Thanks to Bonzy, Ookami-25, SlightlyYandereMelissa, RedRaptor711, kinbarii. tan, OperaEagle IcelynLacelett, Lexi Evans908, llFanFicsForLifell, kopycat101, neonkoi, InuKailani, and Nycel for F/F!
Reviews (before edits):
SuperGeneralJoker: March break should be longer… Hang in there until your break T-T Thanks for the compliment :) I try!
(After edits)
Purifiredwate: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and I was a little worried that they were OOC last chapter, so that makes me feel better :) Thanks for reviewing!
Isella of the wolf tribe: Yeah, there must've been different rules 'cause otherwise it doesn't really make any sense, does it? Thanks for reviewing!
OperaEagle IcelynLacelet: Thanks! Don't worry, there'll definitely be some action in the future since Raze loves to fight — even though she gets her butt kicked most of the time.
[Raze]: Hey!
[A]: I'm not planning on giving up on the story, however, the updates will start slowing down again because I'll be at my cottage, then at school. Also, Raze isn't exactly a "princess", per say (her family's pretty damn rich, though). By family power, are you referring to the "barrier" around her ankle? That'll be explained in a much later chapter :3 Thanks for reviewing!
Red Distress: Not quite, but similar — I'll tell you right now that Raze's total strength is pretty much the same as the average full grown male. She's not all that strong. (I had to do some research on that, lol. I'm gonna watch that Saiyuki thing now, it looks interesting.)
There's something else that the bracelet/anklet is hiding, and it's not any power/strength.
Chapter Six,
I X Hate X Running
XXX
Recap:
Hiroshi… That guy was still a mystery to Kurapika. He would be friendly and polite(ish) around Raze, occasionally joining to tag-team Leorio, but otherwise, he was quiet and didn't speak much. From what Kurapika could tell, he was very protective of Raze and he was strong, judging by his well-toned muscles that were underneath his shirt. His sword seemed to be his only weapon other than his above average sense of smell.
The three things the blond found odd was that he'd never heard of this "Nakamura" clan before. He'd heard tales of demi-humans and villages, but he'd never heard of a clan in the Republic of Padokea. Demi-humans were found all over the continents, so they weren't all that rare, but the majority of all the demi-humans and whatnot were over in the Azain continent or South Western Padokea.
Secondly, why were they hiding so many things? They hid where they came from, their last names, Raze's race, and they were definitely doing the Hunter exam for more than just leaving home and getting away with certain crimes. Going by what he knew of races, they appeared to be from Jappon or the south western Yorbian continent from their appearances and clothing.
Finally, what was that anklet? Raze always got jittery and nervous whenever they brought it up.
"It isn't a bracelet, exactly…" Raze trailed off, looking a little at a loss how to explain it. "It's more like… A barrier, I suppose."
A barrier? What did she mean by that? Was Raze an incredibly dangerous super being?
Kurapika glanced over to his right, where Raze was mimicking Leorio mockingly who was lecturing Gon about who knows what. Seeing Kurapika, Raze winked at him with an impish grin and proceeded to fall on her face. He bit back a laugh at her immediately sticking her hand up in the air and shouting,
"I'm okay!" She brushed the dust off of the front of her black hoodie but missed the back entirely.
"Ano, Raze, your back is all covered in dirt," Gon pointed out.
"Ehh? Really?"
Nope, there's no way Raze is an incredibly overpowered super being, he concluded, watching her attempts to get it off. It must just be coincidence that she happened to meet Hiso- Kurapika paused, realizing he forgot about something.
"Raze, may I ask you a question?"
XXX
I continued to brush myself off even when I heard Kurapika say something to me, ignoring all the eyes that were on the five of us.
"Shoot."
"Why did you know that man's name?" He asked, standing off to the side of our group, reminding me of Hiroshi for a moment.
"Which man?" I asked, gesturing to the vast amount of males in the room. There were maybe… Three or four females other than me, and I didn't really count since I was kind-of disguised as a dude. "There are many men in this… Whatever this is. A sewer?"
"Hisoka," Kurapika said, his face almost blank, as if he was assessing me for some reason. "How did you know who he was before Tompa-san explained?" I blinked, forgetting that they weren't with me.
"Eh? Raze, you know Hisoka?" Gon asked curiously, joining the conversation.
"Seriously?" Leorio said, looking a little nervous. "T-Then, d-does that mean that you're…?" I rolled my eyes, getting what he was implying.
"Oh, calm down, I'm definitely not as strong as him," I pushed up my glasses, which slipped down my nose. I'd get my ass kicked all over the place if I had a contest of strength against some of these guys. "I just happened to bump into him and we made a deal." I paused. "I told him that his eyes were pretty too." Hiroshi groaned, almost inaudibly.
"You met the most dangerous and deadliest person in this room- who could easily squash you like a gnat - and you told him his eyes were pretty."
"Yep." I grinned. "He wasn't all that scary, he gave me a nickname." I felt a shiver of excitement run down my spine. "But he is strong, very strong," I felt my grin widening.
"Why?" Kurapika pressed, wanting to know the answer. "Why would he make a deal with someone he just met?" I shifted my weight and I could feel all of their eyes on me. Damn it, how does he always know what questions to ask to make me squirm?
"I, um…" I kicked the ground with my foot and wrung my hands together nervously. Hiroshi narrowed his eyes on me, having already figured out what Hisoka found out. "Uh, he found out that I… um," I stammered, making Leorio roll his eyes.
"Just spit it out already!" He said, gaze sharpening, making me flinch.
RINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRING!
My head shot over to the front, following the sudden noise that had been my saviour, although my ears were bleeding.
Saved by the bell, quite literally, I sighed in relief, then shot a glare over at Hiroshi, who didn't bother to help me out at all when I was scrambling for an answer. Then again, if he answered it would've looked a little strange.
As we watched, the half-circle cutting off the rest of the tunnel lifted up and revealed a much longer pathway and a man wearing a purple suit. He had neatly combed grey hair and a black moustache, although I couldn't see his mouth. He reminded me of a butler I had once seen at home.
"I apologize for the wait," His voice echoed around the silent room. "The entry period for the Hunter Exam has ended. The Hunter Exam will now begin!" He declared, making several applicants grin and others gripe. Leorio and Gon looked excited, while Kurapika and Hiroshi looked serious and somber. They really were two peas in a pod. Maybe that was why I was so comfortable around Kurapika.
I readjusted my backpack, bouncing on the balls of my feet. I could only hope that it wouldn't be a test of stamina, because I had awful stamina compared to the others in my village. I was fast at recovering it, but I had to carefully gauge my strength each time I was doing drawn-out fights. I remembered Hiroshi taunting me when I was little about being so weak when I had to stop and catch my breath.
"A final caution," He started, looking over the huge crowd of applicants, "If you are short on luck or abilities, you may very well end up seriously injured or dead." I glanced over at Gon, who had a determined look on his face. I won't let that happen. "Those who accept the risks, please come with me. Otherwise," He gestured to the back of the room, close to where we were standing. "Please exit via the elevator behind you." There was a long silence as everyone looked around, seeing if anyone wanted to leave. "Very well. All 406 applicants will participate in Phase One." He turned and started down the tunnel, robotically swinging his arms and legs up in a ninety-degree angle.
We all started walking down the corridor. I looked around but it all appeared the same no matter how long we walked. I couldn't see an end to the tunnel either. Damn it, it's definitely a stamina test unless monsters start falling out of the ceiling.
"Of course, no one turned around and left," Leorio said, glancing around at the applicants surrounding us. "I'd hoped a few might withdraw."
"What type of person would make it all the way to the Hunter exam, only to withdraw?" Hiroshi asked, walking beside me calmly.
"I don't know," Leorio mumbled, looking a bit sheepish. "W-What?" The older male started to jog, swinging his briefcase in his right hand.
"The people in front started running," Gon said in reply to his startled noise, stating the obvious.
"He's picked up the pace," Kurapika agreed.
"I believe I have neglected to introduce myself," The purple suited man called down the hallway once again. "I am Satoz, the Phase One examiner." I rolled my eyes. It was kind of obvious that he was the first examiner. "I shall lead you to the Exam's second Phase,"
"Second Phase?" An applicant in front of us asked. "What about Phase One?"
"It's already commenced," Satoz answered, much to the group's confusion. I groaned, hanging my head in despair.
"Oh no, oh gods, no," Kurapika sent me a concerned look.
"Raze?"
"It's already started?"
"This is part of the test?"
"You must follow me to Phase Two," Satoz called over his shoulder. "This is the Exam's First Phase." I let out an even louder groan and got a look of pity from Hiro.
"I'll carry you if it gets really bad," He offered.
"Follow you? That's it?" The applicant from before asked.
"Yes," Satoz agreed. "I cannot tell you where or when you must arrive. You must follow me."
"I see how it is…" Kurapika said under his breath, having noticed something we didn't.
"This test is weird," Gon hummed, giving me a worried glance, then looking over at Hiroshi. "What's wrong with Raze?"
"Raze doesn't like running," Hiroshi explained, speaking as if I wasn't there. Ass. "Actually, Raze hates physical activity in general. She's a slug-"
"I am not!"
"You'd lay on the ground the entire day if I let you," Hiroshi snorted, prompting me to glare at him. "That's one way you're not like your… Animal counterpart."
"I would not— …Okay, I totally would. " I yawned and he gave me a pointed look. "Shut up, it's noon-ish, so I'm tired!" If I didn't have to keep up this stupid facade, I would so kick his ass. Kurapika and Gon chuckled at our banter.
"I expect this is an endurance test," Leorio looked tired already, but he grinned. "Fine by me, I'll be right behind ya'!" Leorio said, getting fired up and leading the rest of us ahead. Noticing something, I slowed down and nudged Kurapika in the side, seeing his face grow somber.
"What'cha thinking about, Pika?" He jolted out of his thoughts. "You okay?"
"Ah, yes, I'm fine," He assured me, making me hum in disbelief. "Thank you, really, I'm fine."
"If you say so."
XXX
Raze took care to take in controlled breaths, starting to get a little tired. Many of the applicants around them had already collapsed or given up and a good chunk of them were almost ready to drop — Leorio included. He'd fallen a bit behind awhile ago with Gon, and Raze discreetly sent Hiroshi to stay behind and make sure he didn't fail. If worst came to worst, she told him to carry Leorio, much to his displeasure.
Hiroshi watched Leorio, sweat rolling down the older man's face. Luckily for Hiroshi, he was the opposite of Raze and had crazy amounts of stamina and strength. He was just as slow as a sloth.
Suddenly, Leorio's face changed from one of exhaustion to one of irritation.
"Hey! Wait up, kid!"
"Hmm?" A white haired boy on a skateboard had rolled past, the wheels clacking smoothly against the cement floor, casually sliding past all of the applicants. He looked a little young to be in the Hunter exam, but Hiroshi supposed Gon was pretty young too.
"You should show the Hunter Exam some respect!" Leorio snapped, waving a fist at him. Hiroshi sighed tiredly.
Why was he stuck with the stupid and oversensitive one? Ever since he joined up with Raze again, it'd been Kurapika-this, Gon-that, go watch Leorio, "Did you hear what Kurapika said", "he's so smart,". Hiroshi sulked internally, a little annoyed that he hadn't been able to talk to Raze very much lately. She always went off with that damn Kurta, probably just because he knew all those stupid facts.
And Hiroshi just missed the entire conversation. Great. Now the kid on the skateboard was running and talking to Gon.
"That was cool!" Gon said, grinning widely at the blue eyed boy.
"I'm Killua,"
"I'm Gon!"
It looked like there was another addition to their happy family. Wonderful. Another kid to look after. Well, Gon was okay. He actually took care of himself. The rest of them were idiots.
"Damn it," Leorio hissed beside him, breathing hard. He looked like he could last a little while yet so Hiroshi let him be, but kept an eye on him.
XXX
"I won't… Accept that!" A boy in front of Raze and Kurapika wailed loudly. He was in rather bad shape, if she did say so herself. Now that a good chunk of the applicants were gone, it was easier to see who was left. There were probably a good fifty or so who dropped out - at least.
The boy in front of them dropped his electronics, making Raze dart to the right, a little closer to Kurapika.
"Hey, rookie," The three similarly dressed men she saw in the crowd before slowed down to the boy, who was completely exhausted. "You're a mess!"
"It's rare to see someone run out of steam so quickly," The blue one taunted, the three of them forming a triangle around the black haired boy. Raze frowned but refrained herself from going over and stopping them. He was going to drop out anyway. She took a deep breath and tried not to listen.
"You must be one hell of an incompetent," One snickered, making Raze flinch. She wasn't doing so well at this "not listening" thing.
"People like you are destined to fail the Hunter Exam," The yellow goon said to him. Kurapika didn't look any more pleased that she did, but looked away. Stopping them would do the boy no good. "So don't come back, snot-rag!" The last comment was the one that got him, making him wail again and kneel down, clutching his head in his hands.
Kurapika and Raze passed by him quickly, not saying a word as they went by.
…
"Kurapika," I panted, now starting to have a little trouble keeping up the pace. "How long have we been running?"
"About four hours," He answered shortly, a little more worn out than I was. I shook my head.
"Damn," The pace had been picked up slightly as we went on, but my main problem was sustaining the same speed. If I needed to, I could probably race past all of the applicants and the examiner, but that might lead me into a trap or god knows what else. "I really hope we won't have to run for another five hours, or I'm screwed. I can only keep this up for maybe another three or four," I groaned. I hate running.
XXX
Hiroshi was at the back of the pack with Leorio, watching as he slowly started to fall even further behind. His breathing was ragged, sweat was dripping off his face as he collapsed to his knees, dropping his briefcase.
The purple haired boy stopped beside him, still staying quiet for a moment.
"Hey, old man," Hiroshi broke the silence. "Are you really gonna end it like this?" Leorio glanced up, still breathing hard. "You've come all this way, only to be stopped by a little jog?"
"…Screw that…" Leorio whispered so quietly, Hiroshi almost missed it. "I'M GONNA BECOME A HUNTEEEEEERRRRR!" He screamed, blasting past the shark-boy at full speed with a sudden burst of power that come from nowhere. "DAMN IT AAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"
Hiroshi stared down the path for a second, then burst into laughter. He was just too easy to lead on. That was all it took to get him to keep running towards a death trap? I guess he's a bit more interesting than he looks. Hiroshi shook his head, then something flew past his face two times; the first time a hook, the second time a briefcase.
"Hiroshi!" Gon called, waving his arms wildly. "Hurry up, or you're gonna lose us!" Hiroshi chuckled and started running towards them, thinking that, maybe they weren't as annoying after all.
Just maybe.
XXX
"Are you FREAKING KIDDING me?!" I growled upon seeing the staircase, and Satoz just waltzing up them with ease. "I freaking hate you people, I hate all of you stupid superhuman runners," I griped. "I freaking hate running, I hate it! And all of you are just like, 'Oh, no biggie, only THREE MILLION FRICKEN STAIRS.' ."
"Did you not see all the people who passed out after half an hour? I think that you could be classified as a "Superhuman" runner as you put it—"
"I hate running." Kurapika sighed, realizing that I wasn't going to actually listen to reason, I just wanted to complain. My eyes widened as I looked up ahead of me to the examiner. "OKAY, that is so not fair! You can't just jump up nine steps at a time, that's cheating, you— you cheater! Argh!" Kurapika looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. Probably a smart idea.
"Hey, hey, you serious?"
"That guy's insane!"
"He's prancing up the stairs as if they didn't exist!"
"If he keeps up this pace, tons of people will fail."
"See? Other people agree with me too!" The blond beside me rolled his eyes.
"I never said I disagreed with you, I only said that you could also be classified as a "superhuman" runner."
"Kurrraaaaaaa," I said, getting a raised eyebrow in return. Jeez, my voice sounded so whiny and childish; Not gonna make that sound again. "Let's play a game."
"A game?"
"Yeah, like the one where you take the last letter and make it into a new word."
"I believe I've heard about that one," He affirmed, brushing his bangs off his face.
"Flipflops," I said. He responded, eyes showing a flash of amusement.
"Sugar,"
"Ramen,"
"Nexus,"
"Sweet!" Oh, Gon's joined in.
"Tigers," I chirped.
"Silly,"
"Uh, uhm…" The younger boy thought for a minute. "Yellow!"
"Wax!" After I said that, Leorio came up and started making weird noises, ruining the mood. It sounded like he was hacking up a hairball. Oh well, it was difficult to run, think, talk, and regulate my breathing at the same time anyway.
"Leorio, are you okay?" Kurapika huffed after he caught up right beside us. He took his shirt off, but left his tie on and-
"Oh my god, Leorio, why the hell did you pin your pin on your chest?"
"Of course I am, just look at me," He said to Kurapika, ignoring me. They both ignored me. Rude. "I realized that I can keep going as long as I don't care about how stupid I look!" Leorio let out what sounded like a war cry and pushed forward again, making Kurapika chuckle.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing," He said, then pulled off his tabard, shoving it in his carrier bag. "You might want to take off that hoodie of yours too, it'll make you overheat." I shook my head, giving him a look. And be discovered by someone other than Hisoka? No thanks. "Come to think of it, do you have any other clothes? I don't think I've seen you wear anything other than that hoodie."
"Gon's worn the exact same thing the entire time, and so have you," I pointed out. "Actually, the only one who changed clothes was Hiroshi…" I scanned the area around us and saw Hisoka behind me, who winked and waved his hand at me, gesturing for me to come over. I looked back at Kurapika. "I'm gonna go chat with Hisoka, I'll be right back," I said to him cheerfully. I wasn't about to ignore him since he knew who I was and besides, Hisoka knew I saw him. Kurapika's eyes widened in alarm as I slowed down.
"Raze, that's—!"
"I'll be fine," I waved him off. "Go talk to Leorio for a bit, okay?" Kurapika nodded reluctantly and caught up to Leorio. "Hisoka!" His head turned to look at me, away from whoever who was talking to and smiled creepily.
"Ah, Raspberry-chan~! How nice of you to join us." Us? I looked beside him and saw a person with ash-grey skin and pins stuck all over his face. He looked kinda freaky, although I supposed I had no room to talk. I didn't like him. He smelled like death.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Needleman's eyes slid over to me, making me shudder. I had to restrain myself from hiding behind Hisoka — which probably wouldn't've been a good idea anyway.
"N-N-No," He answered, sounding more like a glitchy robot than human. I stared at him a moment longer before returning my attention to the redhead I had come to see.
"What did you need?" I asked him, mildly annoyed that he had dirt on me. I happened to be a very prideful and stubborn person, so the fact that a mere stranger had figured out who I was, was beyond infuriating. I was barely even known of on this continent!
"Your family specializes in manufacturing knives, books, and gum, correct?" I nodded after a moment's hesitation, deciding that I'd rather humour Hisoka than worry about Needle-man beside me. He probably already knew anyway, thanks to the magician.
"Yeah, we originally started with weaponry, then the instruction manuals turned into a wider variety of books. To increase our profits, we also started selling gum that came along with some of the comics. It's called Raspberry Rubber, I think." Hisoka gave me an approving nod, a sly smile on his face.
"Ah, Raspberry Rubber, listed as the fourth most popular type of gum. It's just three spots under my favourite kind, Bungee Gum." Hisoka shuffled his cards as I hid my confusion. Was he just trying to make small talk, or was there some meaning behind what he was saying? Also, how the hell did he know the stats for gum? I mean, who even checks those? "Tell me, Raspberry-chan, why were you disowned?"
"If you could figure out who I am from just my face, surely you already know what happened."
"Of course," He purred, flashing a queen of hearts at me. "The youngest member of the Kikuchi Concern was always quite sickly, as I heard, and always needed treatment. Your mother, Satchiko Kikuchi, decided to try using new… Untested… Methods of healing him. However, it failed and the youngest child died, leaving the family devastated. The youngest daughter, Rachelle—" I curled my lip in distaste as he whipped out a joker, both from the memory and my "official" name.
"Don't call me that."
"— Was the most affected and was sent to live with a different branch of the family — or so the newspapers said." Hisoka licked his lips, narrowing his eyes at me. "But I doubt that's the whole story. Or am I wrong, Raspberry-chan~?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you're incredibly nosey?" Something akin to annoyance flickered in Hisoka's eyes before it changed back to his typical playful amusement. I'd probably just hit a nerve.
"No need to be rude," Hisoka pouted, sliding his eyes over to a person ahead of us. "No matter, I've no interest in the past anyhow~" Then why the hell did you ask? "I actually called you over for a different reason."
"Oh?" Hisoka dropped the mock offended act and nodded his head in the direction of a small group of men to our right, barely managing to keep up with the pace we were going at.
"I'd like for you to take out some… Pests… For me," He said, flicking his wrist towards them in mild dislike. "You don't have to take out all of them, maybe ten or so~?" A grin flickered across his face. "Leave some for me to toy with." I nodded, my brows furrowing in thought. It was an easy task, considering all they had were spears - long distance weapons. With my knives, I could easily take them out, provided I could get close enough. A hint of a smile graced Hisoka's features as I glanced back at him.
"I love that look," He said, an odd lilt to his voice that made shivers run down my spine. "Raze~" Alarm bells had nothing on the noise that was going off in my head. Shit, shit, shit, shit. MISSION ABORT!
"Uh, yeah, that's great," I stammered quickly, not liking how Hisoka was looking at me. It was like a cat drooling over a mouse or a wolf looking at a hunk of raw meat. "I, uh, gotta… Talk to Kurapika! Yeah, gotta talk to him. I'm just gonna…" I gestured to the front awkwardly, speeding up and dashing back over to Leorio, Kurapika, and Hiroshi. Maybe around fifteen minutes had passed since I left.
When I reached the group, Hiroshi immediately commenced scolding me.
"What were you thinking?" He asked, eyes flashing in frustration. "You could've been killed!"
"It's not like I had a choice," I argued, scowling at him. "Besides, Hisoka won't kill me yet — probably."
"Probably? What even happened between you two?" I winced at Hiroshi's look of disbelief and switched to his native language — J'horian —to explain without raising too many questions from Kurapika and Leorio.
"Essentially, Hisoka wants me to, ah, remove a few applicants," I said, offering a malicious smile, revealing my sharp canines. "I can't say that I'm disappointed. I've been having the urge to hunt for a while." I glanced behind us, noticing an odd, yet familiar smell. It smelled like a snack.
"…I see." Hiroshi didn't look too pleased. "So if you disappoint him, you'll be—" He made quotation marks with his fingers as he spoke. "'Removed' too?" I nodded, switching back to Common Language.
"Pretty much." Hiroshi ran a hand through his hair, lightly mussing it.
"Wonderful." Leorio and Kurapika both looked like they wanted to ask us some questions, but out of nowhere, a wild Gon appeared.
"Hi Raze!" He grinned, easily keeping up with the insane pace up the stairs. Crazy kid.
"Hey," I greeted, offering a small smile back. "Who's that?" I changed the subject, craning my neck to sneak a peek at the boy beside him. The blue eyed boy looked at me just as curiously.
"I'm Killua," The white haired kid introduced slowly, eyeing me cautiously. I grinned at him.
"Raze. Nice to meet'cha!" Killua nodded in acknowledgement, looking like I was only of mild interest to him.
"How old are you?"
"Fifteen or so, a few years older than Gon," I answered, looking him over. Killua was pretty cute, he looked almost like an albino except he had blue eyes, not red. For some reason, he reminded me of a cat. Maybe it was the eyes?
"Hmmm," Killua seemed a little unsure of what to do with me, so I pulled out one of my suckers. Candy always works with kids, right?
"Here, do you want a sucker?" He looked at me warily, then took it hesitantly, seeming to distrust me. Fair enough, it was the Hunter exam after all. Killua stared at it for a moment before shoving it in his pocket. I jumped slightly as Gon suddenly increased his volume.
"OH!" Gon yelped, eyes wide and waving his arms around. "We forgot about the race!" My ears perked up.
"Race? Can I join you?" Gon nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" Gon turned to Kurapika, who had silently watched the conversation. "See you at the goal, Kurapika!" Kurapika chuckled slightly and nodded, seeming to have no breath to spare. Killua wasn't quite as polite as Gon to Leorio.
"Catch you later, old timer!" Killua smirked at Leorio, who growled at him.
"I'm not old!" He shouted angrily at them. "I'm a teenager, just like you guys!"
"Eh?!"
"No way!"
"…Seriously?"
Hiroshi was the only person not surprised by this revelation.
"I hate you guys," Leorio grumbled, glaring at all of us. "You guys are awful friends." I laughed sheepishly, avoiding his eyes.
XXX
"Can you see them?" A partially transparent girl stood calmly on the top of a mountain, a boy looking suspiciously similar to Hiroshi grumbling at her impatiently.
"Yeah, give me a sec," She sighed and frowned, trying to sense something. There was silence for a few minutes before she made a surprised noise. The Hiroshi look-a-like leaned forward cautiously, avoiding a more crumbly section of rock near the edge of the mountain.
"What is it?" The girl let out a small chuckle, a warm smile spreading across her face.
"It looks like those two have made some good friends," The red-haired girl commented, offering her hand to him. He shook his head. "They've successfully made it into the Hunter exam and are participating in the first phase. It seems like they met four other boys and are helping each other through the phase."
"…Are they happy?" The girl opened her eyes and spun on her heel to face him, taking his hand and squeezing it.
"Very. Are you going to report what we found to your father?"
"No, I trust them to take care of themselves, despite whatever "feeling" Father has. Besides, the Gods will decide what to do with them once they get back." The girl giggled and pecked the boy on the cheek, making him flush. "W-What?"
"You're so cute when you try to be cool."
"Shush!"
XXX
[A/n]: Well, nothing to say here. Thanks for reading!
[Raze]: F/F if you want, and feel free to drop in a review, they're always appreciated!
