Xanxus knew about Hunters. Every so often, one them would decide to join the Varia and would be allowed to skip some of the preliminary tests that mooks went through because of how difficult the exam was.
They had a hunter's division purely for that reason, just so they had someone they could send on semi-legitimate hits if it was too risky to send someone else.
Zeno's final test to be able to claim the Zoldyck name and cast aside the Vongola, was to pass the hunter's exam and get a license. He had already defeated Heaven's Arena and earned quite a bit of money...he found it amusing that his nen and his Wrath had combined to allow him to become an actual dragon.
Skies, by and large, tended to throw out Specialists.
Xanxus, wanting to find a way to combine Flames and Nen, decided to go the dragon route.
Naturally Killua was utterly delighted at the idea, and more than happy to help. As a consequence, he was put through the same training by Zeno and Silva.
Coincidentally Killua's flame type was a Lightning. Xanxus was half-tempted to ask if he could borrow his cousin to take over the Lightning officer position just so he could have Killua help him train the lightning division into competence.
Then he remembered his plan to make his own assassination group and realized he could dispose of Levi anyway if he became too annoying. The man was a dog and was too irritating to deal with on a good day, regardless of how "loyal" he was.
Xanxus was rather proud of his dragon form. He had only managed to transform fully once, but the fact he could do it at all was enough for him. He had time to train his ass off.
So he let the shark know the plan...and Squalo promptly sent the bratty prince his way. Bel was getting incredibly antsy, and since the Ninth was keeping a close eye on Squalo right now, he couldn't come himself. They could meet the boss in secret until Xanxus came back and blew the entire farce wide open.
Bel would deny it with his dying breath, but he hugged his King hard.
"Easy," he said, running his scarred hand through the prince's hair. He could be a bastard, but he would admit having a soft spot for kids. Even bratty ones like Killua.
Since Xanxus was Bel's guardian, it had been easy enough to sign the application to allow him to join in. Bel was snickering happily from his spot on Xanxus' shoulders, enjoying the feel of his flames after so long.
"This isn't some babysitting service!" sneered one idiot.
"Yeah, go back to your mommies!" snarked another.
Xanxus didn't bother to answer them. But if they became too annoying, then he had zero issue letting Bel have fun.
When Bel went to use the bathroom and returned fifteen minutes later, Xanxus merely smirked at him. The princeling plopped himself back onto his lap and snickered the entire time.
Five minutes later, there was an intense and hushed discussion between one of the crew and the captain.
Twenty five minutes later, the rest of the applicants were giving the blond kid a wide berth and had shut up rather swiftly once news spread to the other idiots about what happened to the two men who tried to corner Bel in the bathroom.
One of which was a known pedophile who had clearly picked the worst target possible.
"Good job, trash."
"Shishishi...peasants should know better than to corner royalty," said Bel with an arrogant tone.
In the end, only Xanxus and Bel made it to the next site. Fortunately for the poor crew, they didn't kill anyone else. It wasn't their fault the rest of the applicants were made of trash.
Several days later, at the Hunter's primary exam...
Xanxus was having a good day. They had made good time and the preliminary exams were ridiculously easy.
And then it all ended when he saw a familiar head of hair with a badge chatting with some fool that gave off a fake aura of 'friendly'. Xanxus has seen his type before...people who were part of groups or took certain tests that enjoyed picking off the rookies.
Knowing the exam, this guy probably got his kicks off breaking the rookies to the exam even if he never passed himself.
Then Killua saw him and his face blanked.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "I'm not going back."
"You're not quitting the family, are you?" asked Xanxus.
"No, I was just bored and wanted to try the exam," said Killua.
"Then your presence here is not my problem," deadpanned Xanxus. "I'm here because your dad and grandpa said if I wanted to claim the name I needed the license to prove my worth."
"Oh," said Killua, and the subject was dropped. It made perfect sense that Xanxus would have to pass a test like that from the family to claim the name officially.
"Shishishi...who is this peasant?" asked Bel.
Xanxus bopped him on the head.
"This is my cousin. Killua, this is Prince Azreal of the Red Kingdom. He's my Storm, and he act as the head of the Storm division in my group, code name Belphegor or Prince the Ripper. Prince trash, this is my cousin from my mother's side of the family. Try not to murder each other. Other than that, I don't give a fuck what you do to the other applicants."
Bel gave Killua a proper look. He 'appeared' harmless, but his aura said volumes of what sort of person the boy was. This was no harmless child...this boy had spilled just as much blood if not more so against skilled opponents than Belphegor himself.
Also, he was the King's true family, so that meant no killing him. This could be fun.
Killua observed Belphegor for a moment, before he smirked. The other boy was an assassin, but not as strong as him. At least he wouldn't have to hide his true nature from the other kid...hell, Bel might even join in!
"What sort of games do you play?" asked Killua.
"Are we talking actual games, or the kind that make the people who have to clean after us throw up from the gore level?" asked Bel curiously.
"More the first, but I'd be happy to discuss the second later."
Bel perked up at that. He never got to brag about his kills with people his own age.
Slowly but surely, the place filled up. Xanxus was taking a nap, mostly because he didn't want to waste energy interacting with the idiots in the hall.
Sure, most of them weren't complete trash, but he didn't want to deal with anyone.
He only briefly left to use the restroom, and happened to run into someone who looked like Pinhead from the Hellraiser series.
Except Xanxus recognized that particular aura, and while he could change his face, he couldn't change that as easily. He probably thought he was safe if he wasn't using Nen.
"Did you come here to retrieve the brat, or was this an unhappy coincidence because you need the license from the job?" he asked quietly.
The other person chittered, but held up the second.
"No point in retrieving him right now. Do you want me to deal with it or do you want to handle it?"
The other person said nothing. It was clear they were debating...after all, Xanxus would have to return to the mountain anyway to prove he had passed. He wanted that validation, to be part of an actual family who saw his quirks and accepted him for what he truly was.
An assassin who had no shame of the blood on his hands.
What Xanxus didn't know was that the only reason Silva ordered him to pass the exam was because he knew Xanxus needed a test for his own validation. He was already a Zoldyck...he just needed something to convince his own mind of that.
The hunter's exam was just difficult enough that it would satisfy that condition.
Either way Killua was going to suffer a bit once this exam was over. He definitely came out without permission.
Eh, the brat had likely resolved himself to that fact from the beginning.
Xanxus came out, and saw Killua and Bel getting along while arguing like cats and dogs over something. Probably a game or who had the better kill count.
So long as they stuck to words and he didn't see any powers coming out, it wasn't his problem.
Then the exam began.
He grinned. Time for some fun.
An hour later...
Killua seemed to connect almost immediately to a 'wild child'. Bel was almost pouting, but knew better than to say anything considering this was an endurance run.
Xanxus wasn't about to tell Killua who he could and couldn't be friends with. If he wanted to drag this kid into their world, it wasn't his problem.
The kid was a Sun with a possible Lightning flame, if he was any guess.
The tall guy with the briefcase was definitely a sun, and the other one was a Cloud at least.
Xanxus kept his eyes on the possible Cloud. He could use one and this one had the hallmarks of an avenger if he was any guess.
It had been a few days since the exam started, and for the most part Xanxus and Bel stayed out of Killua's way.
And then they got stuck waiting for a fifth member.
Thirty minutes passed and the door finally opened.
"Huh. Thought you would have gone on ahead by now," rumbled Xanxus.
He had picked this door specifically because he had seen Killua disappear down this way. Bel had already moved on ahead.
"It's majority rules, and we needed a fifth," said Killua.
Xanxus put on the watch, and the group left the room.
"Killua, who is this man?" asked Gon.
"This is Xanxus, my cousin."
Xanxus kept his dragon-like aura down, but it didn't help much.
When he heard what the Cloud's territory was, he couldn't help but smirk.
He could work with that.
"So you want to find your clan's eyes and put them at rest permanently?" he asked quietly.
Kurapika tried to ignore him. Key word, tried.
"What does it matter to you?"
"Trafficking in that sort of item would require high level underworld connections. The kind you could only get from being high up in a famiglia or have the right sort of favors."
"I am aware of that," said Kurapika sharply.
"What if you could get those connections and assistance tracking down the parties involved? And with the assurance that the ones helping would not interfere with your blood debt so long as we were allowed to claim your work as part of their group to increase their infamy?"
Kurapika's eyes darkened. This was someone who would happily spill as much blood of those responsible as necessary, but wasn't interested in wholesale slaughter of the uninvolved. The mature, respectful aura said he could become a decent leader if given the right opportunity, but he would also follow orders so long as it coincided with his own vendetta.
In short he was the exact sort of person Xanxus wanted for one of his officers and the perfect replacement for that traitor Ottabio.
All he had to do was entice the Cloud with the right sort of offer and let the blond come to him.
"That depends...who are you and why should I listen?"
"Xanxus di Varia...the head of the Varia. Belphegor is my Storm officer."
Kurapika looked at him in shock. However that swiftly turned to open interest in his offer.
Kurapika had spent some time looking into the underworld, hoping to find some connection and learn who had the eyes. However as he was an outsider, they would not speak due to Omerta.
However he had learned enough to know the who's who of the Cosa Nostra.
The name Vongola carried a lot of weight...as did the Varia. There was also a rumor he had heard that really carried his attention.
"Is it true that the world's best information broker is one of yours?"
"The miser brat is one of mine. If you want to use their services, you'll have to pay them like everyone else. But they do offer a discount to fellow officers, and I need a decent Cloud. The one I have running the post now is useless. If you want to hunt down that group in your spare time, it's no concern of mine so long as you follow orders," said Xanxus bluntly.
Kurapika was definitely considering this. It was one of the best offers he was likely to get unless something drastic happened, especially since he was an unknown and clearly not mafia raised.
Besides, if anyone was likely to find where the eyes were now, it was Viper.
"You don't have to give me an answer now. We have the entire exam after all."
"What are the requirements for joining and what would I be expected to do?" asked Kurapika.
"You have to know at least seven languages, though you can learn them after joining. You have to be at least semi competent in fighting and willing to kill the target. Considering it's the Cloud division, everyone will expect you to be aloof and independent. If you're serious about joining, I'll put you through some training since I'm technically on vacation."
Kurapika heard about a major upset about a year back, about a coup in the Vongola. It had been big news at the time.
However the fact Xanxus was here and not on house arrest meant that there was clearly some miscommunication going on. That or the Vongola was being kept in the dark.
By the end of the exam, Xanxus was rather gleeful about the fact he had found a decent Cloud (one with a secondary Mist flame) to replace the rat in his group.
Now he just had to get the teen trained and set him loose on Ottabio. The bastard was long overdue for replacement.