Leorio didn't trust the clown man one bit. But his discomfort was buried as deep as he would hold it when he interacted with Lady Kikyo. He kept his nen as lax as he could, appearing to be a common man rather than a trained individual in front of the sadistic clown. He kept on his path, not liking one bit how the clown seemed to be going to the Hunter's Exam.
Once the area they were in was less dense in unsuspecting individuals did Leorio speak to the clown.
"So, the Hunter's Exam."
The clown's malicious energy seemed to spark ever so slightly.
"And if I am?" he asked in a playful manner.
"I'm sure you will be a formidable opponent. Should the need arise of course." Leorio's voice took on the cool tone he used within the Zoldyck household. His face took looked impassive form and pulled out a glasses case. Opening it up, he pulled out a pair of tinted glasses. He glanced back at the clown and slid them on his face. Letting his well trained smile from living as a doctor in training at the Zoldyck's under the hand of the butlers.
"Although, I'm sure I wouldn't be much of a challenge for you. Most likely not to your level of strength."
"Perhaps," the clown practically purred. The clown moved forward, now leading the duo. Leorio followed the directions given to him to reach the exam sight, of course, following the clown. The one time he had listened to a "helper" for the exam, he was whisked off by the crazy clown past the woman who promised to guide him if he answered her question correctly. The eccentric man had proven a distraction as Leorio tried to come up with an answer to her question. He had proven to be a distraction as he was fairly unamused by the little stops Leorio was making under the guidance to make it to the exam. Rather than actually answer the question, it somehow devolved into Leorio trying to keep him from just killing whoever was hired to help with the exam.
It was equal parts fascination and irritation as the smiling clown led him past hidden tests and tricks, as Leorio tried to limit the amount of death the to limit the amount of people taking the Hunter's Exam. Leorio hated every bit of it.
But the worst part was that he was officially on the clown's radar. He stood near the wall, his suitcase on and his badge number 45 over his left jacket fold. He used a bit of his nen to blend in with the wall and conserve his energy.
He watched as one by one, people walked into the dark tunnel that was the start of the exam. One man seemed to have an eye on him, Number 16.
A rotund man in a blue shirt. He would also glance over at the clown whose name Leorio still hadn't learned. Thankfully, he didn't come over and allowed Leorio his time alone. Perhaps there was a benefit to the unknown clown. It was a small joy.
"So this is the Hunter's Exam," an all too familiar voice echoed in the tunnel. Leorio's eyes snapped to the entrance and felt his heart stop for a moment. Damn it Killua.
Sure enough, at the entrance of the exam was the snowy haired, baby faced boy. No doubt having run away from the Zoldyck manor and away from his mother. Heaven forbid Killua notice him at the exams. But it wasn't like he wanted to see Killua hurt either. He was sure the young and unassuming boy could handle it, but Leorio's bleeding heart and short temper would be on the edge the entire time. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing when someone approached Killua.
"Hey there," a friendly voice unfitting of a Hunter's Exam spoke.
"Hey," Killua nonchalantly responded.
"First time in the Hunter's Exam?" the friendly voice inquired. Leorio opened one eye to gaze over at the two, recognizing the round man who had been watching him and Hisoka. He saw the man offer Killua a can of some juice and Killua casually took it and drank the unknown substance.
Leorio hid a small smile. If the man was trying anything, well, aggressive, he would be in for disappointment. Leorio had been there for Killua during his trainings against a large variety of poisons and had built quite the immunity. He had no doubt that he would be fine. He also had no doubt Killua would be able to notice poison in the drink easily.
If a few poisoned drinks were the worst the exam had to offer, then there would be nothing to worry about. Granted, it was from a fellow competitor and not from whoever would be testing them, so what did he know?
He focused on his nen to blend in further as more people came into the cavern. He didn't openly watch them, only felt for anything that felt off. So far, he noticed a few individuals who had some sort of nen ability. A man named Bourbon was most likely a manipulator with his snakes. There was also a girl with a large hat that seemed to be the focus of her nen.
Then, much like an earthquake, something put every nerve on edge. He didn't hide his stare when one striking individual walked in, pins all over his face and hair styled as a mohawk. Everything was wrong about the individual appearance wise. But Leorio recognized the nen the person had. He bit the inside of his cheek and his stare melted into a glare. Of course Illumi would show up to the Hunter's Exam Killua had shown up for. Freaking stalker brother. Although, there was a sick amusement seeing the stiff and mechanic movements when he normally moved so smoothly. The eyes of the pinheaded individual met his. No doubt the assassin training and his nen had already given his identity away.
Leorio admitted to himself that it was slightly more terrifying to see Illumi walking towards him in the pinhead getup. Leorio eased up on his nen so it wouldn't be too jarring for people when he just, appeared. Then again, Illumi was using his own nen to encourage people to look away and not notice what would no doubt be a quick little discussion filled with veiled threats and creepy "promises".
"I must admit," Illumi spoke in a broken and unnatural voice, "I did not expect to see you here."
"Nor I you. But I guess that has more to do with who else is here huh?" Leorio spoke casually. He knew he was getting some looks now from the people bold enough to try and overcome Illumi's nen. Such as the clown from before. From run of the mill forgettable to friends with the freakiest made one stand out. Thankfully, he was aware Killua wasn't in the general vicinity and that he would be able to notice him if he came closer. Killua would try and look if he noticed others watching intently. There was a weird clicking noise from Illumi.
"Just remember our history Doctor."
"Whatever you say. Young Master." Leorio whispered the last part.
"I don't need a nickname, Gittarackur will do."
"That may be the single worst coverup name I have ever heard. You need to come up with something better. Like Steve. No one suspects Steve."
Illumi didn't look amused. He never looked amused so it was nothing new. It was just the "Gittarackur" edition.
"Don't falter with my name."
"No worries. I don't want anymore attention than I need."
Illumi nodded and walked a distance away before letting his nen bleed away and "blend" into the crowd. Leorio let his own nen come up and go back to hiding him. It was hilarious to see people walk into the tunnel and take notice to the over the top appearance of Gittarackur. Perhaps he would try and make a mention to the family that Illumi may need a refresher on disguises. Not that many of them needed it as top tier assassins. But the disguise was just ridiculous.
He closed his eyes and decided to wait after so long. Who knew what they would need to do?
He entered a bit of a light doze when a scream had him at alert. He saw some poor man on his knees by the clown, suspiciously missing an arm. He could only imagine just what the unnamed clown did. Clearly it was nen, with the lack of blood and limb.
With the lack of blood, meant the shoulder stump wasn't an open wound, leaving little he could do in the moment. At most, he could offer pain killers, but the ones he had would hardly be effective. Then again, he could also sedate the man so he could be transported to a hospital. With that in mind, he casually opened his briefcase and pulled out a small needle he used when younger members of the Zoldyck family needed to take their medicine. It worked a bit differently than a syringe, using a concentrated form of a drug and coating the needle. All he needed was to have it pierce the man's skin for the drug to take effect. Needles may not have been Leorio's forte, but living and occasionally learning under the needle head of the Zoldyck family did have him pick up a trick or two.
The man wasn't much of a challenge either as he writhed and moaned in one spot. Leorio got in a strong shot in his neck, quickly knocking him out. He quietly thanked his connection to black market drugs and medicine from working under the Zoldycks.
He didn't give it too much more thought though as a man in a suit with a well groomed moustache appeared, telling them he would lead them to the Hunter's Exam.
What was surprising was how easy the run was. Working on the uneven ground of Kukuroo Mountain made the straightforward run rather simple and near therapeutic. Even if others didn't think so as they dropped one by one in the tunnel. What wasn't as easy was avoiding Killua on his skateboard. He seemed to have taken an interest in another boy about his age who was also taking the exam.
Leorio felt but joy and dread at the interaction. Joy from Killua making a friend on his own terms, and not just a worker who he got along with, and dread from knowing that Illumi was or at least would be aware of the new and budding dynamic very soon.
He looked at the back of Killua who had jumped off his board to run alongside the boy, Gon it seemed his name was, then up ahead where he knew Illumi was. Was he to help Killua with his potential budding friendship, or assist Illumi in keeping them apart to keep the dark haired boy safe?
He needed to know more about Gon.
His eyes went over towards the blond he had entered with and sped up to run alongside him.
"How you holding up?" Leorio asked.
"I'm- Fine," the blond huffed. Fatigue seemed to be setting in on him.
"Good. First time?"
"Yes. I assume you're a veteran?"
"Nope. You can call me Doc."
"Kurapika."
"Well that's a name," Leorio commented. He hadn't heard of a name quite like that before. A family name perhaps?
"It's a family name."
"Huh. So what brings you here Kurapika? Wanting a bit of money, want to see the world? Lost a bet against a relative and now they're vicariously living through you and making you do stupidly dangerous stuff?"
He did not miss the way Kurapika tensed at the family comment. So family was a key point to shorter teen. Either he had lost someone and saw being a hunter as a means to an end, or he hated a relative who was probably some level of dangerous and saw the exam as a means to an end. Either way, it was a means to an end. He wondered if Gon was connected to the possible relative of Kurapika.
"So that boy up ahead, Gon is it? He a friend of the family or something? Someone you're supposed to watch out for?"
"No. I only met Gon on my journey to the exam. Why?" Kurapika questioned in an accusatory tone. Leorio shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, you two did enter together. So it does beg the question," Leorio answered vaguely.
"We know each other. He's a good kid," Kurapika defended.
"I don't doubt that," he agreed seeing Killua so relaxed and even laughing along with the green wearing Gon.
I decided not to take word for word from the episodes in the Hunter's Exam. I am enjoying the chaos that is occurring though.