Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. I just own my OC, Hitomi.

Chapter 3 : The Exam Starts x Meeting Killua x Sibling's Fight

"I found it," the navigator told them. "That building is the Exam Hall."

All of them looked in amazement the huge building in front of them. The sight of it made them feel anxious and uneasy, at the same time.

"Hey, that's not it," the navigator said, making them all look at him. "The entrance is next door."

He pointed at a tiny restaurant, which looked like it would crumble at any second if you looked at it too much.

"It can't be..." Hitomi murmured.

But they entered anyway. The navigator got closer to the chef.

"Hey, Mister! A steak lunch," he said, smirking.

"How do you want it?" the man smirked as well.

"Over low heat... grilled slowly..."

"Okay, go to the back room."

Hitomi raised an eyebrow and looked at her brother, he shook his head.

It was so confusing.

They were taken to a room and they stood in there. Kiriko looked at them and smiled.

"This is the Hunter Exam. It always takes the applicants by surprise," he said. "They say there are several million applicants. And one in ten thousand is the probability of reaching the Exam Hall."

"Thanks for the encouragement," Hitomi sighed.

"Well, you all have done very well for rookies." Kiriko smiled to the girl, before looking at all of them."I will be happy to guide you again next year."

He threw a badge for each one. Hitomi caught it and read the number 406 there.

"Well, good luck, rookies."

Right after Kiriko closed the door, the whole room started to move. They didn't last long until they realized that it was going down, much like an elevator would do.

"But the way he said it was rude, wasn't it?" Leorio complained, after a while. "As though we had no chance of making it in this year..."

"One person in three years," Kurapika said. "That's the probability of a rookie passing. I hear many rookies drop out midway because the Hunter Exam is so harsh. And they take such a physical beating, they can never take it again."

"But why do they take such risks to become Hunters?" Gon asked, innocently.

The three of them gaped in disbelief, looking at the boy.

"You are taking risks too, you know," Hitomi said. "Did you really come to take the Exam without any knowledge?"

"Well..." he sweated, nervously. "I don't know."

Hitomi facepalmed. She now could see it... Gon wasn't just a simple-minded boy... he was really stupid too...

"Look, a Hunter is-" Kurapika began to say.

"In this world-" Leorio interrupted him.

"The most noble/well-paid occupation!" they yelled in unison.

Gon and Hitomi sweatdropped at the sight.

"You've awakened the beast..." she thought

"Not again, you goody-goody!" Leorio yelled.

"You greedy bastard!"

They both clenched their teeth, pressing their foreheads with each other. Both of them let out a growl escape from their lips.

"Gon! Listen carefully!" Leorio said, "Only official Hunters are issued Hunter Licenses. If you have one, you're permitted to go anywhere and you can use most public facilities free of charge. If you become a Treasure Hunter of lost antiquities or a Contract Hunter for a rich patron, you can make a fortune! You can have a great life!"

"That's wrong, Gon!" Kurapika yelled back. "A Hunter's job is to keep the order between people and nature! Like a Heritage Hunter and a Rare Animal Hunter, it's part of a Hunter's job to protect the priceless cultural heritage or an endangered species or to capture notorious criminals! You must have a sound mind, a sound body and strong discipline!"

Gon sweated nervously while Hitomi just took a pair of steps from them.

"What do you say, Gon?" Leorio asked.

"Which kind of Hunter do you aspire to?" Kurapika said.

"Well..." he stated. "It's hard to choose..."

Fortunately, the floor dropped down and interrupted the conversation. The door opened, revealing the countless applicants.

"There are so many people..." Gon commented.

"That's because with you there are 406 of us."

Quickly, everyone turned to see the person that had just spoken. He jumped and positioned in front of them.

"Hi! I'm Tonpa, number 16 this year," he said, in a friendly way.

He shook hands with Gon. Then he did the same with Kurapika and Leorio, however when he went to Hitomi, she just looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

Tonpa laughed nervously while Kurapika just shook his head.

"I've taken this test Hunter thirty-five times," he told them

"Really?" Gon said, excited

"Yeah, that just means I'm an expert at taking the exam-"

"It doesn't," Hitomi stepped in the conversation. "That just means you're an expert in failing the exam.

Tonpa froze there, realizing what this girl had just said was true. However, he forced himself to make her a friendly smile.

Hitomi narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Help me!"

Everyone looked at the direction where a man appeared to be attacked by a blue-haired magician with cards in his hands.

"Damn, that dangerous guy is here again," Tonpa said. "Number 44, Hisoka the Magician. Last year, everyone thought he was sure to pass the Exam, but was expelled after nearly killing a proctor he didn't like. I must warn you to stay away from Hisoka."

"Can such a person be allowed to take the Exam again?" Leorio asked him.

"Yeah. For the Hunter Exam, proctors are changed every year. The proctors decide the contents of the Exam. If that proctor says 'pass', even a devil can pass the Exam."

Hitomi stared at the magician for a few seconds, narrowing her eyes.

"He looks more like a clown to me..." she thought.

She started to look around the room, looking for something to entertain herself.

She saw something that caught her eye. Alone, in the shadows, there was a boy staring at Gon, before directing his icy blue eyes at her. He had white hair and was holding a green skateboard under his arm.

And, the thing that surprised her, he looked like he was about her age.

All of sudden, a shrill ringing sound echoed in all the room, making her took her gaze off the boy. The participants turned to see a man who had lilac hair, black eyes and a little moustache.

Hitomi stared at him... he had no mouth.

"Creepy," she thought.

"The call for the applicants is now closed. I announce the start of the Hunter Exam." he said. "Please, come this way."

He started to walk, motioning to them to follow him.

"Let me remind you. The Hunter Exam is extremely difficult, and if you are unlucky or incapable, you may get injured or even die," he warned, "Only those of you who don't mind that risk should follow."

Hitomi stared at the proctor and took a long breath, trying to relax herself. She looked at Kurapika, who smiled and started to follow him.

She smiled too. She had to do this.

For Pairo.

For her family.

For her beloved Kuruta Clan...

And for her brother too.

Determined, she started to walk, taking sound and unwavering steps.

"I'm Satotsu, the proctor of Phase One," he introduced himself. "I'm leading you to the test site for Phase Two."

After a while, it ended becoming an endurance test. All of them - except of Leorio - where running without problems. However, Hitomi was feeling really annoyed...

It was because that Tonpa guy.

Thirty minutes passed by, and Hitomi was feeling the urge to slap him. Despite of that, she was unable to do that for several reasons.

Her goody-goody brother was one of them. Also, on top of that, everyone trusted him. They all thought that he was a kind and hard-working guy.

Oh, my god. That was irritating.

"Say, Tonpa-san," Gon called over to him, "Since you've participated thirty-five times, you must know many people around here."

"Sort of," he said, before pointing to some candidates, "First, Number 103. The snake charmer, Barbon. He is vindictive. Next is Number 76. The martial artist, Cherry. In hand-to-hand combat, no one surpasses to him. Number 255. The wrestler, Todo. His really strong and is smart too. Numbers 197 through 199. The Amori brothers. By combining their efforts, they always get high scores. Number 384. The huntsman, Gereta. He can hunt any creature with a blow pipe and a club. He's very skilled... Well, those are the regulars I see."

Hitomi slightly scoffed at him, and Kurapika eyed her suspiciously. Taking advantage that Leorio and Gon were busy talking to Tonpa, he started to run slightly slower to her to catch up.

She glanced at him, with curiosity.

"You don't like Tonpa, do you?" he asked.

"Can you tell?" she replied, glancing blankly at the guy.

Kurapika released a long sigh, before shaking his head.

"Is there someone you like?" he said, irritated.

"It's not that. He's just too... too..." she stuttered, feeling annoyed at her lack of words, "too kind."

"That's it?" he said, surprised. He snickered, "Well, you see, not everybody can be like you."

She sighed, annoyed.

"It's not that!" she exclaimed, "He smiled at me when I insulted him, it was way too fake. You know, every person usually wants to kill me five minutes after they met me. Ask Leorio if you don't believe me."

"I don't think that Gon wants to hit you."

"He's too simple. It's different," she said. "I can see that."

"How?"

"His eyes."

Kurapika raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're just making this stuff up," he chuckled.

"I'm not!" she exclaimed.

"You are."

She rolled her eyes in annoyment. There was no way to convince his brother, she was aware of that.

She speeded up, catching up with Gon. A couple of minutes later a boy passed by, skating.

He was the boy that Hitomi had seen before.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Gon exclaimed.

"Hey, you over there!" Leorio yelled. "That's unfair! Isn't that against the rule?!"

Gon, on the other hand, just said: "Hey, Who are you? How old are you?"

If the white-haired boy heard him, was a mystery. He just glared at Leorio, as if he was annoyed at the sight of him.

"I know the feeling..." she thought.

"What's against the rule?" he spoke for first time.

"This is an endurance test!" Leorio replied.

Hitomi sighed.

"Will you ever learn when to shut up?" she said, "As far as I knew, the Hunter Exam didn't have a rule book."

"Yeah, also the proctor just said to follow," Gon added.

"Hey, you two, who's side are you on?" he asked, irritated.

"Not yours, of course," Hitomi replied in a deadpan tone.

"You-!"

"Don't yell! You'll run out of stamina! Besides, it's annoying," Kurapika exclaimed behind them, "Basically, we can bring anything we like the Exam."

Leorio growled, annoyed.

"You're a new face, aren't you?" Tonpa asked the kid, "I suppose you have many questions. If you like I can-"

This time Hitomi wasn't the only one to glare at him. The guy did that too, finally making Tonpa shut up.

"At least I'm not the only one who dislikes him."

The boy turned to Gon. "You asked my name, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yup, but you don't have to answer if you don't want to," Gon said, happily. "I'm Gon, twelve years old!"

The boy seemed to thought about it for a second, before turning to the girl. "You?"

"Hitomi, twelve too," she answered briefly.

"Twelve years old, huh?" he looked like he was reconsidering these words. He flipped his skate in the air and grabbed it. Gon looked at him in amazement.

And the girl rolled her eyes.

"It seems that someone loves to get attention," she said, sarcastically.

He glared at her but didn't say anything else. He looked up at Leorio instead.

"Hey, old man. How old are you?" he asked.

"Huh?! I may not look like it, but I'm in my teens just like you!" he yelled, angry.

Everyone stayed quiet for a couple of seconds in amazement.

Hitomi broke the silence, starting to laugh hard.

"You gotta be kidding me! There's no way you are in your teens!" she teased. "Not with that old-looking face of yours!"

"You little-!" a vein popped out his head.

Then, he looked at Gon. His eyes were flew open in surprise for that sentence.

"No way!" he finally exclaimed.

"Huh? You too Gon? How rude!" he complained. "We're not friends anymore!"

"Leorio!" Gon shouted.

Hitomi stopped and looked behind her. Leorio was so tired that he couldn't handle the marathon anymore.

She ran towards him.

"Hey!" the boy called. "Are you guys dumb? He's done."

"That's not true!" Gon said. "Besides, I can't leave him. He's a friend."

At that word, the boy opened his eyes. Hitomi could say that the word was strange and meaningless for him...

Oh dear.

"A friend?" he murmured, unconsciously.

"Yes," Gon said, decisively. "A friend."

Leorio, on the other hand, forced himself to stand up again. Hitomi had to admit it though. That guy had a really strong and unwavering will.

"Damn it! I'll be a Hunter, no matter what!" he shouted, trying to run again. But, he didn't have the strength enough and stopped, supporting his body as well as he could. "Damn it! My legs won't move!"

Kurapika got closer to him. "It's not only for the money, is it?" he asked.

"Shut up! It's for money!" he yelled. "There's not another reason!"

"It's not the time to argue about that!" Gon said, before turning to Tonpa. "Tonpa-san, what should we do?"

Hitomi's eyebrow raised. Among all the people who was there, was he going to ask him for advice?

"Oh, yeah... that smell!" Tonpa exclaimed. "At the fork... the sweet smell coming from the right tunnel! You may able to recover your stamina! It's the Healing Cedar Sap!"

He helped to get Leorio up, letting him use his shoulder for support.

"Healing Cedar Sap?" Gon repeated, in confusion.

"Yeah... the sap is used by Hunters who become exhausted in the woods," he said. "If you sniff that smell for a while, you can temporarily recover your stamina."

Hitomi glared at him. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion once again.

"Wait," Kurapika said. "What if it's a trap?"

"Certainly that's possible, but you can't just leave him here, right?" he said. "Flunking all time... Do you know why I've flunked thirty-five times? It's because I'm such a silly, kind hearted person."

"Yeah, right!" Hitomi finally said.

They all looked at her, in surprise. She took a deep breath and firmly glared a Tonpa.

"It's true, Leorio is going to fall into the trap... but you won't," she said. "You are the trap."

"What?" he pretended to be confused.

Kurapika took a step closer to her sister and looked at her.

"Hitomi, is enough," he scolded her. "I know you can be a little distrustful of people, but Tonpa had been helping us until now."

"Until now, as you said," she repeated. "I assure you that fake kindness will be over once he gets away from here with Leorio."

"Hitomi."

She looked at Tonpa. Kurapika put a hand in his forehead, sighing to calm himself.

"And Leorio will die," he ignored her brother. "How can you prove us you are saying the truth?"

"Hitomi."

"That's it. I'll go with you."

"HITOMI!" Kurapika finally snapped.

She quickly glued her gaze in her brother's furious one. She was taken aback. She didn't remember the last time he had shouted at her like that.

They glared at each other for a few seconds.

"Don't worry Kurapika, I understand," Tonpa suddenly said, "We have known each other for about three hours and a half, so she would not trust me enough."

Hitomi glared at him coldly.

"Just, I want you to give me a chance," he said, "Please, just one chance to show you that you can trust me."

"As if," she hissed.

Tonpa smiled once again, she growled. That smile of his made her feel sick.

And the skater-boy stared at her with curiosity.

"Don't mind about me," Leorio spoke to them. "Go ahead!"

The two of them left and disappeared in darkness. Kurapika and Gon stayed there, looking at the tunnel blankly.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going?" the nameless boy asked, after a while.

"Oh, I'm sorry we made you wait," Gon replied. "You can go ahead. We're not going until Leorio comes back."

He didn't answer. He choose to stay quiet.

"Kurapika," Gon said. "I'm going back to see how they are."

"Let me go with you," he said, "we can always catch up later."

"I'm going with-" Hitomi was about to say.

"No," Kurapika said, almost instantly.

The girl stared at his closed eyes, in disbelief. Why was he saying something like that?

The nameless boy looked at Hitomi. Gon, instead looked at Kurapika, then to the girl and looked back to the boy.

"It can be dangerous," Kurapika explained. "You'll continue without us."

"Dangerous, you say? I'm not a child, I can take care of myself, thank you very much," she said. He didn't reply. "Come on, I lived on my own for two years when I was looking for you. I thought that could prove something!"

"Still no."

"You never heard what I have to say!" she yelled, anger slowly consuming her.

She looked at her feet, clenching fists. She softly growled, before turning around and giving them her back.

"As you wish, I won't do anything," she said. "I don't care anymore. Die if you want, it's not my problem."

Kurapika's eyes opened for a moment, hurt by her cold words. However, he closed his eyes and turned around as well.

The white-haired boy looked at her, quietly. Gon did the same too, but he was sad by just looking at the siblings.

"But... Hitomi-" Gon started.

"Bye, Gon," she interrupted him dryly.

Gon flinched, before sadly smiling.

"We'll be back. Then, I'll be happy if you tell me your name," he told the boy, and then he glanced at the girl's back. "And if Hitomi returns to her old self..."

She eyed him by the corner of her eye.

"Well, see you two later!" he waved, grinning.

Then, they left. She stayed there, for a couple of seconds, when the boy talked.

"What are you going to do?" he asked her.

"Nothing. If they don't want help, let them be," she said, "What about you?"

He just shrugged.

"They're interesting people. I think it will be a lame if any of them die, don't you think?"

"Whatever."

He smirked, before getting in his skateboard and entering on the dark tunnel.

"See you later!" he said.

Hitomi stood there. She was sure that she wasn't going there.

One second...

Two seconds...

Three seconds...

"Wait up!" she shouted, before running. It didn't last long until she caught up the boy, who looked at her, amused.

It was like he expected her to come.

"So you came?" he said, smirking.

"Even if I hate him, he is my brother," she quickly said. "Also, I will make him apologize to me."

The boy just smirked at her actions.

"You are pretty interesting yourself too," he said. "I'm Killua, by the way."

That's all for today.

To SoulXHunter and Mr. Kohen: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad to heard that you liked last chapter and I hope you lenjoyed this one as well.

See you next time!