18Chapter 3- Worlds Apart
A/N: here's the next chapter. (:
Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter X Hunter
Warnings: in the first chapter
XXX
They were playing Old Maid, those that got the joker card had to do the most embarrassing thing they could think of.
Minutes into the game, one of them eventually got the joker and made a really hilarious face. That's when 'Suki couldn't hold it in anymore, collapsing and banging his hands on the wall. It was somewhat of a miracle that the wall didn't collapse.
The family of four looked at 'Suki, paling. They thought that there was still a lot of time before the challengers came, seeing as the old lady had only informed them that four had passed around 30 minutes ago.
"Wha-! You weren't supposed to get here so soon!"
'Suki stopped laughing eventually. "It's alright. The other three aren't even halfway here yet and you probably couldn't sense me since I am currently using in unconsciously. I don't think anyone can sense me anyway. If a family of assassins cannot track me at all, I don't think you will be able to sense me."
They gaped at him.
He continued his explanation. "The old lady said that I was supposed to get a special test. It had something to do with nen."
They huddled in the corner, discussing what they should test him on. 'Suki sweat dropped, being able to hear every word. All four of them transformed and ran around in a circle. They were all the same height and to the normal person, they probably looked all the same.
"You must tell us apart."
Ryuu raised an eyebrow and told them apart on the first try. They laughed. "No one has been able to tell us apart for a long, long time. Very well… You pass. If you can find the hunter exam site, you pass. One of us have gone there a couple of days ago, our nen flowing. If you are as good as you say you are then you should be able to get there. When you do, tell the cook this: Beef steak. When he asks how you want it cooked, say: slowly, under a low flame."
Giving his thanks, 'Suki took off immediately, and followed the trail of nen. Sure, it was really really really slight and almost everyone would be unable to track it, he was not like everyone else.
He reached the city in an hour, probably long before Gon, Leorio and Kurapika even reached the cozy, wooden hut. He entered the small, shabby-looking shop. The owner asked him what he wanted to eat.
He replied, "Beef Steak."
"How do you want it cooked?"
"Slowly under a low flame."
The owner smiled eerily and led him to a room that was empty of anything. He handed 'Suki a badge with the number "13" printed on it in large numbers.
'Suki whistled. "Wow. I'm one of the first few to reach here, huh?"
The chef exited the room and closed the door behind him, flipping a switch outside the room.
The floor started moving downwards, finally stopping when it reached the lowest it could go. There was another door and 'Suki opened it without hesitation, leading to a huge area of space that several people (12, to be precise) had already reached and were lazing around or sending hostile glares at each other.
Sighing, 'Suki sat down and leaned on the nearest wall, and to the others around, it looked like he fell asleep instantly, his breathing slowing down and posture slumping.
Slowly, one by one, he heard several people enter the room and do all sorts of things to pass the time. For example, chatting with others, outwardly attacking those who disturbed them as well as other forms of entertainment.
Precisely 18 hours later, he heard the familiar footsteps of the three people he had recently travelled with: Gon, Kurapika and Leorio.
Sighing, he opened his eyes and was strangely greeted by the sight of a rather square-nosed man. He bore the badge number of '16', showing that he had come not long after 'Suki himself arrived.
"Oh…? You're a rookie, huh? My name is Tompa."
'Suki nodded his head in response to the question.
"Hm…? For a rookie to arrive at the exam site so early is a rare feat indeed…hows about a can of drink to toast to you?" asked the man, smiling with hidden malicious intent, bringing out two cans of drink.
'Suki raised an eyebrow. The malicious intent was hidden rather well. He obviously had experience. But the way he gives you something so soon after meeting you is too obvious that the drink has some kind of poison of some sort in it.
He smiled sweetly at Tompa. "Sure. Why not? Give me a couple then."
Tompa gave an inaudible gulp. "Alright! Here you go!" he said, piling four cans into 'Suki's arms.
Smirking inwardly, 'Suki opened the first can and gulped it straight down, doing the same for the other three. By now, the man was starting to look a little pale, sweating a little. 'Suki let his smirk show. "Nice try, but I'm already immune to all poisons."
Sweating a little more, Tompa started backing away. "Ahahaha…it wasn't on purpose! I swear!"
"Hm…whatever you say." 'Suki made sure it was obvious that there was a small heart at the end of his sentence.
Not too far away, 'Suki saw him offer the same thing to another child with white hair and turquoise blue eyes. Something in the back of his mind clicked. Brother…it went; I finally meet my younger brother. Killua. Mother and father gave him a good name…a fitting name for the heir of the Zaoldyeck family, that is.
Sweat dropping a little; he saw that Killua did the same thing as he did; only using his seemingly childish naïveté. Laughing, he heard Killua respond the same way he responded; only he let his cold-blooded side show through his icy cold eyes.
Tompa paled the slightest bit, but to Killua and 'Suki's trained eyes, it was a huge difference. Both gave satisfied smirks at his response.
Deciding that Killua was too dangerous for him to handle, he moved on…in Kurapika, Leorio and Gon's direction.
'Suki felt a flare of irritation. This guy was seriously starting to piss him off. He was weak himself, so he tried to bring rookies down using mental games and dirty tricks. From how he acted, he probably took some pleasure in it too.
Gon's senses were top-notch and he was able to tell that the drink tasted strange right away. Seeing Gon's reaction, Leorio and Kurapika immediately poured their canned drinks away.
'Suki smirked. Amateur, he thought, it was too much of a heavy dosage. Anyone with senses as strong as Gon's (though I doubt it) will be able to tell right away. Though Gon's still too gullible and naïve than what I would like. At least it's better than before…
Moments later, he made his way towards his friends. "Hey guys! You finally got here, huh?"
"Yeah! You got here so fast, though…" said Gon, looking at my badge number.
'Suki chuckled. "Considering I only made it here 18 hours before you guys, the number of people who arrive in between this time is huge! My test was probably harder than yours, though…"
Leorio raised two eyebrows. "Really? We got surprised by a 'beast' holding a woman 'hostage' and a man 'wounded' on the floor (unconscious) with another beast to take the first's place when attacked or caught. I somehow doubt you can beat that."
Kurapika's lips twitched in amusement. "You, who is starting to train in medical studies in the future, wasn't even able to tell that the wounds were fake and you want to argue with 'Suki?"
At this point, Leorio gave a miffed, "HEY! I resent that!" was promptly ignored.
The brunette smiled in amusement. "No offence was taken. I had to tell the family apart then make my way here myself. That was my test."
Leorio snorted. "That's it? Eventually I would have guessed them apart too. Plus getting here wasn't that long a distance."
Gon rebuked his statement. "'Suki was probably able to tell at the first glance. 'Suki was the one who trained me, after all. Besides, it probably didn't seem like such a long distance since you fell asleep halfway there and woke up only 5 minutes before we got there."
Ignoring Gon and Leorio both, Kurapika spoke directly to 'Suki. "Please elaborate on your test further."
"…Well, how am I supposed to explain this…Un... Something like this…I was made to track one of them all the way here from their scent which was roughly a week old. Of course, on the way there were many other predators and prey which tried to attack me (and got dealt with swiftly) from the air, of course, since I was travelling by the trees, and their scent was barely traceable and all, making it hard for me, plus –inserts long, detailed explanation-"
At the end, Gon blinked a couple of times and looked sort of bored, Leorio was gaping at him, while Kurapika calmly processed the information and stored it away for later use.
Shaking off whatever was left of his disbelief about 'Suki's test being harder that theirs, he opened his mouth and started to say something…When he was rudely cut off by a random guy appearing from a door.
The man had white hair that curved up at the ends and a thin mustache. Strangely enough, he had no mouth…but let's not dwell further on that.
He cleared his throat. "Ahem. The first exam has started. I will now bring you to the second exam site. Follow me."
A random candidate spoke up, shouting, "Hey! What about the first exam?"
"…I said the first exam has started, did I not?"
"…Yeah."
XXX
Somewhere along the way, while they were running at a regular pace (Gon, Leorio and Kurapika) or to some, an undeniably slow and leisurely pace ('Suki), Killua shot past them riding on his skateboard humming tunelessly.
Seeing this, a tick mark appeared on Leorio's head. "Hey! Don't cheat! All of us here are running whilst you are riding on your skateboard. That hardly takes any effort at all."
Gon spoke up for him. "No he isn't! The examiner only said we had to follow him. Besides, everything that we bring we're allowed to use."
Leorio swerved his head and looked at Gon, changing his anger direction. "Who's side are you on?"
Getting interested, Killua slowed down as well, hopping off his skateboard to run next to Gon.
Gon attempted to make friends with the only person that seemed close to his age (that he met so far). "Hi! My name is Gon! What's yours?"
Killua smiled at him. "Killua. Hm…Gon, how old are you?"
"Twelve!"
He perked up. "We're the same age, then!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
The two new friends smiled at each other.
"I'm Leorio."
Killua looked at Leorio. "Shouldn't you start getting tired already, gramps? It's already been 4 hours you know?"
More tick marks joined the first on Leorio's extremely large head. "Wha-! Who're you calling gramps? I'm only 19 you know!"
Killua, Gon and 'Suki all stared at him with different forms of bewilderment. "No way! You look way older than that!"
"What? We're not friends anymore, Gon, 'Suki, both of you."
Beside Leorio, Kurapika snickered. "At least you act like your age."
Leorio twitched, but deemed Kurapika's insult unfit for a reply.
Kurapika smiled at Killua. "My name's Kurapika and the person next to me is 'Suki."
'Suki nodded politely at his younger brother (not that he knew) and smiled his way, but quickly became slightly distracted at the sound of familiar footsteps. One belonged to Hisoka- the egoistic and self-confident man who believed he was the strongest no matter who he faced, but overall if you got past the urge to have good fights, he was pretty decent.
The second belonged to his older brother- Illumi. Silent and almost inaudible, just like the rest of their family. Strangely enough, he had pins stuck in his head and clothes and took on a completely different appearance.
Killua looked at the distracted brunette. "What's caught your attention?"
'Suki's thoughtful look disappeared. "Ah…I just saw some people that I know from before."
"Hm…who are they?"
Grey-blue eyes curved into a smile as he talked. "One is called Hisoka- wearing the badge of 44. He loves to fight more than anything, the only one here with orange hair," he said, pointing out Hisoka (who was way in front of them), "the second is…well. It would probably be better for me to point out to you later seeing as he's too far ahead."
The four companions sweat dropped at the fact that 'Suki took really long to recognize someone that he already knew from before.
Another 5 hours later, Leorio started getting tired. Kurapika and Gon were sweating slightly while Killua and 'Suki were still looking fresh like they took a stroll in the park.
Soon enough, Leorio started lagging behind a little. He stopped suddenly, huffing and panting, and said, "Y-you guys go on first. I'll catch up in a bit."
From behind a voice spoke up, "Aah? You're tired already? Y'know-"
He was interrupted by 'Suki, who frowned seeing Tompa pop up at the most convenient time. "No need. Here, Leorio, take this," he said, shoving a little box into Leorio's hand, "it's some candy that revives your stamina."
Leorio looked at it disbelievingly. "This little thing can revive my stamina? Are you sure?"
"Positive. Why don't you try it for yourself?"
He popped a couple of pieces into his mouth, chewing, and finally swallowing. Sure enough, a few moments later, he suddenly looked more energetic than before and dashed off. "Thanks a lot! I really did recover my stamina!"
Gon laughed and sped up as well, catching up with Leorio and starting a conversation.
'Suki, Killua and Kurapika were slightly behind, two looking curiously at the brunette. "What was in that chocolate?"
'Suki chuckled. "Nothing…"
"Wha-? Then what-"
"Oh- I just figured his sugar levels were dropping. Other than that, there is nothing in the chocolate…but I guess the fact that he actually believed it could recover his stamina helped too…"
Killua and Kurapika shot a look at each other, both starting to laugh.
XXX
"I'm going to speed up a bit," said the examiner, speeding up right after he finished saying his words.
Gaping a little, the candidates hastily sped up as well and followed after their examiner, going up the sudden flight of steep stairs.
About an hour after going up the steep flight of stairs, Gon, Killua and 'Suki were right behind the examiner while Kurapika and Leorio were lagging a bit behind. Gon and Killua looked back. "Wow! We're in the front now!"
"Yeah. Climbing the steps slower probably makes you lose even more energy."
'Suki, who was paying attention to the front instead of the back, saw their examiner look back, curious about the ability of the two kids. Smiling, he whispered to him, "They're really good. They'll beat many twice their age with the right combat experience and teaching."
The examiner's face remained unchanged, but you could see the slight widening of his eyes, that was gone so fast you would have thought it was just a mere illusion of the light.
XXX
Most of the candidates had their hands on their knees as they panted heavily from the lack of oxygen just before a heavy slab of metal separating them from the tunnel that they just stepped out from.
'Suki sensed minor bloodlust from his right side, but ignored it. Hisoka was probably feeling impatient right now…so he would take care of that by himself. Besides…it wasn't like he was opposed to killing a wild beast…scratch that. He wasn't even opposed to killing those who got in his way or after they reach their full fighting potential.
Honestly, he was hoping that Killua and Gon wouldn't get targeted by him, but fat chance of that happening…he was always on the lookout for developing talents.
During the time where he was slightly distracted, he had taken in the information about what was going around him unconsciously. This was mainly due to his many years of training and skill refining.
After the ruckus died down a little, Killua walked up to the still thoughtful brunette and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, aren't you going to start running as well?"
'Suki reluctantly shoved the thoughts back into his mind. "Yeah…" he said, looking at the dead monkey and man out of the corner of his eye, "They were killed in rather crude ways…"
Killua raised an eyebrow incredulously. "I think you're the first girl I've ever met that hasn't squirmed when seeing someone getting killed in front of you."
'Suki's lips twitched in amusement. He was definitely going to cut his hair when he got to the second stage of the exam.
"Well, let's get going, Gon, Killua, Leorio, Kurapika!"
"OK!"
XXX
Leorio, Kurapika and another candidate stood in the battlefield. Corpses lay around them courtesy of Hisoka; all dealt a swift end by a mere poker card.
All three looked weary of him, the last candidate whispering commands to them, "Hey, on the count of three we split up and run. There's no way we're going to survive this otherwise."
The blonde teen and black-haired med-student-to-be nodded their heads slightly in agreement.
"1…2…3…!"
All three took off at their fastest pace.
Hisoka looked intrigued. "That's a good idea. Though…you're not too smart, are you?" he said, directing his last few words at Leorio, who had came back, brandishing a short knife in his hand.
"That's just not the way I fight!" he yelled, dashing at the cold-hearted killer.
Hisoka chuckled, dealing a blow to Leorio's face, knocking him unconscious, and about to give him another one when a fine wire with a hook stopped him in his tracks.
Gon landed on the other side, glaring at Hisoka. "Leave him alone!"
Hisoka gave another of his unnerving chuckles. "It's alright. He passed."
"Passed?"
Just then, Kurapika appeared in the clearing too.
Hisoka smiled creepily. "Oh…? I guess everyone really does need a friend. You two pass too."
'Suki appeared a couple of meters in front of Hisoka. "Hisoka. Haven't seen you for a long time!" said 'Suki, smiling angelically.
Hisoka raised an eyebrow, suspicious of what 'Suki was going to say next. "Hey 'Suki. What do you want? Every time you smile like that, you definitely want something."
'Suki dropped the smile like he scalded his tongue, his face darkening. "Heh…you know me so well. I want you to leave Gon, Leorio, Kurapika and Killua alone. They're my friends, after all, and I won't allow you to hurt them."
"Oh? And what are you going to do if I don't?"
The angelic smile was back up again. "You won't ever have the privilege of hiring me for a job again…and we all know there are some things Illumi can't do."
Both were having a contest to see whose smile was creepier. Apparently 'Suki won the contest when Hisoka made a slight twitch. "Fine."
Hisoka's cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Yeah, yeah…OK."
He hung up, picked up Leorio, slinging him over his shoulder and started running in the examiner's direction. "You better hurry," he said, casting a sly glance over his shoulder.
After he left, Gon collapsed onto his knees. "Whew…! That was terrifying!"
'Suki chuckled. "That's Hisoka for you."
Kurapika looked at 'Suki suspiciously. "How do you know Hisoka anyway?"
"Ah…through my job."
"What is your job? You've never told me, 'Suki!"
A grin made its way onto 'Suki's face. "Se~cr~et! You'll find out when Killua tells you his!"
"Ah…we better get going lest we be late."
"Right."
The three set off, Gon leading them by Leorio's scent of aftershave, barely making it there on time.
"Well! You've reached the second exam site. This is where I'll leave you," said the first examiner (who never introduced himself), jumping into the trees to silently watch the action.
The remaining candidates were left standing in front of a huge white building. With a clock ticking…
Tick.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock-tick-tock…
XXX
That's the end! If you want more, please review! :D