"Hey, Mirage! Are you ok?" Gon yelled, the rushing winds whipping by made it hard to hear.
Kagero nodded, "Yea." She was out of breath and panting, but she could continue. "Also you don't have to yell, I'm right behind you..." She panted out, and deadpanned. It wasn't really necessary to shout that loudly. Gon rubbed his head sheepishly and quickly gripped back onto the Kiriko after almost falling off.
"Oh he'll be fine. He's a tough kid." Leorio commented, "If he survived that fall, he'll be able to survive this." His laugh clipped shot when Kagero glared. That was hella scary and she wasn't really in a good mood. She was tired, both mentally and physically. She had been thrown out to the wolves—not the Kiriko, since they shapeshifted—and sure it's been interesting so far but man.
I'm tired. She sighed.
"Don't worry Gon," Kurapika came in, "Mirage will say something if he needs to rest." He looked over to Kagero with a serious face. "Right Mirage?" He smiled kindly… almost too kindly.
"O-of course..." She wiped sweat off her forehead nervously at the implied threat. Then she shifted the focus off of herself, "But shouldn't we let the Kiriko rest too?"
"We'll be fine. We will let you know if we needed a break." The largest Kiriko—the husband—said.
"I see," Were the last words out of Kagero's mouth before it was dead silent for the next few hours. She could hear loud snoring from Leorio and quiet snoring from Gon. Gon even had a snot bubble going on.
How could they fall asleep while riding on wolves... Kiriko... what? She ended up confusing herself. She looked to Kurapika, the treat from earlier on her mind. Kagero would have spoken up about her fatigue but she was worried they wouldn't make it in time. She would rather run the whole way and have extra time to rest than take a break now and go straight into the exam.
They reached the outskirts of the city and from atop of the hill they were on they were looking down on the city. Kagero was expecting it to be more polluted, but it was rather nice.
"We can slide down the hill and we'll be a few minutes away."
Kagero wiped the sweat from her face, she felt sticky and it was very unpleasant.
"Let's go!" Gon jumped off and started sliding down.
"What will we do with him?" Leorio sighed, but followed anyways.
Kagero took another moment to recover and launched herself into the air and kicked up a dust of dirt as she slid.
They entered Zaban city the other Kiriko left, leaving the son to lead the group to the sight of the hunter exam. He was explaining that without a navigator, getting to the hunter exam would prove to be extremely difficult or even next to impossible. Gon was too busy running around and jumping from one shady stall to another to pay attention to the man's rant. That was until Leorio yelled at Gon to get his attention and got him to start walking with them again. Thank goodness Gon didn't go to the next stall. That guy looked like he wanted more than a bargain.
Eww.
"Hey guys, I'll be right back."
"Okay—Wait what? Kagero! Where are you going?!" Leorio shouted.
Kagero was too far to hear Leorio. A store in the distance caught her eye, a superstore. She desperately needed a shower, but she knew she wouldn't be getting one anytime soon. So she settled on getting a small towel and some hygiene products to rid her of that sweat. She also got some detergent for her clothes. While looking around she saw a few bags like Kurapika's.
"My pouches won't be able to fit everything…" She picked up a bag in the clearance bin. It had a whole bunch of extra pockets and stuff with a larger main compartment. It would do.
After purchasing her tiems with the rest of the money she had—she still had no idea in the world how her father's money changed currency—she went to find the others. Running out the door she threw the bag over her shoulder with her stuff already in it. She felt bad for leaving them without much of a warning but it was a spur of the moment thing and she left without thinking it through all the way.
Kagero saw a tall man next to a blond and a short spiky haired kid. Yep, they were an easy bunch to notice. She ran up behind them. "Hey, I'm back."
"Where did you go?" Kurapika asked, "We were worried."
She lifted the gray bag to show them. "Just needed to get some stuff." She looked up to the black night sky. "Don't you think we should rest a night before entering? We have about two days before the deadline right? I could sleep for a whole day if I could."
"That's a great idea!"
It took a few minutes to find a place to stay. It wasn't that great of a place, but it worked. Kagero took the chance to take a well needed shower and washed her clothes. After the shower she flopped onto her bed and fell asleep.
Later in the night she started shifting around in her sleep, being haunted by a strange dream. It wasn't scary, just unsettling. A dark void lit very faintly while a dark black cloud circled around her. She woke to knocking at her door and panicked for a few seconds before realizing where she was.
"I'll be out in a minute!"
She joined the group and the Kiriko son led them. A bit more walking and he led them out of the 'please stab me now' section of town and to a huge white building, "I believe that this is the building." He said pointing at a building. However it wasn't the one that three of them thought it was.
"Ahhh, it's tall!" Gon exclaimed. "They have a really nice building."
Leorio whistled, impressed at the size. "So this is the exam site," he said in almost a whisper. Kurapika was silent and just stared at the building, appraising it silently. The three of them stood there in front of the tall building saying nonsense about the hunter exam
"Hey guys, it's over here!" Kagero called to the boys, waving her arm. The boys turned their heads, clearly surprised. The navigator had actually pointed to the ramen shop. It looked shabby, and Leorio started complaining about the fact that thousands of hunter applicants couldn't fit into that building. "No one would expect it to be here." Kagero pointed out. They entered the restaurant to be greeted by a chubby looking chef.
"Is the back room open?"
"What will you have?"
"The steak combo that opens your eyes to the light. For four."
"For four? How would you like them?"
"Grilled over a low flame, until cooked."
"Got it. Let yourselves into the back room."
"Wait," Kagero said, stopping them, "If you have to use the washroom, you should go now."
"Good idea," Leorio said.
While the boys went to the restroom Kagero ordered food for them. Stake would take too long, so she just got them some chicken strips and fries, though she got a salad and fries for herself. I guess it's not just a ramen shop. She mainly called for the bathroom break to get some time to order food. She was starving. The quick breakfast earlier didn't even come close to sating her hunger.
While the order was being made, she used the restroom. Then she heard her order number being called. Her stomach growled. She grabbed the food and went to the room they were directed to earlier. Kagero stopped before the door, she could hear them talking and heard her name. Naturally she wanted to know what they were talking about.
"Kagero's taking a while in there. Is he okay? I have some medicine for constipation."
"I can't wait for the steak combo!"
"Gon… that was just a password to get us inside." Kurapika said nonchalantly
"Aww, so we don't get to eat?"
That was when Kagero chose to enter, opening the door with her foot since she had her hands full. "Who said anything about not eating? We need our energy for what we're doing."
"Aww man, you're a life saver." Leorio drooled at the food she was putting on the table.
"Indeed." Kurapika agreed. His eyes seemed to brighten at the food being set.
They started eating and after a little exchange between the navigator and Gon, the navigator left and the room rumbled.
"So it's an elevator..." Kagero muttered looking up to the slowly descending numbers on the wall.
Everyone sat down, though there were only three chairs so Kagero sat against the wall and leaned her arm on her knee head on arm and relaxed, enjoying her meal. But...It was disturbed by an argument between Kurapika and Leorio... Well with the group they had there would be little silence. Then they soon took it to poor Gon, pestering him about which type hunter is better. Kagero clenched her fists and ground her teeth in irritation. Then she exploded, interrupting them right before the elevator stopped.
"Shut up!" She yelled, getting up off the floor, she slammed a fist on the wall. The three looked to an annoyed Kagero scratching the back of her head in an annoyed fashion, she was clearly angry and the two stopped arguing. "A Hunter can do whatever they want, be it for money, honor or both! So quit squabbling!" The elevator door opened and they left, leaving Kagero to glare at their backs. The three of them were terrified by her outburst. She took a deep breath in and took a minute to herself to calm down. Though she would still be irritable, she walked out of the room feeling less angry than before. Though damn her hand still hurt from slamming it against the wall, she could feel it pulsing from where she hit it.
She shook her hand, the pain slowly ebbing away, and entered the room.
The room was shabby, an underground pipeline it seemed. She could practically sense everyone's attention turning to her when she walked in. The majority of them didn't feel like a threat but the odd few did. She would have to find out what people she should stay away from, or at least be on their good side.
"Strange atmosphere down here," Leorio voiced, actually looking serious for once.
"Everyone here is a master in their own right." The blond pointed out.
"Excuse me!" Gon spoke up, wanting to ask questions, "...Wow everyone's all tense." Gon went quiet.
"Hello, please take a number." A green bean man thingy handed out plate with numbers on them. Leorio got 403, Kurapika 404, and Gon 405. The bean turned around and went to leave to hand numbers to other people that were coming in from another entrance, a magical mole creature guiding them. The four continued talking and there was a rush of people entering the room. Kagero noticed that she was the only one without a number tag.
She went to the bean and taped him on his shoulder. He seemed to be surprised. "Um...You forgot my number. I didn't get one."
"Oh, I didn't notice you. When did you come in?" Beans asked.
"With 403, 404, and 405."
"Hmm, Well I already handed out other numbers so you'll be 410. Would that be fine?"
"Yes..." Kagero nodded and put her number on her scarf. She walked back to the group. "We should go rest." She pointed to the wall. The others nodded and walked with her.
When they got to the wall Kagero jumped up to the higher pipe to sit on. She decided to meditate since she thought she wouldn't get the chance to later in the day.
"What is he doing?" Leorio said looking up towards Kagero with a weird look.
"He's examining everyone." Kurapika said as he did the same.
"No, he's meditating, his eyes are closed." Gon seemed to notice what Kagero was actually doing, or going to do. Kurapika was also right, as it was what she was currently doing.
Kagero was taking beep breaths to circulate her breathing and calm herself. While doing that she glanced around the room and saw some people that stood out from the rest. A sliver haired boy, he was drinking canned juice that he just received from a short and plump man. The man looked scared or uneasy for some reason, but worried would better describe it. Then there was a person with pins or tacks in his face, walking around and twitching occasionally. He was not someone to go near—he sent a chill down her spine. She observed some more and felt someone staring at her. Kagero turned to look in that direction and locked eyes with a clown, or jester looking person. She blinked and smiled at him, not wanting to get on anyone's bad side. She couldn't see clearly enough, but he raised an amused eyebrow. She closed her eyes, deciding to take the rest of the time to meditate, though she could still feel the clowns gaze.
"Haven't seen you guys around before," The trio looked at the man who approached them. Kagero continued meditating and ignored the guy. "Yo."
"You can tell that were new?" Gon asked.
"More or less. After all this will be my thirty-fifth attempt."
"T-thirty-fifth?!" Gon and Leorio repeated in shock.
"I guess you can say that I'm an exam veteran." This earned a snarky remark from Leorio. Though the man ignored it, brushing off the jap to his pride. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
"Thanks." Gon didn't even think anything like an insult, unlike Leorio.
"My name in Tonpa." Gon and the fat man named Tonpa shook hands.
"I'm Gon!" He looked over to Kurapika and Leorio, "And these two are Kurapika and Leorio," The two nodded. Then Gon pointed to Kagero up on the pipe, "That's Kagero, though we call him Mirage!" He said smiling as usual.
Kagero kept her eyes closed and waved at the guy. This got Leorio and Tonpa to sweat drop. They tried looking up to see her face, but the shadow of her hood covered her eyes, and with the angle they looked up to her from her scarf covered her mouth.
"Hey are there others who have taken the exam a whole bunch of times like you?" Gon asked innocently.
Tonpa started talking about the other 'veterans' in the room; such as Todo the snake charmer, and Bodoro the martial artist. He continued on talking but was interrupted by a loud scream. Everyone in the room looked to the scene. Kagero opened an eye to look at the scene. The man's arms were dissipating into the air, like flower petals. Sure it was gruesome, but it really did look pretty beautiful. There were even sparkles thrown in there.
"Ah, how peculiar. His arms seem to be turning into flower petals." A man in a clown attire with red hair and face paint said with evil intent oozing out of him. "No smoke and mirrors here. Please do apologize when you bump into someone." Then he walked off, leaving the people around him to stare at him in pure terror.
Tonpa and Gon continued talking when Tonpa offered drinks in order to 'commemorate' their 'friendship', please note the sarcasm. That's when she opened her eyes, she saw him giving those drinks to the silver haired boy. It seemed suspicious that he looked worried, so she decided to speak up about the matter, the drinks could possibly be poisoned.
"I wouldn't trust him if I were you." Kagero looked down at Tonpa. She gave him a glare, Tonpa and the group sweat dropped, though Tonpa seemed threatened.
"He's just being nice Mirage!" Leorio yelled and took a can. "As it happened, I was thirsty..." Tonpa gave cans to Kurapika and Gon too.
"Thanks." Gon said cheerfully and Kurapika in his usual demeanor.
"Best of luck to all of us! Cheers!"
"Wait, don't drink that!" Kagero jumped down and grabbed Kurapika's can and knocked Leorio's out of his and caught it. Kurapika was surprised, but thought there must be a reason for her actions. Leorio was about to yell at her, but Tonpa did before he could.
"Hey that's rude!" Tonpa yelled.
She was just about to grab Gon's drink, but the can was already on his lips. She made a tch noise and glared at Tonpa again.
"Bleeeeh." Gon spat out his juice. Tonpa was taken aback. "Tonpa-san, this juice must have expired. It tastes funny!"
"Seriously?! That was close!" That loud voice that boomed in the room was clearly Leorio's.
If only he would listen in the first place.
"Mirage, I think we owe you a thanks." Kurapika looked to the cans in Kagero's hands. "But how could you tell that it was poisoned?"
She blinked, "I couldn't," Kurapika, Leorio and Tonpa sweat dropped at her blunt answer, "But he has a bad vibe coming from him. He's not as nice as he seems. Also, you could tell by that malicious smirk he had on when you guys were about to drink the stuff if you didn't notice."
Tonpa laughed nervously, "Sorry about that again. Well... I-I'll see you around." Tonpa walked off quickly, obviously not wanting to be there since he was caught red handed.
"Talkative old man..." Leorio back talked the fatso.
Kagero chucked lightly at Leorio's attitude. "I guess I'll relax some more. You guys should join me, we're probably going to be here for a while." Kagero walked towards the wall and sat against it. The others joined. "Here." She tossed them some energy bars and a bottle of water each. She was glad that they spent the night back in Zaban. She got some supplies and some well needed rest after that long run. "Those'll be good for later."
"Neh neh, Mirage." Gon started after eating his bar.
"Yea?"
"How does your sweater glow?" It seems that he forgot that he had already asked that same question before.
"I don't know exactly, but I think its special pigments in the cloth that react to darkness. For example a firefly. Though I'm not sure if that's correct. It's just a theory. Hmm..." She was thinking of other possibilities, but Leorio cut her train of thought off.
"I think that's the most you have said in a sentence!" Leorio was surprised. Kagero never really talked, she just replied when talked to. Though she did talk on her own, sometimes. He thought that she was weird.
Kagero huffed lightly, showing her annoyance, or embarrassment. Whichever way they took it would be correct in one way or another.
"That could be it, the chemicals in the cloth could be reacting to each other." Kurapika pondered with a hand to his chin.
"My mother must have been an amazing woman," She mused, rocking back on her heels, "She made it."
"Uuah, that's so cool!"
Kagero pat Gon's head and showed a small smile. "I think so too."
She looked to the wall with a confused look, she felt that something would happen soon. Then she felt a small tremor, she jumped up to her feet getting looks from the other three and stared at the wall of the room. Another person across the room was surprised, the man who had been watching her... Hisoka. After she jumped up a weird noise came from the other side of the wall and the wall started rising. The whole room's eyes were on that one wall.
There stood a single man in a deep blue suit. "I apologize for the wait. The entry period for Hunter applicants has ended." There was a slight pause. "The Hunter Exam will now begin!" He explained that if you weren't strong enough you would or could die.
The man started walking and the applicants followed. He picked up his pace to a run. He introduced himself as Satotz, the Phase One examiner. When Satotz said that the first exam has already started the room became tense.
"So we just have to follow him." Kagero stated the obvious.
The group started running.
It had been about a half an hour since they started. Kagero thought that Satotz would increase the pace in the future so she sat down.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Leorio yelled.
"Go on," She waved a hand, "I'll catch up." Kagero was sitting on the ground changing her shoes. Changing them from flat shoes to her rollerblades. She got up and secured them in place.
Back with the group Gon continuously looked behind him to look for Kagero.
"Gon he'll catch up." Kurapika reassured.
"Yeah, his shoe lace probably broke." Leorio tried to cheer Gon up, but he didn't remember that breaking a shoe lace was actually bad luck, thus making Gon all the more worried about her.
Meanwhile, in the very back of the group Kagero was getting used to her rollerblades on the surface of the tunnel. There were no rocks but it was a little bumpy. This would be good for her to get used to moving at high speeds and improving her eyesight as she evaded large bumps in the tunnel. For some reason her clothing was glowing brighter. She hadn't noticed till now but it was probably because of the friction. I guess it charges up with friction and static. She thought. Mother must have been a genius, I hope to find her! Kagero's motive just grew stronger with the new found respect for her mother. Hmm, I guess I should catch up, I'm rather far behind...
About an hour later further down the tunnel were Leorio, Kurapika and Gon. They were worried that Kagero dropped out, but he had run to Zaban so he should be fine with this. Unless he's still tired from the other day… Leorio was caught up in his thoughts when he noticed a kid on a skateboard. He was easy to notice as he had bright silver hair and shockingly blue eyes.
"Hey! Wait up, kid!" Leorio shouted getting a 'hmm' from the boy, which just annoyed him more. "You should show the Hunter Exam some respect!" He was clearly angry, his face looked like a monkeys when he was angry.
"What are you talking about?" The boy acted clueless.
"Why are you using a skateboard? That's cheating!" He pointed to the red striped, yellow skateboard.
"Why?"
"Why?! Cause this is an endurance test!" Leorio argued.
"Not it's not!" Gon interrupted. Leorio noticed something glowing coming towards them at a great speed.
"Leorio, Gon's right. He just told us to follow him." Kagero sighed, zooming past them, leaning back on the breaks causing a large cloud of dust to form. Her scarf was flying about, leaving a trail of neon, like a laser light, and her clothes glowing brighter than before. She slowed down and let them catch up.
Leorio felt betrayed when he saw her rollerblades. "Not you too!" He eyed her, noticing that her clothes were glowing, though he absently thought that it was rather cool.
The silver boy slowed down to talk to Gon and Kagero. "Hey, how old are you?"
"Twelve." Gon answered.
"Hmm," He paused and started wavering on his board and kicked his skateboard into the air, spinning, and caught it. "I guess I'll run too."
"WOW!" Gon exclaimed with that huge smile of his. "That was cool!"
"I'm Killua."
"I'm Gon."
Killua then looked to Kagero, "And you?"
"Oh he's Kagero! I call him Mirage though!" Gon introduced Kagero.
"How old are you?" Killua was curious to Kagero's age.
"Thirteen." Kagero's hands came out of her pockets and went behind her head and she leaned backwards a bit. She had gotten used to the weight distribution of her rollerblades and could almost do anything on them now.
"You don't look thirteen...but you're tall."
"That's because of these." Kagero lifted a foot and pointed to her roller-shoes.
"Those are so cool!" The two boys were amazed.
"Where'd you get them?" Killua asked curiously, clearly interested.
"I didn't get them anywhere." The boys stared at her waiting for more. Kagero sighed and continued, "I made them." Gon was incredibly amazed and Killua whistled, but otherwise stayed silent looking down at her shoes. "Your clothing is rather cool too." Killua stopped staring at her shoes and looked at her sweater and scarf that were dimming.
"These are keep sakes from my mother."
"They're rather flashy though, and you look suspicious." Killua looked up to her hood that was completely covering her face with its shadow. Even though they were shorter than her the shadow on her face blacked her face out. No one could see her face other than a shine of blue every now and then.
"Really?" Gon joined in.
"I do?" Kagero smirked slightly with a laugh. "I guess that I have had my hood up the whole time." She grabbed the tip of her hood and tugged it down a bit. "Though, no one has seen my hoodless head as of yet." Kagero added on, making her seem more suspicious. She laughed again at Killua's expression.
"AH!" Gon yelled and pointed to Kagero. She was surprised at the sudden outburst, "That's the first time you laughed!" Kagero was certainly someone who didn't trust other people that easily, secondly she never played with kids her age so she has a hard time opening up. "Also we have never really seen your face. You've never have your hood down!"
"..."
"Something wrong?" Killua asked.
"Nope." Kagero began thinking. It's probably been four hours since the exam started, and it's been about sixty kilometers of running so far—well rollerblading for her. It was lessening her load quite a lot, it was nice.
She looked behind herself to check on Leorio. He's been running out of steam. Leorio was slowing down, he looked like a wreck. Not even a minute later he collapsed. Kagero nudged Gon's shoulder and pointed behind them. The three of them stopped.
"Hey forget him. Let's get going." Kagero grabbed Killua's shoulder and he looked to her. Kagero shook her head.
"Screw this..." Leorio muttered. "I'm gonna become a Hunter!" He bolted from his knelt position on the ground and zoomed passed the three leaving a cloud of dust. "DAMN IT ALL! Eat my dust!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Gon just smiled widely and used his fishing rod to get Leorio's brief case.
"Cool!" Killua burst out with a big grin. "Let me try that later."
"Only if you let me try your skateboard!"
The three of them continued running. Once they caught up with the group, they reached a long stair case.
"What are you gonna do now Mirage?" Gon asked with curiosity. She was on wheels after all.
"Just wait and see." Once they got to the stair case Kagero jumped and started rollerblading up the side of the stair case where there was a smoother rounded surface. It would be hard to rollerblade on, but she didn't mind. She felt like showing off, Killua rubbing off on her.
"Cool!"
"Hey Gon, want to race? The loser has to buy dinner." Killua baited Gon into a bet.
"Sure!"
"Do you mind if I join in?" Kagero got a nod from Killua. Then they picked up there pace. Kagero couldn't go much faster than she was while on her wheels, so she decided to keep her pace until she wanted to speed up later.
Further up the stairs Kagero was still rollerblading and the group was still together. They caught up with Leorio and Kurapika who were in the middle of a conversation.
"See you at the goal, Kurapika."
"Catch you later, old timer." Killua just ticked a nerve.
"I'm not old! I'm a teenager just like you guys!" And in that moment, time froze anime style. Everyone's faces were dumbfounded.
"Eh!"
"No way!"
"He doesn't look that old...Looks like he's in his twenties." Kagero got stares from Kurapika, Gon and Killua. Though Leorio looked insanely happy and went to hug Kagero, but she avoided by speeding up, avoiding the hug and letting him fall, almost tumbling down the stairs. He recovered quickly and got up to run with Kurapika again. He was yelling that Kagero was a 'meanie' and such.
Further up the stairs Killua started talking again, "I'm impressed that you guys can keep up with me." Gon took it as a complement and rubbed the back of his head, but Killua actually just insulted everyone else by saying how slow they were.
Gon brought up the topic about why they wanted to be hunters, Killua explained that he wasn't really interested in becoming a hunter. Gon also explained his reason.
"What about you Kagero?"
"Me? To look for a family member." Kagero looked down to the spiky hair in her peripheral vision, "Same as Gon."
The conversation was cut off when they saw a light at the end of the tunnel. It was far away, but you could see it. Gon and Killua bolted.
Kagero had just passed the main group of people that were running and noticed someone. She caught up to him and went beside him.
"Hey," Kagero got his attention, "Hisoka was it?" Hisoka raised an eyebrow, both at her approaching him and her peculiar shoes. "How'd you do that trick to that man's arms earlier? It was interesting."
Hisoka stared at Kagero. "Name."
She raised an eyebrow, not that he could see it though. "...Kagero."
"It's a trade secret, Kagero~" He said her name in the creepiest of tones but it didn't faze her. This piqued Hisoka's interest. He rarely met people who were not fazed by him and his creepiness.
The light at the end of the tunnel brightened and Kagero's eyes widened. Crap! The bet! She yelled in her mind.
"Well I gotta' go, Bet to win." With that she jumped really high into a flip and changed her shoes to normal and bolted up the stairs. Hisoka just stared at Kagero, eyes slightly widened, he was actually surprised. His mouth did a one eighty, from his normal frown, to an amused smirk.
Kagero ran up the stairs passing everyone else. Satotz stopped at the top of the stairs and started to look behind him. Gon and Killua were just about to pass the finish line when Kagero flashed to the other side before them. Satotz quickly turned his head to Kagero internally surprised about the pure speed shown.
"GOAL!" The two boys yelled, and then turned to look to each other.
"Yay! I win." Gon's hand was in the air in a pose.
"What are you talking about? I was faster..."
"No I was!" Gon shot back. Then Killua did. This went on for a while before they asked Satotz. Satotz stood there surprised staring at Kagero. Those clothes! It can't be. Leidra? Satotz thoughts were interrupted when Gon asked a question.
"Hey, who was faster?"
"I believe that you crossed the finish line simultaneously."
"Oh..."
"But he crossed first." Satotz pointed to Kagero.
"Eeeh, when did you cross?!" Gon and Killua said in tune.
"Right before you guys..." Kagero said sheepishly scratching her head.
"AH!" Gon pointed to Kagero. "Your hood is down!" Just as Gon yelled Kurapika and Leorio made it up the stairs.
"Oh, you're right." Kurapika agreed.
"We haven't seen your face before." Leorio was shocked.
"Your hair colour is interesting," Killua said.
"Like you should talk," Kagero retorted, narrowing her eyes at him and getting a slight pout from Killua.
"It's true though! Is it natural?!" Gon exclaimed.
"Yea."
"Still it's an unusual colour, dark turquoise and aqua? Did you get highlights?" Leorio pestered.
"No."
"And your eyes too, there not contacts are they?"
"N-no." Kagero blushed a little as Leorio go to close.
"But no one has such bright green eyes." He examined her face. "I've never seen green eyes like that, and now that I have a closer look you look feminine..." Kurapika grabbed Leorio's collar and pulled him away.
"Can't you see that you're pestering Mirage?" Kurapika scolded Leorio.
"And that, my friends, is why I wear my hood." Kagero pulled up her hood far down on her head covering her medium spiky hair wig, covering her unusual eye colour with the shade of her hood.
"Wait," Gon reached up to her head and fixed her hood. Her hood wasn't as far down on her head now. "Now we can see your face!" Gon smiled happily.
"Now that I think of it, you're tall for your age." Kurapika pointed out as Leorio was standing beside her again.
"You're right! He's just as tall as Kurapika!" Gon was surprised. Leorio looked to Kagero. He saw that Kagero was just under Kurapika in height.
Kagero sighed, "Like I said before... It's because of these." She pointed down to her shoes. "They had to be made taller to fit the wheels in. If I didn't have these on I'd be a bit taller than Killua."
"Oh."
The happy moment was interrupted by someone's yell. "Don't let them fool you!" Everyone looked to the corner where it came from to see a man come out from it. "Don't fall for it...He's lying to you!" He pointed to Satotz. "He's an imposter!" He spouted nonsense about him being the real examiner. The examinees were wavering. He pulled out an ape that looked like Satotz and explained what it was, accusing Satotz.
Right then and there Kagero flashed in front of the man and turned around to deflect cards that were sent flying her way, she deflected them by hitting the face of the cards, and glared to the source. Gon looked around to not see Kagero anywhere but looked to where Hisoka threw the cards to and saw her. The man had done it to Satotz too, though he caught the cards. Kagero's hood fell down again when she 'flashed' to the 'examiner'. Little did she know, her eyes were glowing slightly, probably from excitement. Like her mother's clothing. But you could feel an immense suppressed power in them. No one person had eyes exactly like these. The man was terrified and could move. His eyes were glued to Kagero's. She then spoke in a deeper threatening voice.
"You sure you want to do this? You could have died from those cards. I'm sure he'll try again if you cause more trouble." She took a good look in his eyes and noticed something. He was an animal. An ape she assumed from the haphazardly hidden tail in his pant leg. "You don't smell human... You smell... like a wild animal." Kagero went behind him and grabbed his arm and threw him into the wetlands forest far in the distance. Then she glared at the ape on the ground. "I would leave now if I was you, or you'll be prey to someone much more threatening." She looked to Hisoka who smirked but continued to look her way. He was impressed by her abilities. But he was more interested in her eyes. He looked at Satotz and broke the silence.
"Then that settles it." Hisoka was shuffling his deck of cards. "You're the real one."
"Examiners are Hunters selected by the committee to perform this duty without pay. Any hunter bearing the title we seek would have been able to block that attack." Hisoka looked to Kagero. "Also a Hunter would have been able to avoid his attack too." He smirked getting the majority of people to shudder.
"I shall take that as a complement. However, should you attack me again, for any reason, I will report you for turning on an examiner and you will be immediately disqualified. Are we clear?"
"Sure." Hisoka replied nonchalantly.
Satotz explained that swindlers swamp was full of deception such as before. "I believe that some of you were fooled into suspecting my identity?" Some people started laughing...Leorio included. "Understand? If you lose sight of me you will never reach the exam's Second Phase. Do bear that in mind." Satotz turned and started walking. "Then let us be on our way, follow me."
With that the dreaded marathon continued...
(Omake)
"Pfft, how would he get poison into a can?" Leorio scoffed, picking his drink up off the ground. "That's what I have medicine for anyways." He opened the can and chugged it before Kagero could stop him.
"Leorio!" Kagero shouted.
"Oh psh, I'll be fine!" He waved her off.
"That stupid imbecile..." she mumbled, and by the looks of it Kurapika agreed with her.
Soon after Leorio regretted his decision and ran in the opposite direction, towards the elevator, yelling, "It's gonna explode!"
Man he doesn't listen does he? Kagero and Kurapika thought.
(Omake End)