Chapter 6: First x Step x Back
Flashback Begins
"Oh come on, don't be like that." Hisoka taunted her as he stalked closer. "You're just disappointing me now."
Hanako shook her head, panting with exertion. The sweet scent of damp soil had begun to mix with the stench of her blood. She had only been with him for a little over a year, but she had learned one thing for certain-- the madman was utterly relentless whenever it came to anything fighting related. "You said-" She complained between huffs of breath. "-You said that- I could- take a break- whenever I wanted."
Hisoka's eyebrows arched. "I never said that."
Hanako grit her teeth. Liar. He was always doing that-- lying without reason. He could have just forbidden her from taking any breaks at this moment but no-
Without warning, Hisoka darted forward-- one arm poised behind his back. She barely had time to leap aside before the tree that was behind her mere seconds ago was completely shattered. Hanako's fear spiked up. "Are you- are you fucking crazy? What was that? Were you trying to kill me there-"
Her protests were met with another quick jab- then a sweep of the elbow- shit, it was getting harder to dodge him now- a brutal kick to the stomach had her lurching onto the ground.
"H-hey stop-" But when she looked up, he had that crazed expression on his face-- his features set abnormally neutral. She knew it all too well. "Oh hell no-"
She quickly pulled herself to her feet. Right before his next attack, she had to bolt. Running away was the only way to-
In an instant, his hand was locked around her throat as he slammed her onto the nearest tree. "No-" She choked out before his grip tightened. Well now, he was really trying to kill her!
She struggled against his hold, kicking and scratching away at him-- but it seemed to have no effect. His eyes were a clear window to his mind-- he was locked in for the kill.
His bursts of bloodlust had been happening more frequently as of late, accredited to 'the lack of delicious prey' as he liked to call it. Usually, he would snap out of them pretty quick-- maybe take out an innocent passerby or two- or ten- or twenty- or-
Regardless, he had never really attacked her like this before. As she stared into his lifeless eyes, hopeless tears ran down her cheeks. The idiot was going to kill her.
Flashback Ends
Hanako awoke with a start. Her phone was ringing. Shit, had she overslept? A quick glance at the alarm beside her proved her wrong. Who the hell was calling her at three in the morning?! She swore if it was another one of those scam callers, she would hunt them down to the ends of the earth and slowly carve them out until-
The phone began ringing louder. Sighing, she pulled it out from under the pillow. So, it was an unknown number after all. She received the call, putting it on speaker.
There was a static on the other end and- the hell? She could hear someone breathing on the other side. What in the cliche movie shit-
"Hello?" She tried. Maybe it was just a result of poor connection? Or maybe the scam caller had chickened out or something?
The breathing quickened. It sounded like that of a male.
"I know who you are." She bluffed. "And if you ever call me again I will-"
A soft chuckle on the other side. Her heart jumped up into her throat. A second more of breathing and the call ended.
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was it a threat of some sort? She couldn't imagine who she could have pissed off now. Usually, she finished off her fights before moving on. Could it be Feitan? But no, he didn't sound like that-- plus the Phantom Troupe weren't the type to dabble in cheap tricks.
She sat up in bed, wide awake now. She had watched enough movies to know what must be coming next. Someone was stalking her and soon they would make their move and she would go missing and- No. She was overthinking it. Maybe it was just a prank call. But that's what they want you to think.
Her hand inched back towards the phone, ready to call Hisoka. We are leaving. Come on darling, tell him. That was the last time she had spoken to him. He hadn't even tried to make up for it or sort things out-- he had simply decided to walk away. She wasn't even sure if he would pick her call after that. Fine. So be it. She was good at ignoring people too-- after all, she had learned from the best.
She slipped the phone back under the pillow, smoothing out the sheets before lying back down. Under the cover of the blankets, her face remained a determined set of lines. Today was the day. Today was the day she would get him back for it. She was going to pass the hunter exam, with or without him.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!" The tinny speakers of the airship cried out. "I hope you have had a joyous ride and slept peacefully through the night. Unfortunately, it must all come to end now as our brilliant airship-- number 0100100 0100011 0101110 0101000, engineered by the finest folks at Lamson and Bark's private limited in the loving memory of our late chairman Mr. Lamson and Bark; he was truly a gem among us-- is about to crash! Please unbuckle your seatbelts so you can enjoy the full experience of this expectedly unexpected wonderfully thrilling once in a lifetime turbulence! Please leave us a five star review on the reviewing app of your choice! This was your captain speaking. Have a nice rest of the day-- or oops! Should I say lifetime!"
Hanako watched the growing mountain out of the window, as the airship hurtled closer and closer towards it. She could hear the commotion outside her room but didn't bother to pay attention to it. This was all to be expected, of course. Now, she could either wait for the airship to crash and simply use her Ren to protect herself or... there had to be another way for non-nen users, right? She had maybe a minute to figure it out.
How could someone get out of a flying vehicle without hurting themself? Oh wait. Parachutes.
50, 49, 48-- The timer ticked away in her head. She couldn't remember the captain telling them anything about parachutes. In fact, he had only told them to 'jump our carefree' from the airship is any accidents were to be occurred.
34, 33, 31-- That's it. All she had to do was jump out. If she would stay in the airship, she would have to deal with the entire metal body of it flying apart-- which would likely be unsurvivable without nen. But, if she simply jumped out... maybe the pre-examiner had an ability to soften the ground?
26, 25, 24-- Alright. She would go with her instincts. There was likely a conveniently-placed hatch somewhere in the airship, but she didn't have time for that. She drew back her arm, gathering aura in her fist before landing a precise and powerful punch to the window. It shattered away on impact, leaving bits of glass stuck to her skin. She couldn't worry about that now.
20, 19, 18-- The hole was just big enough for her to fit through. Ignoring the harsh wind slapping against her face, she jumped out without another thought.
Mid-air, nearly blinded by the speed, she felt something rough and sharp grab her waist. And then-
f was flying. A giggle burst out of her lips, the exhilaration overpowering her senses. She grinned up at the bird carrying her across the purple skies, nearly breaking off into another fit of laughter. She glanced back just in time to see the airship crash into the mountain, bursting up into a cloud of flames. Oh well. Too bad. She doubted any of the people were actually dead-- that rarely ever happened in the prelims-- but they were sure as hell disqualified from taking the exam this year.
The giant red bird flapped its wings, taking her higher and higher until the ground had disappeared behind the sheath of clouds. Its great orange beak shined in the moonlight, its beady black eyes reflecting the night sky. The majestic bird was probably a magical beast of some sort, hired by the exam committee as a navigator. Or maybe not... but the alternative was far less likely.
Before the airship she had been travelling in had crashed, the pilot had announced that Zaban City was only about an hour away from their current postion. She doubted it would take the bird any longer than that.
In fact, only half an hour later, the bird began its swoop back towards the ground. As the earth slowly came into view, she could see the outline of Zaban City below her-- a mass of lights twinkling in the dark. They drew closer and closer, until the bird finally left her on the top of an imposingly tall building.
"Aww! I really wanted to pet that adorable thing." Hanako watched in dismay as it flew away almost instantly. "Rude."
"Well, he is quite the shy one." An unfamiliar voice behind her spoke up and Hanako twisted around, taking on a fighting stance.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled, tucking her licorice-red hair into a bun. "Your navigator for the Hunter Exam this year. Congratulations for passing the preliminaries!" Her green eyes held a strange warmth in them. "Now, here's your last task before you can finally take the exam-- simply follow me."
Hanako relaxed her stance. Alright, that couldn't be too hard.
"Let's see if you can keep up, yeah?"
Hanako blinked. She was gone. Shit. She ran over to the side of the building, peering down over the rails. The woman was hanging by a window sill jutting out of the building about twenty feet below, steadily making her way down by swinging from one grip to another.
Oh she knew exactly how to outdo that. Bracing herself for the gravity, she jumped down and began to run down the walls of the building-- stealing catching up to the navigator.
The woman looked surprised for a moment before she smiled up at her, maneuvering herself to run in pace beside her. Right before they reached the ground, they leapt off the wall and rolled safely onto the concrete. A few people stared at them as they walked by, but most didn't seem to have noticed at all.
The woman adjusted her leather jacket as she turned to her. "Hey wait-- I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Akane, nice to meet you."
Hanako nodded to her, slightly out of breath from the thrill. "Nice to meet you too. My name's Hanako, though I'm sure you already know that. That bird... it's yours, isn't it?"
"Heh-" She rubbed the back of her neck. "He isn't exactly the type to be owned by anyone. You could say we are friends."
Hanako's eyes lit up. "That's seriously cool."
Akane smirked. "I know." She glanced at her watch before regaining a more serious composure. "Alright, can you guess where the hunter exam site is?"
Hanako frowned. Was she supposed to be seeing it from here? There only a few residential buildings around-- though none as tall as the one they'd just jumped off of-- and right next to them was a small restaurant with a nice woody vibe. Akane seemed to be eyeing it with a nudging intensity.
"Is it the- uh- restaurant right across from us?"
"Bingo." She strode forward, throwing her arms up in the air with a dramatic flair. "You see, nobody would suspect the hunter exam to be held here-- which is exactly why it is going to be held here."
The bell jingled merrily as she led her in. Ah! The delicious smell of sobaniku was almost enough for her to abandon the exam and sit here for the rest of her life-
"Is the back room open?" Akane addressed the chef frying a batch of fish sticks.
"What will you have?" He asked casually.
"The steak combo that opens your eyes to the light." She replied sweetly. "For just one."
"Oh hey! Is that like a secret menu item?" A tourist called over a flustered waiter.
"Ah! Sir, unfortunately we only have one left at the moment and-" The waiter rubbed his hands together. "-truly a pity!"
"Bullshit!" Another tourist cried out. "That's what you said the last time I ordered them. What are you playing at?!"
The waiter sighed. "Absolutely nothing, sir. We just found a new one at the back of the-"
"Then it should go to me! I'm the one who ordered it first!" He stood up, towering over the poor waiter.
The chef snapped his fingers. Hanako felt a surge of aura as all of the customers paused, a hazy glaze in their eyes. The waiter shifted nervously as he watched the customers slowly come back to their senses, apparently forgetting all that had just transpired.
"How would you like them?" The chef drew back their attention.
"Grilled over a low flame until cooked." She smiled.
"Very well." The chef shrugged. "You may see yourself in."
[A/N: finally rolled this chapter out-- I was really torn between whether to have her meet the crew before or during the exam and finally settled on the former. I really enjoyed writing this, especially the last scene, and I hope reading this brought you some joy too :) ]