So, um... I'm not dead and I'm totally sorry for being nearly a week late? I was sick. That's my story and I'm sticking with it! Err... The chapter is kinda short too so I can't come up with excuses... um, I dunno. Enjoy~ (Published November 28th 2014)
Akumi watched in interest as the thugs charged towards her and Hisoka. Leaving Hisoka to deal with the main group, she slipped away, going for those that were behind the first wave. Sliding under two men who were pointing swords towards her, she stabbed upwards at the men of either side of her. The daggers slid between their rib cages, piercing the hearts dead center. Letting go of her control on the two daggers, she allowed two more to form.
A group of three stood behind the two bodies that had fallen to the ground. Charging at her, Akumi side stepped the first person who attempted to stab her with his spear. She pressed close to him, crowding his personal space, and stabbed him in the stomach with her left hand while slicing him across the throat with her right. Without stopping her forward momentum, she pushed the man to the ground and stepped over him, throwing the dagger in her right hand at the head of the man in front of her.
Turning her attention to the final man in the group, she saw a small hesitation in his eyes after watching both of his comrades be defeated in the time span of fifteen seconds. Letting a grin appear on her face, Akumi took a slow step forward, enjoying the quickly growing panic that spread across his face.
"Please," he said, dropping the two daggers in his hand to the ground. "I'll leave right now. You won't ever see me ag-"
Tired of his babbling, Akumi leaped forward, slicing off his head in a single motion.
Looking around, the girl watched in interest as Hisoka disposed of the last of his enemies.
"Showoff," she muttered under her breath.
"Well it's no fun otherwise. Using a single card makes things more interesting," Hisoka said, wiping the blood off of the card.
"So are you going to take care of the people that are hiding in the forest or am I?" Akumi asked, looking directly at where Leorio and Kurapika had run to hide.
Taking out his entire deck, Hisoka began shuffling the deck, pondering the idea. Before he could make a decision, the bushes rustled, revealing Kurapika and Leorio.
"Oh," Akumi said, twirling another dagger in her right hand. "It's you guys." Without changing her stance, she flicked the dagger toward them, hitting the bark of the tree that stood behind them. The two people in front of her stared at the blade that was now hilt deep in the tree, dumbfounded. Neither had seen the girl throw the knife, much less see it as it flew past their heads.
Hisoka moved over to the side, watching as the scene played out.
While waiting for a response, Akumi saw the eyes of the blonde haired boy widen. Without turning, she stabbed another knife behind her, a smirk of satisfaction on her face as she heard a grunt of pain behind her.
"Thanks for no warning at all clown face." Akumi turned her head towards the older man, eyes narrowing slightly.
"Ah, but what's the fun in that? Besides," a mischievous smile appeared on Hisoka's face. "You would have been fine."
The tall man in the suit interrupted their conversation, his eyes glued to the man that was, at the moment, bleeding out on the floor. "Y-y-you just… stabbed him! Without any hesitation!"
Akumi tilted her head, a bored look on her face. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Well… you just don't kill someone like that?"
A dangerous glint shined in Akumi's eyes. "Says who?"
The blonde cut into the conversation, a look of slight disbelief on his face. "Society! There's no reason to kill people. But you cut them down one by one."
Hisoka, witnessing the conversation between the three, hid a smile behind the card in his hand. Things were getting fun.
Suddenly, the atmosphere took on a serious tone. Akumi, no longer slouching, leaned forward, glaring at the two men.
"What are your names?" She asked, her voice cold.
"Leorio."
"Kurapika."
"Well," she began, "Leorio and Kurapika, I couldn't care less if society approved of the killing I do. You see, there's a moment where you snap. Where you don't give two shits as to what society thinks. I reached that moment long ago. Killing is nothing more than moving a knife forward, throwing something at a target, hitting something in the right spot. I kill because I felt like it. Let me show you."
Reaching down, she grabbed the knife that was still lodged in applicant 67's stomach. Upon withdrawing it, she heard a gasp escape from his mouth. Ignoring the growing horror of the three, she lifted the man to his feet, and placed the tip of the dagger at his neck.
"You see, all I have to do is move this forward to kill him." She demonstrated this by pushing the blade forward, not enough to open a passage to the esophagus, but enough to draw blood.
"And if I'm in the mood, I'll have some fun." A maniacal grin was plastered on her face, her voice growing more hysterical with each word.
"I can cut open the wrists."
Slice.
"I can chop a finger off."
Chop.
"I can stab the shoulder."
Shplet.
"I can break an arm"
Crack.
"I ca-"
"STOP!" A new voice interrupted Akumi's demonstration. Whipping her around towards the voice, she watched calmly as a shiny red ball flew towards her face. Lifting her hand, as if to wave at someone, she caught the fishing lure, staring at it for a moment before lifting her gaze towards the owner of the fishing pole.
Three seconds dragged passed, during which the tension in the air became heavy enough to crush one of Tonpa's cans of juice. Maniacal laughter filled the air as Akumi dropped the lure, almost falling to her knees due to the effects of her laughter. Leorio and Kurapika both began to back away, and even Hisoka raised an eyebrow at the sheer force of the laughter.
All five of the people in the clearing, for the man that was lying on the ground was still alive, waited, though with varying emotions. Gon stood defiantly, fishing pole in hand ready to defend himself. Kurapika and Leorio were still backing up, and the man on the ground was mumbling indistinctly to himself while attempting to drag himself away from the psychopath, seemingly disregarding the fact that one of his arms were broken and he was profusely bleeding from all the wounds.
Akumi slowly began to compose herself, managing to stand up and grin madly at the boy dressed in green.
"Of all the people here, it has to be you! The child that's twelve years old!" Walking forward swiftly, she placed a hand upon Gon's head before he could retaliate, the tips of her fingers digging into his scalp as she lifted him into the air. "Dear child, today is your lucky day! I won't kill you, and apparently neither will I have to kill your friends! Isn't that great? I'm excited to see what will happen to you. I can't wait to watch you snap."
Before she could say anything more, a phone rang, interrupting her speech.
"Neh, Akumi." Hisoka held out his hand, the phone in it extended towards her. "Illu-chan wants to talk."
She took the phone from him, still holding onto Gon's head with her other hand.
"We're at the next exam site." Illumi said. She could hear voices in the background. "Finished with your games yet?"
"Yeah, I found something interesting." Another giggle slipped out of her mouth and she turned away from Gon, facing the direction that she knew Illumi was.
"Lovely," the sarcasm was obvious enough that even Gon would have understood it. Without waiting for a reply, Illumi hung up and Akumi tossed the phone towards Hisoka.
Turning her attention back towards Gon, who had begun to try and remove her grip on him, she let go of his hair, allowing his feet to touch the ground.
"I guess he wants us to get to the next exam phase," she said, directing the statement towards Hisoka. She then began walking northwards, towards the group of four strong nen users that she could feel even from this distance. Stepping side by side with Hisoka, the duo walked out of the clearing, pausing only for a moment so that Akumi could stomp through the near-dead man's head, finally stopping the incessant moaning that she could hear coming from him.
The location of the second phase was not far away from the clearing, seeing that it only took a few minutes worth of sprinting to get there. Immediately upon the arrival of the arrival of the duo, silence fell upon the group of examinees as they took in the appearances of the two killers. Hisoka was staring at his cards, wiping blood off of them one by one. Akumi, not physically hurt but still a sight to behold, had dried blood caking her right hand as well as the black shorts she had on.
Whispers broke out in the crowd as people speculated what ran into the bloody duo. Those that knew of the fight backed slowly away, shocked that the two had managed to survive the fight with no apparent scratches. Killua, who was waiting in vain hope that the psychopath would die, slipped into the middle of the crowd, knowing that she was looking for him.
As more people arrived, usually in some state of damage, Akumi and Hisoka moved off to the side, opting to sit under a tree rather than stand and waste energy.
"Neh, you seem to use a lot of blood throwing all those daggers around." Hisoka said, once again beginning to build another tower of cards.
"I'm fine," Akumi said, searching the crowd for a certain pin-head. "I didn't even lose a liter."
"So, do you mind telling me why you didn't kill the little boy?" Though he didn't see it, Akumi's composure slipped, and had it lasted for any longer than a mere moment, he would have seen the spark of unease that flashed through her eyes.
"He seemed interesting enough. I figured that he would lead to some adventure down the road. I plan to keep tabs on him." The unease was gone, as if it had never appeared, and Akumi stood up, turning her head towards the road that the rest of the stragglers were coming from.
Gon, Leorio, Kurapika were making their way up the path, energized by the group of applicants that were in sight.
"Hm, they made it here," Akumi mumbled, curious as to how the trio had been able to locate the exam site. Before she could voice her curiosity aloud, Satotz began to walk away, the doors behind him opening slowly.
"It seems that we're finally starting the second phase," Hisoka said, standing up from his spot on the ground. Akumi did nothing but nod. Perhaps the second phase would be more interesting than just running.
Cooking. They were going to fucking cook. I did not just run some 100 kilometers to cook for this bitch on her high pedestal. Not that they were allowed to feed her first. No, they had to feed that mammoth of a man before they were even allowed to go near her highness. After getting over her initial shock of disbelief, Akumi slid her gaze over to Illumi, who she could tell was only a step away from killing everyone within a half kilometer radius. Not that she was faring much better; another snotty sentence from that lady- Menchi was it?- and Akumi would be joining him in the bloodshed.
Hisoka nudged her in the side, ignoring the murderous glare that she sent him.
"You look like you're about to murder everyone in the room," he said quietly, ignoring the shouts of protest that were being sent to the gourmet hunter.
"Well that's because I am," Akumi retorted, her chaotic aura slowly spreading outward. Instinct caused her to lift her right hand up, catching a pin that was aimed directly towards her face.
Immediately, aura from the head of the pin flowed outwards, forming a short message.
'Don't get us kicked out.'
Raising her hand that held the needle, she not-so-subtly showed Illumi the middle finger before letting herself calm down and placing the needle in her back pocket.
"Let's go kill the damn pig," she mumbled, headed towards the forest behind her. Let's get this phase over with. I've killed a good half dozen people in the past hour and I'm ready to kill a few more already.
Pig killed, cooked, and served. It had only taken a matter of minutes and well thrown dagger to the forehead. Now all that was left was to cook for her royal-bitchiness.
Except of course, Akumi had never made sushi in her life.
She knew what it was, thanks to the old man eating it nearly every night, but what the hell was pressed sushi? Is it that fancy stuff in the boat thingy? Is it the one where you roll it up? Goddammit, why did I have to kill the man? I could have called him up to ask. Akumi saw similar looks of confusion on the other applicants around her showing that they were no better off.
Moving to a station, Akumi looked to her right and watched as the loud mouth ninja not-so-subtly tried to contain his laughter. Bastard probably knows what it is, she thought to herself. Looking down at the cutting board, the only supplies available were some rice and various knives. Well, all sushi started off with fish.
With that thought in mind, Akumi left the kitchen area, only to be nearly trampled seconds later by the crowd that was screaming fish. Narrowing her eyes, she shot a death glare at the blond from the clearing who she had heard yell out the words fish moments ago.
'Maybe you should have killed them,' the voice in her head said, and at that moment, Akumi couldn't help but agree with it. Continuing on her way, she found an empty spot at a river and sat down. Too lazy to attempt finding a fish on her own, she simply cut her arm open and let the blood flow mix with the slow moving water of the river. She waited, watching as the water slowly took on a red hue.
The blood acted as a makeshift en, telling her what it came in contact with when mixing with the water. Usually, it was just easier to use en, but there was something strangely satisfying about using the blood. It also saved her the time of getting more blood to kill the thing with. All she had to do was make some of the blood harden and stab itself into the fish and voila! A lovely fish, already dead.
Using the blood still in the water, she moved it so that it lifted the fish out of the water, placing it on the shore in front of her feet.
Ugh I don't want to smell like fish guts. Akumi didn't mind guts at all, but the smell of fish shit was something that she didn't want on her hands, much less in her blood stream when she cut herself. Feeling lazy, she ripped out two earrings, one on each side, and started cleaning out the fish guts with the two whips that came from her ears.
After cleaning out the fish and re-piercing her ears, Akumi made her way back to the giant warehouse where they were cooking, pausing on the way to stare at the poisonous flower by the path. It was very tempting to poison the royal bitch, but she knew that it would come back to bite her in the ass. Still, she plucked the flower from the road, stuffing it in her pocket along with the needle before continuing on.
She stood at her station, watching as the ninja cut his piece of fish into a rectangle. Oh, it's that stuff. Quickly realizing that pressed sushi was nothing but fish on rice, Akumi got to work slicing the fish and cooking rice. Thankfully, it seemed that baldy didn't know how to use a rice maker and so, in a matter of minutes (be thankful for five minute rice) Akumi had a plate of non toxic sushi read to be presented.
Taking the front spot in the line- no one behind her was complaining- she waited impatiently as her royal bitchiness took a bite.
"The rice is too mushy. You fail"
...
How each and every person did not collapse dead, Akumi wasn't sure. The temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees in the span of a second and she saw Illumi move closer to her out of the corner of her eye.
"You're a bitch." The words flew out of Akumi's mouth without any hesitation and she flipped the table that she sat in front of. Ignoring the looks of shock on the applicants faces, she turned around ready to march out of there and murder the first person she ran into.
Feeling something that definitely wasn't Illumi's needle fly towards her, Akumi swayed to the right, letting the projectile- a butcher knife- slice open her cheek. Without looking backwards, she snatched it out of the air and threw it back, knowing that it would land right between the examiner's feet.
I already failed the exam. Attempting to harm the examiner won't do me any more damage. With that thought in mind, Akumi turned around, ready to go all out against Menchi.
Menchi, seeing the predatory look in the applicant's eyes, stood up, pulling out two more butcher knives from who knows where. At this point, all of the applicants had stopped cooking, watching in both horror and interest as to what would happen.
The two opponents stood opposite of each other. Akumi, seemingly unarmed, while Menchi held two knives. Bukhara stood off to the side, knowing better than to interfere. Menchi took in her opponent's scars and cheek that had leaked no blood in a single gaze, quickly deducing that she was in for a serious fight.
"Don't call me a bitch," she said, keeping herself standing straight up. They both knew that the other could move faster than the blink of an eye, and that standing in a fighting position would do nothing to help them.
"It's not my fault you are one," Akumi replied, readying herself to cut open her arm.
"If you attack me, I will outright fail everyone in here," Menchi said, though she already knew that she was going to fail them all anyways. She was in a bad mood.
Apparently no one else realized it either, with the exception of Hisoka and Illumi. The crowd suddenly turned against Akumi, preparing themselves to charge. Seeing the change in allegiance, Akumi quickly pulled out enough blood to create four throwing dagger, two in each hand.
"Must I remind you what happened with the monkey?" she asked the crowd, waving the daggers in the air. "I will do it to each and every one of you here. And don't think that you can take me. I will kill all of you." The crowd hesitated, and seizing the moment, Akumi let her aura spill outwards, the wavelengths of madness pulsating throughout the room.
People all around her dropped to the ground, feeling as if their heads were being split open. Even Menchi, who was experienced in nen, took a step back, shocked at the amount of aura the girl in front of her possessed. Illumi even raised an eyebrow, though he was already accustomed to the strength of it.
Akumi was pissed and at the rate she was going, not many people were walking out of the phase two alive.
Satotz raised the binoculars he had in his hands, watching as applicant after applicant failed.
This isn't going to end well, he thought to himself. Upon seeing applicant 63, the one that had thrown the knives at him, walk with her plate of food, he jumped out of his perch in the tree. Pulling out his phone, he contemplated calling the chairman. He knew from the mood that Menchi was in, no one was going to pass the second phase, which he knew wouldn't go over well with the applicants.
A sudden wave of hostile nen enveloped him, almost causing him to drop the binoculars that he was holding. Placing them against his face once more, he looked to see what the commotion was, though he had a gut feeling that it had something to do with the knife wielder.
The scene of applicant 63 and Menchi having a stare down contest greeted Satotz, who quickly dialed the chairman's number.
"Ah yes Satotz?" The chairman sounded like he was in a good mood.
"Menchi is causing problems and it looks like she and another applicant are about to have a fight," Satotz said, beginning to walk towards the warehouse. He could make it there in seconds if he had to run, but it didn't look like he would need to run. Yet.
"Is it another strong nen user?" Netero asked.
"Yes."
"Very well. I was hovering over the exam site anyways. I'll be there in a jiffy!"
After hanging up, Satotz began running towards the exam site, only stopping when he reached the edge of the forest. Netero needs to hurry up.
Akumi waited for Menchi to make the first move. Illumi stood off in the distance, waiting to see how things would play out. Beside him stood Hisoka, who was eagerly awaiting for the fight to begin.
The first one to charge was a random applicant. Immediately, the man beside him charged as well. Seeing the first two charge out of the corner of eye, Akumi threw two of the daggers, lodging themselves into each man's shoulder.
"Next one will be between your eyes," she said, eyes still focused on Menchi.
Menchi tensed herself, ready to charge in. Akumi, seeing that she was only a moment away from attacking, readied herself to cut open her arms. Slowly, the blood flowed outward from her chee-
WHOP WHOP WHOP!
The sound of a blimp broke the tension in the air, though neither Akumi nor Menchi lowered their weapons. Around them, people began to murmur, pointing upwards at the Hunter Association logo on the blimp. The dangerous atmosphere in the room passed, leaving the burning curiosity of Akumi. The aura she felt emanating from the blimp caused her to nearly drop her control on her blood, not from fear, but because it was so unexpected. Losing most of the her urge to kill the woman in front of her- though she still wanted to stab someone- Akumi straightened up to full height, staring upwards at the figure that was standing atop the blimp.
Without warning, the figure jumped, falling to the ground. The aura that surrounded him barely waned as he landed, only a small fraction of it going to his legs to support them.
"Well, it seems like I'm interrupting something." The old man said, a slight twinkle in his eyes showing his amusement. "Anywho, I'm Isaac Netero, the chairman of the Hunter Association. How are you guys doing?"
YAYY! Chapter 8 is done~ So this chapter was late because I was sick in bed the entire weekend and then stuff... It's Thanksgiving week and I would totally write another chapter this week if I didn't still have to do school work. *ignores three foot high pile* So December is always a busy month for me, especially these upcoming two weeks. Once I get out for break, things should go back to normal, but that doesn't happen for another three weeks. Anyways, next chapter we can look forwards to... uhh *checks notes* a blimp ride? Yay? (You should be excited, put an excited face on, dammit)
Literally you guys, this chapter was a pain in the ass to write. If you've been stalking my profile, you can see. Basically, that thing is updated anytime I work on it so go there if updates get scarce. I can also start posting teasers on tumblr if you like! Tell me!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and favorites, follows, and reviews are appreciated. Stay fabulous dear readers.