the bag from her. "Lay down right now." My voice is stern and slightly colder than I meant it to come out.
"Rin," she says with a sigh. "I'm fine, just le-"
"No, Iris." Our eyes lock in a stare down. With both knows how this ends, with her giving up and me getting my way. Without fail, she sigh and lays down, following my orders.
I sigh myself and move my hands over my friend. A pale yellow glow comes from my hands as I heal my friend. I can't fix anything major, like large wounds or broken bones, but I do the little I can. "Why did you go?" I ask softly.
"I told you, we need jew-"
"Were you lying to me?"
"Huh?"
"Were you lying to me when you said you were just going to get food?" I've been with Iris for a few months now, and trusting her was a long and hard process. Putting my life in another's hand isn't something that I could do with ease. I feel like I've been betrayed and an emotion I almost never show seems to creep into me. I feel my eyes burn with tears.
Iris' blond hair, which signals she's happy or excited, turns to a pale blue. Blue means sadness or pain. She sits up and gives me a long hug. "Of course, I wasn't lying to you, I would never lie to you."
After a moment of hugging, she releases me. She smiles and her hair transforms back into yellow. "Now let me explain," she says with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. "I was in town getting some food when I saw that boy again. You remember that punk that was bothering you when we first got you?" The face of the blonde jerk pops into my head and I nod. "Well, when I was in town, he started saying crap about me. I ignored him at first, but then he brought you up. He started getting cocky and dissing you. I got really mad and, well," she scratches the side of her face and smiles sheepishly, "I lightly tapped his jaw with my fist."
"So you punched him," I corrected.
"Potato, tomato," she says nonchalantly with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Anyways, it was going to turn into a full on street fight, but this dude told us to take it to the tournament. He had spiky, white hair and I swear when he touched me I felt like he was freezing my shoulder. So I went, beat that blondes' butt, and won third place. I'm so happy I didn't have to battle this pink haired girl. Man, she looks okay on the outside, but she was a monster when it came to fighting."
"But you weren't seriously hurt?" I ask.
"I'm okay, there was a healer there that took care of anything that was too bad."
"I don't want you doing anything like that again, especially if I'm not there."
"Okay," she says with a smile. She reaches for her bag and digs in it. She pulls out a stack of jewels and a box. "I knew you'd be mad, so I got you a present."
I take the stack and put it in my own bag, we established long ago I'd be the money manager. I look at the box and open it. I'm taken back as I see four, small slices of cake, each varying in appearance and hopefully taste. My face brighten and I look up at Iris. She has two forks in her hands and says, "Let's dig in."
That night we shared the cakes, devouring the flavor of each unique desert.
I awoke to a fluff of white hair, I sit up noticing I was still on my cloud and Killua is, too. Guess he decided to sleep on it also, I won't blame him, though. He looks pretty peaceful in his sleep. I can't help but smile and hum a song.
"What that," a voice says making me jump a little. It's Killua.
"A song," I reply, being vague, teasing him a little. I smirk a slightly, noticing that it was working.
"What the song called?" he asked, slightly annoyed. I smile at him, "It's a song only a select few know. If I tell you, you can't share it, so this can be our secret, 'kay?" I say holding out my pinky, waiting for him to wrap his around mine.
"You know you act like a girl," he says in a teasing tone.
I pout at this and hold my pinky out for a while, "Do you or do you not want to know what the song is called?" I say in an impatient tone.
"I do, I do," he says giving up, wrapping his pinky around mine.
"This is a song my best friend taught me, it's called Je T'eime. It was a song that told us everything will be alright. That everything was going to be fine and work out in the end." I say in a melancholy voice. His eyes were wide, his mouth parts slightly but before he can say anything, a loud annoying income voice rang through the halls.
"WE ARE LANDING, I REPEAT, WE ARE LANDING. PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ANY VALUABLE ITEMS ON BOARD." I was shaking, literally vibrating clutching onto my ears.
I turn towards Killua, looking at him sheepishly. "Ahaha I have really, really sensitive ears," I explained to him. He only looks surprised, then his face changes into a look of amusement as he starts laughing. I pout at this and smirks.
I was ready for landing so I snapped my fingers and the cloud disappeared. I fall gracefully onto the floor while my comrade falls on his back. I laugh at this and run noticing the glare on his face. I hurry away and laughed as he chases me. I feel as if I'm forgetting something, though.
Gon!
Omake
"Even though you didn't win the challenge, you guys did great," I say to my comrades.
"Thanks, Rin," Gon says.
"You're just saying that because you were able to do it," Killua says, glaring at me.
"Watching you two was also interesting," I continue, ignoring Killua's comment. "You reminded me of a friend.
"Really, who?" Gon asks curiously.
I laugh slightly. "It's just that, one second you're normal, the next you stripping your clothes." Memories of Gray suddenly losing his clothes during combat makes me chuckle.
"Does he get hot easily?" Gon questions innocently.
"I don't know. His teacher just used to strip during training, he just followed her."
"WAIT, WHAT!?" Killua exclaims, eyes wide. "This dude sound like a complete pervert."
"When I first met him, I thought the same thing. Because it's not only fighting, sometimes he takes off his clothes without even knowing."
"What kind of friends do you have?" Killua's facial expression was pure confusion.
"Odd ones."
"No kidding?"
I roll my eyes. "You have no idea."