DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own Hunter X Hunter

WARNINGS: Please make sure you have read the first chapter and not just the 'preview'. I have also proofread it (finally!) so a few changes here and there were made. Only minor ones though. ;)

I also based the year levels on appearance. Dunno what they're actual age are, anyway, and I needed to minimize making OCs. ^^

Thank you for the support guys! Especially those who reviewed, fav'ed, subscribed, and C2d the story~ Hope you like this new chapter and feedback would be extremely appreciated. ^^

…

CHAPTER 2: Meetings

NISPEDANA HIGH, Earlier

Amazing

Pretty!

SUGOOII!

Those were but a few of the enthusiastic adjectives that ran through young Antigone's head as she entered her new school's gates. Her raven hair, which she finally grew out, was held back by a dark green hair tie.., and it flowed gracefully with her as she strode. For the most part, though, she remained oblivious of the people staring—attracted by the positive energy she naturally emitted.

The campus was a wonderful, wonderful, and somewhat exotic place for her. Her head was everywhere. Not literally, but it was definitely everywhere, even the clouds. She ended up admiring the long arcaded corridor on one of the buildings' ground floor. Her brain automatically let her imagine herself walking across it, with new friends. Next, she looked behind that building and saw a Quonset partly covered by the foregrounding building and the large tree. The roof was green…

She suddenly imagined herself sliding along the dangerously convex roof.

She chuckled and then looked at another side and another set of intricately designed buildings dominated the view. Over all there were 4 buildings easily seen from the gates. She wondered how many more behind were there and she couldn't wait to explore.

After all, putting aside her natural adventurousness, she had just moved in from the country side. It was due to her father's job, and she was used with a very humble academic building. The school she used to go to comprised of no more than 2 buildings.

And not to mention there were so many students—not to mention most are of her age—walking around! By her side!

She nearly jumped in excitement.

But of course, she knew when her childishness was inappropriate. She was 16 years old now, after all, Mito-san had more than enough time to teach her manners, etiquette, etcetera etcetera, this and that, and those other things she was apparently supposed to know.

Speaking of Mito-san…

Her body automatically slumped back at the line-of-though. Her energy-filled figure losing most of its initial energy making her almost blend in with the surrounding crowd.

She was really, really, really missing her aunt. Only she and her father moved to the capital, after all. Actually, only her father was supposed to officially move out but she forced him to take her with him. After all..., he had rarely been home and when he was he was- -well, he usually just threw her to the most dangerous parts of the forest and make her stay there for a few days. The only instruction he gave her was: Survive.

Pushing those out-of-context ponderings aside, she pulled herself together and went to find wherever the opening ceremony was going to be held. She observed her surroundings (in awe, of course) during her short walk there. She soon saw a large building—one behind the largest one- -where the students seemed to be entering.

It was large and boxy, but the ornaments on all sides were so nicely curved that Gon found herself mentally swirling around with them. Her eyes ended up (eventually) on a sign stating it was the auditorium.

She blinked and her hand automatically went to rummage her skirt pocket for a piece of paper containing the instructions she needed. Frankly, the first time she saw the paper she quickly thought of this whole thing as a challenge for her since she had always gone by instinct. The only pure intellectual endeavors she went through were due to Mito-san's guidance on the schooling thing.

In any case, she narrowed her eyes, not because she had a hard time reading but because it was her serious-face. It came in as a habit, and it was the reason why her father seemed to never lose the knack of teasing her...

"Ah." She read it one more time- -just to be sure.

8:30 – Freshman Orientation – Auditorium
9:30- Homeroom- Room 125

Yep, yep. She was at the right place. Not that she hadn't forgotten she was looking for it in the first place. And for a moment there her heart thumped out of nervousness and excitement.

'This is it! I'm finally going to school with children my age. So many of them, too!' were her last thought before she gleefully entered the building.

.

The murmurs she got accustomed to from the outside turned to full-fledged conversations resonating through the hall. Her strong hearing, especially as it was unused to so many people gathered in a single area, made it torturous and her ears were twitching the whole time.

She was forced to adapt (still, it felt like her ears would bleed soon) when she saw formal looking people climbing up the stage. Her eyes though, for some reason, ended up on a boy around her age. He had long hair for a guy and had raven hair just she had. For a second their eyes met, but he looked away as if he never saw her and sat on a chair right beside an old man.

She then looked around for a seat herself and saw the crowd was dispersing in a confusing manner she didn't know where to go to next.

Soon she caught a teacher approaching her and gesturing for her to fall in line. When she asked if, like in her old school, she had to line up with her class, the teacher just looked weirdly at her recalling a tad too slowly that she actually studied type of systems in other places some time back.

"Oh." She said when she finally remembered. "We do it differently here. Here, auditorium gatherings are like classical theatre congregations." She smiled and so did Gon, as if she knew what the woman meant. But she didn't, so… she just followed the kids air-headedly.

As she walked, she looked around (mostly upwards) the grandiose auditorium. It had a high ceiling, she mused in awe, even if she jumped her record she would not even reach a third of its height.

When the person in front of her, a person with silver hair, stopped and sat, she did too and she quickly let her eyes end up on the stage. A part of her wanted to speak with her seatmates but they omitted the aura that they wanted to be left alone. She knew she wasn't supposed to talk anyway, since the people had quitted down. A few were whispering at most. So if she started chatting, she would be heard several rows of chairs away.

Then an old man went behind the podium and looked at everyone not on the stage. And everyone stopped talking. It wasn't that the old man had that powerful a presence, it was the opposite. Everyone, even Gon, was just taught not to speak when someone's behind the podium.

A minute or so later, he adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat. "Good Morning Freshmen, family, and friends." He smiled. "I am Hanamura Kuu, the school Principal. You can call me Kuu-sensei.

"First of all we would like to welcome you to our humble school." He said that with a smirk, and looked around. "Here, we do our best to make everyone feel welcome and experience the best possible type of education possible, especially in these times, where a lot of humanity's old achievements had been lost due to the Great Fire. We will need every one member of all generation to maintain our strong hold."

The old man then let out a light, echoing, chuckle. "We all know our histories, and what each generation's roles are. Your time, my children, are that of exploration and adventure. You are one of the few remaining generations who will rediscover our old ways, and one of the first to invent new things.

"And we, Nispedana High, have facilities and system to train you—to continue your academic life beyond here or not—to be that generation. And more…

"We have state-of-the art technical rooms, to keep the students updated with the latest technologies. Gyms and training areas to keep everyone in shape, ignore me." He laughed and patted his beer belly, and so did the audience. Gon chuckled too, but sadly her eyelids were feeling the opposite. "The food served are all extremely healthy but delectable at the same time. Trust me I can tell." He cleared his throat after laughing once more.

"Putting the school's miscellaneous functions aside," Gon's eyes started to feel really tired… such a long speech…

"…we have the most

…Qualified

…Teachers-

And she was gone.

.

.

"Pst."

Zzzzz

"Oi"

Zzzzz

"Oiiii."

ZZZZzzzzzzz

"Wake up!"

She blinked and everyone sitting nearby was looking at her. Gulp. And then her eyes ended up on the stage. A raven-headed boy with sharp eyes was on the podium, making her blink. Where was the old man? But her question was quickly answered when she saw the man who was supposed to be standing sitting a few meters behind the new speaker.

The boy's eyes were slightly wide (which wasn't much) but he quickly returned to an impressively composed state. He actually had a cold aura that didn't seem to care about anything.

She looked down and saw that she was not standing up after all. Her legs were dead due to sitting such a long time (probably just less than half an hour, but everyone knew she had a problem with sitting still) and if they weren't she probably would have stood up to be seen by everyone. In a sense, she was kinda lucky.

And fortunately, after a few seconds, everyone turned their attention back to the boy and he started speaking again. She scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

"Aiya~" She tilted her head towards her seat mate who seemed to be the one trying to save her from the humiliation in the first place. "Gomen nasai." She said, especially for him. "And thanks for trying."

The boy's eyes widened slightly and looked at her incredulously making her tilt her head in puzzlement. The boy just forced his eye to twitch and looked away.

"Whatever." Gon found herself staring at him. He had an unusual silver hair and sharp cerulean eyes. "And I wasn't trying to save you." He said finally, after an awkward moment of saying nothing.

She stared at his openly annoyed face. Gon frowned guiltily. Even when she didn't quite get why he was so annoyed, she knew she must have bothered this person very much. But then..., as dense as everyone said she was, she knew that if she talked with him now she would just be more of a bother... so she remained quiet and sat. She'll apologize to both of them later.

She turned to the stage and finally watched oddly accented raven-head with fly-away hair to finish his speech.

"Thank you, Feitan-san, for your wonderful speech." the principal said, replacing the boy behind the podium. "And congratulations again for being the top of your batch."

The boy didn't seem to care and just sat back down apathetically. It didn't take long for the ceremony to end and they were dismissed. The people stood up and headed for the two double doors.

Gon walked passively and as soon as she arrived outside, she tried observing the people while making sure her former seatmate was still in sight.

She didn't know why everyone was just going out looking as if they have a direction… or maybe they already have?

She probably slept through it.

But putting aside the urge to hit her head on the nicely painted wall, she told herself to put the important things first. And by that she meant her apology. She quickly ran to the silver-headed boy and called for his attention when he was about a meter away.

"Ano…"

"What?"

"Gomen nasai again for earlier."

"Why are you apologizing so much?"

"Because Mito-san said that if I offended somebody who didn't deserve it I should apologize until I am forgiven."

"Che." He said and turned around. "That's just annoying."

Step Step Step

"Oi. Why are you following me?" She didn't say anything at first, but when she was about to, he pointed at his sleeves.

"Look." She stared at his shirt, specifically the cloth on his upper arm. "What do you see?"

"Cloth."

His left eye jerked. "No. Look closer."

And she did. With her torturous experience with laundry, she knew what he was pointing to. "A mark. A stain."

"Right. A stain caused by you."

"Eh?"

"By your saliva."

"EH?!"

She knew that one of the reasons why Mito forbade her to speak with her mouth open was because food and saliva might fly out somewhere.

And obviously, a bucket of fresh saliva was much worse.

She instinctively went to touch it—to maybe wash it away—but

Slap!

Her hand was slapped away.

"Don't touch me." He said and walked away.

She puffed her cheek, after getting over the surprise. It didn't hurt, and with her highly trained skin and bones, she barely felt a sting. But it was nowhere near gentle.

"Mou, how rude!"

She said stomping to follow him. "I know you might find me disgusting but that was too rude!"

"Go away!"

"Like I said I can't leave you until you forgive me!"

"Haaaaaaaaa? How can I forgive you when you're so nosy?!"

"Mito-san said you should forgive and forget."

"WHA?!" he glared. "Who the heck's Mito-san anyway?" He said with distaste, and it obviously wasn't tracked by Gon. Especially since flowers started floating around her.

"Mito-san." She grinned proudly, and the boy's eyes twitched for the nth time that day. "Is my beautiful aunt who taught me everything. She's always right. Well, not all the time, but most of the time."

"Then she's wrong this time. She probably always is."

She glared at him, making him wince. "HEY! Take that back"

"What?"

"She's always right!"

"Whatever."

"Ne, so can I wash your clothes now?"

"Ha?"

"Cuz I put saliva on it."

"No."

Stomp Stomp Stomp

"Oi." He said firmly and she stared at him. Seeing this was pointless, he let out a deep sigh. "Look, you- -It's fine already."

She stared at him in puzzlement.

"I forgive you." He said just to shoo her away and hoping his annoyance would too. But then, she beamed, effectively shooing all the annoyance away.

He turned around, and found a second later it was only the annoyance that left him be. Gon was still following him.

And he gritted his teeth, and acted extremely annoyed. Acted. For some odd reason he wasn't quite feeling as annoyed as he was supposed to. "Why… are you still following me!? Didn't you say you would leave me alone if I forgive you?"

"I did." She mumbled and looked shyly at the grass. "But… only if you want to." She said and looked at his suddenly- -surprised face. She stared at him and tried to figure out whether or not he was surprised that she didn't get him and leave, or something else.

But Gon didn't want to leave him alone.

"Well…? Do you want me to leave?" She asked sincerely not knowing the answer. Gon was sure she did not want to leave him, and she wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not… that the boy felt the same.

Maybe it was just her, after all…? But the stubborn part of her was telling her whichever theory was right she should not leave him alone.

"…"

"So, do you?" She asked, unconsciously leaning a bit closer, and the silver-head reflexively curved his body away. He cleared his throat and avoided her gaze once more. He turned around.

"Whatever." He said and slightly tilted his head to look at the stiff Gon. "Do whatever you want."

And Gon smiled brightly again, and rousing the same reaction from Killua: Making him turn his head away again.

…

They walked under an odd type of silence to the interior of the building for the freshmen. It was the arcaded building she saw before and her daydream came true (the one with her walking under the arcaded corridor) very quickly making her even more bubbly.

"Hmph." The boy muttered under his breath pulling her out of her trance. She stared at him and wondered what was wrong, and when nothing came, she just assumed it was nothing big. So she smiled and increased her pace so that they were walking side-by-side.

"Ne. What's your name?" She asked, and the boy did not even turn his head to face her. "I'm Antigone. Gon, for short!"

"Killua." Was all he said. And neither noticed they were already alone in the corridor.

"Nice to meet you, Killua!" She smiled and walked faster, turned around, and started walking backwards facing him. Now they were face to face as they strode.

Killua batted an eyelid at the sudden movement. "W-What?"

"You keep looking away." She grinned, just stating the obvious. She continued that way and Killua just watched her, unable to look away now- -not only because she'd probably move to wherever he was looking, but also because frankly she was… well, quite pleasing to look at anyway.

Not that that thought ever registered in his inexperienced mind.

But when Gon was just staring at him, he couldn't help but find the urge to clear his throat. It was kind of a reflex to push his turning-visible blush down. "Is there something on my face?"

"Oh, nothing!" She said as she waved her hand. "I was just looking at you."

"W-Why?"

"Why not?" she said as a-matter-of-factly and grinned. "You're my first fri—"

She was cut off when her back hit something relatively soft. She quickly turned around. It was another peculiar-looking man with light hair and firm stature. He kind of looked like a monkey.

"What could you two still be doing outside your classrooms? You're 15 minutes late for homeroom."

The two kids froze.

"EHHH?" Killua looked at his watch. It was true and him suddenly whipping his head to Gon's direction told her it was true. Gon automatically looked at her paper to know her destination.

Killua was suddenly behind her, and so was the new man. "Great.We're classmates."

"Hmn. You two are my students, then." He said and walked as if to lead the way, as if he wasn't late himself.

"Banzai! Lucky~!" she whispered to him and made a thumbs up. Killua only stared. "Yeah, at least we're not going to get lost."

Her eyes widened slightly and he stared at her sceptically. "What did you mean by lucky then?" he asked since she obviously didn't think of his reasoning.

"Because…" she said as if it was common sense. "I already have a friend and classes haven't even started yet!"

His steps halted.

"Friend?" He asked as if he didn't know what it meant. But he did, at least how they defined it. They- his former family… and just the thought of them made his mood turn extremely foul.

"Killua… friends… they're unnecessary" He was 5.

"But, what about Milluki-"

His aniki then patted his head and let out that trademark empty chuckle of his. "Who does he call his friends? His doll?"

"Well…"

"We allow him because they're not dangerous. But living 'friends' are. Stay away from them."

"But what are friends?"

"They're the people who make you weak."

People that make you weak…

"Killua?" She asked and he automatically walked to follow the teacher who was coolly watching their interaction.

"Killua?" she called again, but he did not even turn. Before she called him again, he glared at her making her flinch.

"Let's just get in okay?" he snapped, turning away, and pushing whatever he suddenly felt inside his gut. He didn't want to see that expression on her face again. But, frankly, he didn't know what he'd do if she kept bugging him about it either…

But fortunately, or unfortunately, she did not push the issue further. "O-Okay…" was all she said, and walked a few paces behind him. And even when it was a chance for him to gain his composure, he… had no idea why it only made him feel so much worse.

So as he watched the professor climb up the stairs (since the rooms on the ground floor seems to all start with '0'). When his eyes caught glimpse of her again, he reflexively paused his steps. Gon did, too.

"Killua?"

"I'm not mad, in case you're wondering." He said, pushed down his blush (since it was an embarrassing thing to say, of course! As he told himself).

He coughed and moved to continue following the professor, and muttered something about getting lost again as he passed her.

And, Gon, who just happened to be absorbing things, smiled in the end. She laughed and ran to follow Killua.

"Hai!"

And as he walked a few paces in front of her, Killua found a rare smirk on his face. That weird, weird, feeling inside his gut- -he admit it felt pleasant.

And so whatever 'friend' meant to his family, or to Gon, for now... he really kind of liked it.

"Killua?"

"Hm?"

"Where's the professor?"

.

.

Huff Huff Huff

"This is your- -huff- -fault you know."

"Ha...?!"

After a minute or so of running, they finally saw him standing right outside looking very lax. How'd he get there so quickly? Without breaking a sweat, too...

Well, whatever, as Killua would all, one was not considered late if one did not get to class after the professor did.

"Ano…" Gon mumbled staring at the professor, while Killua looked at the professor intently. After all, why wait for them before entering when he obviously got there (somehow) so far ahead of them? As hoped, the man gestured for them to come in and Killua stared at Gon (who was still loading the gesture).

"If you don't come in within 2 seconds, I will go in first, and therefore you two will be late."

And with that, the two flinched and sprinted towards the door, and went inside. The man chuckled at the utter adorableness of the kids, and entered the room himself.

.

"My name is Satotsu, and I will be your homeroom teacher." He said as he stood behind the teacher's table and surveyed his new class. He saw the two kids (his perspective favorites for this batch) sitting away from each other presumably because there were no available seats left. The girl sat right in along his direct line-of-sight, while the boy was on the far end of the room, near the window- a classic spot for brooding kids.

"Before I discuss in detail the rules of the school and choosing of class representatives, I would like everyone to introduce themselves." He said and as usual, he got various reactions. Mostly proud though, as the children of this school were taught to socialize at an early age. Nevertheless, there were a few uncomfortable ones.

He choose 'randomly' who would start and not to his surprise he ended up asking the his perspective new favorite to initiate the introductions. She was spectacularly twinkling in excitement, probably looking forward to knowing everyone in her class. Everyone, even the boy she was with albeit no one would see, was smiling at her when she was introducing herself.

"My name is Antigone Freecs. Call me Gon." She grinned and almost everyone repeated her name simultaneously. He somewhat flinched at the last name but did not show it. "I like fishing, playing, and sleeping. I wanna be friends with everyone. Yoroshiku~"

Satotsu did not doubt she would be friends with everyone. Especially since she became friends with the boy whom he predicted to be the hardest one to befriend. He looked at the record as the introductions finally ended up on him.

"What's your surname, Killua-san?" He asked innocently as his records showed none. Odd, he mused, the administration staff would usually make sure a full name was given.

"I don't have one." He answered and everyone gaped at him.

"I…I see…" he muttered and clapped his hand to get everyone's attention. "Now it is time for a discussion."

And a few minutes later..., he found himself sighing heavily while the rest of the class was chuckling. Why, you ask?

It was because Antigone Freecs was already fast asleep.

Meanwhile, on a larger adjacent building, the senior classes were already being held. Kurapika blankly let her mind wander as she listened to the professor discuss about the History she knew all too well.

"200 years ago, the Great Fire happened wiping out 99.5% of the world population. Fifty years after that, human beings were lost in this world, barely surviving, and that 0.5% was further cut down by half." Her good-looking (as her classmates would say over and over again) blonde professor smiled and continued walking around with his book at hand.

"But soon we found a valley. A large valley the size of the country—a miraculous place full of vegetation. It gave the humans hope that the specie would survive."

"And here we are, a hundred and fifty years later, close to obtaining every ounce of knowledge we once had." He paused dramatically. "This event just showed just how amazing the human spe—"

Knock Knock

He was cut off by someone knocking on the door. It opened without his consent, revealing a pink-haired woman with her famous curvaceous figure. She had her hair up that day, which she rarely did since the principal had a talent in bugging everyone to follow the proper dress code. She was in the mood that day, so she could probably take the nosiness of the chubby principal.

"Pariston." She called and the blonde professor pouted.

"Mou, Menchi-san~ I was just getting started. And I was in the good parts, too!"

The pink-haired woman cringed. "Whatever." And looked at Kurapika. "Come with me, Kurapika."

Everyone whipped their heads to her direction, out of curiosity. No one was surprised.

And without further ado, Kurapika stood up, quietly excused herself, and followed the pink-headed professor.

*Several Minutes later*

After the discussion short of the subject, Satotsu suddenly announced that the choosing of representatives be left to them as he would have to leave unexpectedly early. He looked at the puzzled faces and choose Feitan, who barely spoke beyond saying his name during the introduction (everyone knew him already anyway) to lead the selection. He then looked at Killua and the newly awaken Gon.

"You two." He paused and let Gon wipe the lethargy away from her eyes. "Follow me."

They did not stand, unsure if it was really them he called. Satotsu sighed and headed out the door. "Killua and Gon. Come." he repeated, and the two (after looking at each other in puzzlement) reluctantly decide to come.

Tap
Tap

Tap

"Where are we going?" Gon asked, while Killua looked apathetic as usual with his hand placed nonchalantly in his pocket. Satotsu looked at them alternatively.

"To the president's office." Satotsu said, making Gon freeze at a memory.

'Don't get into trouble.' That was her aunt.

"How do I know I'm in trouble?" She asked, assuming there must be something else since urban life was much complicated than the environment she was used to.

Her aunt pondered for a bit, before patting her head.

"Probably when you get called to the Principal's office.

And with that, she looked at the man nervously.

"A-Am I in trouble?"

Killua smirked at this side of her he saw for the first time. Frankly, he didn't think she could even get nervous. He thought it was cute, and that thought actually reached his consciousness, so he forced himself to push it away. He looked at her and forced a mask.

"You did sleep the whole time." He said and she stuttered even more. Killua did not know what he was thinking. Obviously seeing different sides of her perked a lot of interest in him, so he didn't get why he was making it harder for himself to keep his mask. That... protective mask he knew all his life.

"B-B-But-"

Satotsu sighed. "There is no such thing. That is a grave misconception. Besides, we're going to the President's office. He has a higher position than the Principal."

"So we're in bigger trouble." Killua teased, mentally glaring at himself. He shook his head and followed the professor instead, leaving a relatively incoherent Gon behind.

They walked more slowly since Gon was not moving from her spot. Mentally, they counted down. They were getting used to her 'loading' pace.

3

2

1

"Mou!"

…

END OF CHAPTER 2

Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 3: Formation

REPLIES TO ANGELS

Phoenix-Thunder- Haha. Glad that I finally got to make a decent summary, then! Hahaha. I was excited to upload this even with the mistakes, so I'm glad it turned out decently. haha. And thank you for the review~! XD

Paplilio . Ageha- hahah. He won't be a teacher here. XD That should be fine so ur chain pair in ur HS AU fic would be more novel when I read it. lol. thx for the comment~

Into A Dream- Ah! Sorry for the looong wait! T_T Hope this was worth it and thanks for the comment~

LordOftheWest- I;m relieved to hear that! I'll do my best to remain in that status lol. There are other HS AU fics out there, which btw I totally recomment~ XD thx for the review!

HUNTER IB- Thank you for the review~! Glad you comment and that you didn't forget. Hhaha. And hopefully I'd make the eye pair (NeoPika) likeable to many as well. ;)

SelfcreatedCharacter- Hehehe. I'm glad you like the twists~ XD Won't say anything about the abilities and the club yet though~ *wink* and thanks for the review!

kiratazochita- Lol, I'll try! XD No idea how to contact you though. Hehe. Thanks for the comment!

mai-chan265- I love putting my name everywhere, yes? XD Hope I can make it more interesting from now on~ Ah, thank you for the review~! ;)

rentamiya- Here it is! Hope it was worth the wait, but do tell me what you thought. XD Thanks for the comment!

evergreen dryad- Yes they'll form a club. ^^ I'm Trying to be a hipster here. lol. Glad Neon got cool! I'll show why he changed soon enough, and Jappon is like the HxH version of Nippon w/c is Japan. ;) And haha- it's not just you, the leaf thing was real funny. XD Thanks for the review btw~

...

Thank you for reading~

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