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Chapter Two

It was always the same.

I groaned, stretching out my neck. I could feel a slick flow of sweat already building at the base of my neck, trickling down the column of my spine. The same dream. Always the same dream - hungry and cold. This time no one came for me and Minoru and I starved to death behind that trash can.

"You're hoggin' the noodles, you goon!" Amori snarled, shoveling some pork into his mouth as he shoved Umori away with a hand to the face. We had begged our kiriko examiner to let us stop at one of the ramen shops on the way to our next test.

Ew. Minoru griped, those glassy looking eyes of his squinting across the table at my brothers. He hated it when they talked with their mouths full. In fact, sometimes I think he only put up with them because I didn't want to leave them.

"Minoru's glaring at us again," Imori wearily said, his eyes cautious as they scanned over the plushy teddy bear that I was currently perched on.

Minoru had grown proportional to my size as I had grown, resembling a giant stuffed animal that floated here and there according to my whims. When they had first seen me snuggle into his back, floating above our bed like a cloud had settled into my room, they had freaked. Superhuman, they had roared, all three of my brothers looking both gleeful and… jealous. It was the first time that I had felt uneasy around them.

"You keep talking like that and he'll eat you," Umori grumbled, gulping down another mouthful of scalding broth. Minoru had already gone through seven of those bowls, taking out some gyoza in the process.

Sometimes I wondered what the Amori brothers really thought about Minoru - what they really thought about me. Strange, little me who hid under the floorboards of our rundown house with my teddy bear who needed to eat and sleep like an actual living thing. They had never asked, just stared, poked at Minoru when they had finally been able to tell that he wasn't just an inanimate object.

"We should go to the testing ground," I yawned, stretching out on Minoru's back. You don't mind me staying on you for most of the test? I whispered to him, concerned that he was growing tired.

It doesn't take any effort for me to float and you barely weigh a thing. His eyes cut over to me. Have you been eating enough?

I grinned, patting at his ears. I was able to push us wherever we needed to go. Sometimes I thought that it was just Minoru understanding me before I could speak to him. But… he always seemed to be asleep. And it felt more like I was the one guiding us. Like all I had to do was concentrate a little and then we were being pushed toward where I wanted to go. Ma had taught me a little about how to use all that stuff around me to do little stuff like knock over cups… so maybe it was like that.

"You're always so eager to start," Amori sniffed, frowning at the now empty bowl in front of him.

"They're all just gonna be sitting there for a couple more hours," Imori said. "That's what they do - yell at us to go faster and then shove us in a room to sit and stare at all the people that we're gonna have to stomp into the ground later on."

"You know how bored I get," Umori whined, tugging his cap more snuggly around his ears. The brothers hadn't changed much since I last saw them. They all still wore the same colors with jeans and different hats. In fact, neither had I. I still had that beat up red beanie, the sides so frayed that it constantly slumped over my ears, flaring out with the wild mess of blonde curls that pushed against it. My bangs were cut ragged and my hoodie was dusty and went down to nearly my knees. We were all street kids and our clothes showed it, the only expense spared by Amori who got us all new sneakers before we came here.

My eyes moved to the slim triangles tattooed just below my brothers' eyes, my fingers instinctively coming up to touch my own. A promise, they had said. One of us is going to make it this year. That scared me. That meant that they were open to the option of being separated. My brother's were never without each other. That left me.

No. I would quit before that ever happened. I hadn't even wanted to be dragged along in the first place.

"Come on, squirt," Amori said, ruffling the already wild curls and disrupting my hat.

You'll have to act like a stuffed animal, I warned Minoru, hopping off of him so that I could help him squeeze through the door.

That's not very different from what I usually have to do.

"You were right," I grouched, scooting higher on Minoru so that I could lean over his shoulder. It wasn't worth it to sit on the dirty ground. And coming in with a giant bear had already drawn a lot of attention to me.

"I told you," Umori sighed, sinking his hands farther into his pockets.

"You never listen to us," Imori sighed, glancing around.

They had all been here before. I on the other hand…

"Was last year this lame?" We had been shoved into a back room of one of the nearby restaurants by our examiner, who gave a merry wave as the door slid shut behind us before the whole room began to rumble and we were lowered to a base floor where one wall had slid open.

The tunnel that we had walked into was high ceilinged with flickering lights and pipes snaking along the brick walls. Packed dirt made the whole place smell like worms. I sniffed. Worms and boy. Over half of the contestants were male, leaving very few females to even see. Disappointing.

"Nah, last year was worse," Amori grumbled, his eyes sweeping the room before he gave a groan and settled against a nearby wall.

"I'm gonna go look around," I sighed, glancing at the entrance as another three contestants entered. They all seemed kind of young but then again there were few people here older than 30.

"Just keep close, sis," Imori muttered, his mouth thinning. "There's a lot of shady people here."

"Don't you guys make that list?" All I got was an unamused half laugh and a shove. Grabbing Minoru's arm, I stalked around, dragging him with me. He had fallen asleep a while ago when he realized that there wasn't going to be anything happening other than some awkward staring and muttered greetings that translated roughly to: hello. How tough are you? Either way, I'm gonna claw out your eyes if the examiners ask me to.

"Hey there!" a cheery voice bellowed from just behind me, I turned slightly glancing up at the portly figure of number 16. He had a rounded gourd of a nose and his tawny hair was slicked back in a manner that belied the overall nastiness of his personality. I glanced over his shoulder, catching sight of my brothers, smirks playing across all of their faces. They had told me about Tonpa, a man so beaten down by the exams that he got a hard-on from decimating all the new kids.

Amori dragged his hand across his throat, grinning.

"You look new!" Tonpa grinned. "I know that my first time taking the exam was pretty rough."

"I've heard that the 34 other times weren't that great either," I said blandly, sighing as his eyes widened and a flash of that inner nastiness scrunched his face. "My brothers have already warned me about your schtick so you might as well go pick on someone else." My eyes drifted to the three people who had just entered - all of them looking rather young minus the lanky guy in the suit with the briefcase. He looked like he was ready to sell me a house. "Them maybe?"

Something about that trio kind of threw me off though. I stared at the smallest one, his hair shocking up from his skull like he had his finger in an outlet, the whole mass a blackish green that actually looked kind of nice. His clothes were also set in forest green, making him look like he was about to be going on a hike with his family instead of participating in the hunter exam. His eyes were the thing that really caught my gaze - wide and trusting, willing to innocently take in the world.

I frowned. Kids like that got smacked in the face pretty hard when the rough decisions had to be made.

"You're kind of a brat, aren't you?" Tonpa asked, a muscle beside his lips twitching as his irritation grew.

I shrugged. "I'm just not up for your stupid, little games. If you wanted to fuck around with some people, at least choose the ones that aren't going to fuck around back. I would think that 30 plus years of failing would have gotten that through to you."

His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed down, his hands clenching.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," I warned, sensing my brothers tensing just beyond his back. We had begun to draw a few concerned glances from the people around us. I looked like a little girl - blonde hair, blue eyes, the whole teddy bear gig - and he looked like a pervy old guy trying to push me around. I smiled, my hand tightening on Minoru. "My brothers are about ten seconds away from coming over here and beating the shit out of you. You wouldn't want to have to drop out just before all the fun started right? Then you would have to wait a whole 'nother year to come back."

His beady eyes narrowed, his mouth twisting down in an ugly smile. Without that salesman exterior, he really was just a wretched creature, coming back here every year with no hope of passing just a drive to ruin it for others. People like him pissed me off. They didn't want a fair fight with a strong opponent. They wanted you to wither and die before you even had the chance.

"Brats like you can't even make it to the final test," Tonpa hissed. "I've seen it year after year. Little girls who hide behind guys to get farther in the competition until eventually, they can't hide anymore. They're weak and useless."

He was trying to get me mad. I stared up at him. He was trying to push me off my game so I made a mistake. I had made an enemy, I realized, a little bit shocked. I hadn't even meant to. Damn. Now he was going to be picking at me all exam. That could get annoying. I sighed, suddenly growing tired.

"Then I guess I'll see you next year," I said, shrugging as I moved to climb onto Minoru's back. I stared down at Tonpa's startled face, his mouth slightly open as we rose steadily towards the ceiling, Minoru still snoring beneath me. "Have fun in the exam, Mister 35."

"Hey! That's not my number!" he snarled from below. Behind him, my brothers crowed out a laugh. Minoru and I drifted higher, settling on one of the bigger pipes so that we wouldn't have to float for as long. I scooted up, peering down at all the applicants below. The little bean man who had given me a badge was making his way deeper into the crowd, answering a series of questions that I imaged went along the lines of: hey, I've been here for an hour. When are we starting? Or hey, I'm tired and hungry. When are we starting?

You shouldn't antagonize people, Morie, Minoru scolded, making me groan. What was I supposed to do when he came up to me? Let him push me around?

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I whipped around, sitting up quickly. Quickly my eyes scanned over the crowd. They weren't very hard to find - the sea of people below had parted to circle around a lone man with a shock of wavy red hair, his face was drawn in cruel disdain, his butterscotch eyes narrowed. He had an angular face, his frame lean but corded tightly with muscles, his biceps bulging as he crossed them over his chest. The expression on his face bellied the languid way he stood.

At his feet, a man knelt, screaming as his arms dissolved into red flowers, spraying the ground in a sea of crimson. Beneath me, Minoru drew in a sharp breath. In the crowd, I could see my brothers drawing back, their faces sweaty and pale. Amori looked around almost frantically, his eyes searching the ceiling for where I hid.

"What's that feeling?" I murmured, leaning farther out over the pipe to get a better look at the scarlet haired man. He was handsome, I realized. Deceptively handsome. But more than that - I shivered, my curiosity spiking. He was powerful.

Bloodlust, Minoru growled from beneath me, rolling into a sitting position so I had to cling onto his neck to keep on his back. I scrambled up onto his shoulders, not liking that my line of vision was compromised.

"Bloodlust? I don't understand," I breathed, feeling something press against me, wave after wave like a breeze that kept pushing against my skin. This was odd. This was new.

"My. How unusual," the scarlet haired man drawled. "Seems this poor man's arms have turned into flower petals." His arms flared out into an open shrug and that wave hit me again, harder this time. My skin itched, prickling and something inside of me gave a roar of recognition. "Now you see them, now you don't."

I couldn't stand it anymore. I scrambled down from Minoru, ignoring his protests. I needed to be closer. I needed to find out what this was. What he was doing. I hit the ground hard, a few of the men startling around me as the ground splintered a bit beneath me. I was too excited. Ma said when I was excited bad things happened but I couldn't help myself. This was new. This was interesting.

MORIE, WAIT! Minoru's voice boomed in my head but I was already pushing through the crowd, digging my way forward until I broke the circle, stopping right in front of the kneeling man who was sobbing by now. How had that happened? I stared down at the clump of glittering, red petals that were swirling softly in the wind of a tunnel.

From down here I could feel it more strongly. Standing right here, I knew for certain that it was coming from him - the scarlet haired man. And there it was, like a wave was crouching over me, pressing up against that barrier that Ma had taught me about. I wanted to respond. I wanted to push back. Could I do that? Could I actually use that liquid that had always seemed to float around me to push and pull?

My eyes stayed glued to the handsome man, flinching a little as his eyes slowly drifted around, settling on me for a second and narrowing before he was turning and walking slowly to one of the far walls. People parted before him like the sea. Without thinking, I followed, catching bits and pieces of conversation as I ducked around bodies, catching a flare of red which I followed. His name was Hisoka and last year he had maimed an examiner. He was still giving off those waves of - what had Minoru called it? Bloodlust. I could feel it. I paused, stopping as I finally realized what I was doing.

Bloodlust, my mind hissed. That meant he wanted to kill something. That meant that that guy with petals for arms was just the appetizer. And I was chasing after him. I mentally slapped myself. That was foolish. That was suicidal. Gritting my teeth, I shook off those strands of aura that I could still feel curling around me, grappling a bit with my own.

"A little mouse got lost." Strong arms curled under my armpits, lifting my swiftly into the air with such ease that for a moment all I could do was blink down into those striking honey eyes. "What are you doing so far from home?"

Terror. It startled me as I stared at the smirking face below me, the sharp tips of his fingernails cutting easily through the sleeves of my hoodie. Uselessly, my legs dangled above the ground. I had never felt terror before and for a moment I was so confused that I didn't say anything. There was that press again, the push of something against me that seemed to almost cajole the sides of my aura, tickling and pinching in a teasing way that seemed to hide a more aggressive agenda. He could kill me, I realized. He could have killed me before this moment too.

"What are you doing?" I blurted out, blinking at him as his smile slipped for a moment, those eyes of his widening before he was staring at me with that cruel kind of interest. I cocked my head to the side, feeling him probe at my barriers again. I knew that it was him - I didn't know why or how yet but I just knew. "You're pushing against me but…"

My brows furrowed. I didn't know the right words to try and question him.

Slowly, his eyes glinting warmly up at me, his tongue licked across his lips, his hands tightening on me. "Well aren't you an interesting little snack."

That sounded like a threat. I glared. I didn't like threats. Hissing, I shoved back against the waves of energy that he was sending my way.

His smile turned cruel, the muscles in his arms bulging as he drew me near enough that I could feel the warm blow his words against my face. "Ah, ah, ah, pet. Just because we're playing nice right now doesn't mean I can't tear out your heart any time I wanted to."

I stilled, my heart sinking even as I kept my face blank. He liked for people to be afraid of him. He got enjoyment from it. If he was going to kill me, he was at least going to be unsatisfied by it. Slowly, I felt his aura curl around me, rubbing against mine almost… affectionately? My brows furrowed. That seemed wrong. Nothing about this man seemed affectionate.

"You really don't know what you're doing," he mused, his eyes critical and alight with interest as they ran over me. Slowly, he moved me closer, one arm coming to curl around my waist firmly as the other moved my head with an almost gentle hold on my chin. My front pressed tightly to his chest, the hard line of his muscled chest pressing along mine. He was muscular in a way that made me think that he would be very beautiful when he fought.

"MORIE!" Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw my brothers burst from the line of associates who milled about, all unwilling to get involved with a man who had just torn off a guys arms. I couldn't entirely blame them for not taking my lead since I was regretting it very much right now.

I could feel the anxiety pulsing from my brothers, their faces covered in sweat and waxy as they gathered the full scene. And how deeply I had buried myself in shit. Mironu was shortly behind them and I assumed that he had rushed to get them when I had been rushing off in my little suicide attempt.

"Friends?" Hisoka mused, that smile growing into a near grin as his eyes tipped over to stare at them.

"Brothers," I clarified. Lazily, he turned back to me, the fingers hold my face pressing down a little more until I could feel the pricks of his nails.

Morie, I'm about to- Minoru warned and I could hear the shuffle of his feet as he moved forward. A few of the other contestants definitely saw him move.

Don't, I warned, trying to keep my expression smooth so that Hisoka wouldn't see it. If you move, he'll kill me.

"Hmmm," his eyes slid to them once more before they closed and he was grinning down at me. "Should I kill them?"

Behind me, I heard the sharp intake of my brothers.

I didn't answer. Was that really a question? He wanted something. If he had wanted to kill them he would have already. I stared up at him, waiting.

His golden gaze burned into me. "Joking. Just joking, little pet." Slowly, he set me down, deliberately let me rub along his front, his hand still lightly on my waist. I didn't move. Did backing away mean that I admitted defeat? Did it mean that I was weak? I scowled. I had never considered myself to be weak before. The pool in Belcher's Bay was small and there were few people up to fighting my brothers and I.

"Run along then," Hisoka chirped, smirking down at me as he gently turned me and patted my lower back to get me moving towards my brothers. "I'm sure we'll have more time to play later."

My grimace deepened as I moved towards Amori and the others, Imori's hand reaching out and yanking me further into the crowd as we made our way all the way to the other side of the tunnel.

"Now you've done it-" Umori panted, a bit of sweat dribbling down his neck. I settled against the wall, highly agitated from the whole meeting. Maybe I was weak. I snarled.

"What were you thinking?" Imori gasped.

"That's the point - she wasn't thinking!" Amori growled, slamming a fist into the walls of the tunnel and sending a spray of dirt into the air.

There was a moment of silence that followed that where I stared blankly out at the sea of applicants before me.

He had something-something that pushed against me, I finally murmured to Minoru, feeling his steady gaze. The thing that Ma was teaching me how to hide - he had it. He would have found me eventually. I don't think he's really here for the hunter exam.

What's he here for then? My eyes caught on a silver-haired boy, his face a mask of cocky indifference.

The applicants, I finally answered back.

"I have it under control," I told my brothers, not meeting their gaze.

"That didn't look like you had it under control," Amori snarled, his face going red.

Beside him, Imori opened his mouth the chime in, his eyes glinting angrily. But before he could say anything a loud alarm rang through the tunnel and the cut off a section that we had been trapped slowly rose with a great belch of dirt and rubble. Behind it, with a small, green head held on a string stood a violet-haired man in a suit.

"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long," a dapper voice declared, the man's lilac mustache moving as he spoke. "Now, we have come to the end of the exam registration. And so the hunter exam begins now!"

Thank you to the people that follow/ favorited last chapter and a big thank you to the person who reviewed! It's always pretty rough the first chapter or so I really appreciate the support.