Hunter X Hunter 1. Duty X Obligation X Life

**Ayan~ I'm sorry that Im not updating my rewritten stories. I wrote this story on a whim. It may or may not be continued. Sorry for any inconvenience. School has been impossible lately. Thanks for reading!**

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><p><span>Chapter 1: Duty X Obligation X Life<span>

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><p>Deep in a lush forest, a young green-haired girl holds up a shiny silver whistle. The undergrowth teems with apprehensive creatures, recognizing her scent and aura. This land, teeming with danger to all others, is her safe haven, her refuge from society. Her mouth curves into a slight smile, but her eyes remain shut, just as they have always been. She breathes in and blows as hard as she can into the tiny instrument. A clear, high-pitched note echoes across the expanse, bringing it to life as animals rush to obtain their orders. Her smile widens without seeing as she commands them. They know she is the ruler of this forest.<p>

"No killing. Near deaths are fine. Maiming is ok. Capturing is what we're aiming for. Bring them all to me. Thank you for helping me. Challenges are what make life interesting. So let's have some fun, ne?" The monsters understand and spread out. The girl's eyes finally open, revealing in them an animalistic tendency. She has marked her prey.

"And now the games, oh Chairman, shall begin, and the force of the gale shall cause havoc upon this area. Once again, I accept your terms. Therefore, please take care of me, ne?" she says happily, joyfully. "As for you, dear examined, you are yet children in the ways of the world. I shall teach you, ne?" On that parting note, spoken to no one in particular, copper wings expand on her back and she disappears.

Naught but a whisper remains: "No traces, ne?"

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><p>The first stage of the Hunter Exam is the hardest for Kimiyo, it always has been. She has done this for thirteen years, ever since her master was a two-year-old child, and still the first is the most difficult, the reason being too many people. Her master's family has dismissed the pre-exam as impossible, and she is thankful for that piece of common sense. She knows that too many people will not affect the other contestants that much, but then again, they all have a different purpose for doing this. There are definite similarities, she thinks, between them and me. We all train hard for this. We all are hoping against all odds. We all believe we will make it. Yet we still will probably never understand each other, she admits. That thought is what depresses her the most.<p>

There are always her favorites, too, among the contestants. This year, she is favoring the group she sees far ahead of her: the group that came in together as the last ones. The young scruffy man with kind eyes, the blonde teen with calculating eyes and the spiky-haired boy with forgiving eyes (she likes him the most, she can tell the others have been touched by him because of the way their eyes soften when looking at him). The boy prodigy (for she can tell just how amazingly skilled he really is) with the curious and pained eyes is coming up on a skateboard next to them, joining in on their conversation. He is another favorite. She hopes that the spiky-haired boy and the boy prodigy will become friends, because maybe, just maybe, the prodigy boy eyes would also soften. She smiles when thinking that, because he reminds her of her master, who also could do with a friend like the spiky-haired boy.

With that she begins to worry about her master, who as also done this several times. You can't help but worry with a master like mine, she thinks happily, for thoughts of her master cheer her up. She hopes her master is doing fine out in Numelle's Swamp, but she knows it will all turn out alright. Her master is almost a pro at these things. Her duties and obligations to her master sends her train of thought to the one who obstructed her last year, Hisoka.

He is her last favorite, the red-haired magician with the playful uncaring eyes, if only because he always makes her duties so much harder just by being there. If he passes, he will not be there next year. That would be very nice, she thinks dolefully, but it may or may not happen. Am I allowed to hope for the may, with a man like that? Or am I just being selfish?

She then wonders: why can't people just get along?

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><p>Nicolas knows that he is done for. He is worthless, so he doesn't care. Collapsing to the ground, soaking with sweat, he feels foolish at ever coming here, ever thinking he just might pass. His thoughts spiral in despair, going back and forth and around again. As swallowed up by misery as he is, he doesn't notice the mice and rats that are slowly surrounding him. If he did, he might have had the chance to scream before he was knocked out by the figure behind him and carried away by the rodents to somewhere else. As it is, he will probably later regret giving in to Tonpa's psychological torture.<p>

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><p>Satotsu knows that something is missing from this stage. He cannot sense any death. The drop-outs are disappearing one by one, and this worries him, although only slightly. Those people don't have the aptitude, he thinks. They are not my concern. Or are they? It is always possible that they are future hunters. Still, this exam is one they will fail, and I am not proctoring the next ones. Examining is a one time thing for everyone but the Chairman. If they want to become hunters, they must survive the aftermath of failure as well. He pushes his questions to the back of his mind and continues leading the others. As the exam progresses, he finds his thought turning to other subjects, more immediate ones, such as the boy who was just behind him that reminded him of someone...<p>

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><p><strong>Ayan~ Thanks for reading this. As I said, I may or may not continue this. Reviews would probably help out the "will continue" side of the argument. This story, if continued, may have a bunch of OCs. We've already met our main OCs, Kimiyo and "the green-haired girl," whose name, by the way, is Tôko. <strong>**I know some people have some, ah... difficulties with reviewing, like if they don't know what to say. Therefore, I will be nice (Ha! Me? Nice?) and give you guys at least one question, probably more, per chappie. You don't have to answer them, and if you do, you don't have to do all of them. It's just, you know, me trying to get reviews, which I live for;) Questions for this chappie number two. Who do you think Kimiyo's master is, and who would you wish her master is? (No, they don't have a relationship, their circumstances are similar to Killua [insert fangirl squeals] and Goto) Other question is what do you think Tôko's true purpose is? I'm pretty sure I foreshadowed it...**

**So... yeah. Please review. Thanks.**


	2. Waiting X Gon X Hisoka

**Ayan~ Sorry for being late. I _was_ going to post this yesterday, but... Crap happened. Friend P ended up in the hospital and he won't be out for a week. He's on lots of painkillers... And then I lost the whole chapter (this one) that I had FINISHED because of my mom... Yeah. Crap happened. Sorry guys.**

**Ayan~ Thanks to CrystalVixen93 for reviewing. Really made my day, thanks;)**

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><p><span>Chapter 2: Waiting X Gon X Hisoka<span>

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><p>Tôko was having fun. She loved challenges, and the Hunter Exam, although not the hardest, was her greatest thrill. It was an inherited job, and she could see why her ancestors had taken to it. Any emotion she wanted to feel could be provided, from laughing at Tonpa (he had the stupidest plans) to crying with the failures (that one a couple years ago, Qrinn was it? So touching!) to scaring the crap out of cowards (really? just, really? some people). She could express herself. And that made her feel like she was almost free. Almost being the key word. She wasn't delusional.<p>

Distracting herself from this train of thought with thoughts of the soap opera-like dramas that took place here, (lost siblings, forbidden lovers, etc) she returned to her job. The examined would be out any second now. She tapped her foot impatiently from where she was standing on top of a tree. Watching, waiting, swearing silently. What was taking those d*mned applicants so long anyway? This year's must suck... She sighed, knowing idiots (and that mad magician) only made her job harder. She briefly wished for Kimiyo, who had taken to keeping handy sudoku in her pockets.

But Kimiyo, her faithful servant, was busy carrying out her orders.

And Tôko was stuck with her own.

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><p>Kimiyo was very relieved to exit the tunnel. She'd had to run the whole span at least three times already within the last hour, before giving up and using her rodents. On further thought, she was glad to have taught Nezumi-chi teleportation nen. Rats were so very useful, which was, of course, why they were her familiars. Especially so, because her mother's were sharks and it was so inconvenient to have to find water to fight at full-strength. And not just a little bit of water... Her father's, which she had thought was awkward, were housecats. Awkward because he was allergic to their fur and also because they would never listen to him anyway. Cats were free spirits. This led her to thoughts of her master, who was probably cursing and waiting at the end of this tunnel (little did she know how true this was).<p>

Which led her back to getting the green boy to meet her master. No plans had readily made themselves available, so she would just have to go with the flow. Oh well. It would work out somehow.

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><p>Satotsu had reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Literally, as he wasn't dying anytime soon (hopefully). Several applicants had let their guards down, tripped, and not stood up again. Some collapsed on the stairs reaching for the light. Others worried that if they stopped they would faint, the rhythm would be disrupted. A few rubbed their eyes, thinking it was a mirage or something of the sort. Most were somewhat relieved to exit the long tunnel, whether out of tiredness, boredom or indifference. Hisoka smirked creepily for no disconcernable reason other than to make Kimiyo, who he knew was watching him warily, shudder. Gittarackur chuckled in that weird way of his that sounded like clicks. Leorio and Kurapika shared exhausted smiles. Pockle winced when he realized that his legs would be on fire the next morning and- was that Ponzo? Did she follow him from the village? Ponzo, for her part, ignored him, focusing on the final steps. Bodoro flashed back to the training of his youth... in the process freaking out Tonpa who assumed he was thinking about something else entirely.<p>

And Gon and Killua, the first ones out, argued over who would pay for dinner.

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><p>And that was the first impression Tôko had of Gon, the naive boy in green with limitless potential and friends he would die for. The country kid who befriended a half-crazy child assassin and introduced him to a world he knew nothing about himself. It told her that, among other things, there were at least <em>some<em> good rookies this year. And seeing another two boys come and join him happily, one a prodigy in his own right (she wasn't sure about the guy who needed a shave), she felt sort of... warm... In that one moment, she was sure they would accept her into their little group if she just-

Shaking her head out of dangerous thoughts (off-limit thoughts, snap out of it! don't think, don't want, don't feel, act how you were raised, don't question authority!), Tôko noticed the magician was back. Crap. She hated his guts. A lot (that's right, think about something else). The way his nen leaked out, dripping with blood-thirst, was like he was going to kill someone. Great, he was, and she didn't feel like stopping him (do your job!) so she let Kimiyo, perfectly capable (loyal) Kimiyo, take care of it while she went back to hugging a pigeon (don't ask) who probably shouldn't have been in Numelle's Swamp.

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><p>Hisoka did, in fact, attempt to kill the fake examiner, and would have succeeded in not for Kimiyo, who blocked his playing card with a nen-infused object (pencil) of her own. She glared at him; a warning glare; to show that he had better stop killing things in front of her. He let her, which probably said something about one of them (she wasn't sure which one) and settled for laughing (in a creepy way; everything about him is creepy). So, after shooting a more discrete glare at Tôko, who she <em>knew<em> left Hisoka to her, Kimiyo resumed running slowly just behind Hisoka, just in case.

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><p><strong>Ayan~ Thank you for reading. Please review and tell me what you think. Questions of the chapter are: What are Kimiyo and Tôko's duties? Any ideas on what Kimiyo and Tôko's nen abilities are? (I've hinted at all of these already.) Were you surprised to find out that Tôko is Kimiyo's master?<strong>


	3. Fight X Frustration X Firefly

**Ayan~ Sorry for being late. Again. I know I'm pathetic.**** Thanks to CrystalVixen93 and X-MelodiesoftheSakuraTree-X for reviewing. Sigh~**

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><p><span>Chapter 3: Fight X Frustration X Firefly<span>

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><p>Tôko was annoyed. Extremely annoyed, in fact, and she had nothing on which to take it out on. She cursed and stabbed a nearby tree. The monkeys chittering paused as they scurried away.<p>

"D*mn that Hisoka. He's going to pay for this, ne?" she muttered angrily. Hisoka was "playing examiner." As if she didn't have enough on her plate! So, before he could steal a life, Tôko intercepted his card and glared. Hard. So hard, that the 'innocent bystanders' around her fainted. Oops, was that nen she was emitting? She had meant it to be simple killer intent... Although she doubted the ability of the IBs to withstand _that _either (no one without talent could - they _certainly_ didn't have talent). Oh well, at least they weren't dead. "Hisoka-san, you're getting on my nerves. Kindly stop attempting to kill, ne?" Hisoka simply chuckled (was that a yes or a no?), he had done that to Kimiyo as well. It was extremely creepy, too. Seriously, he acted like a pedo sometimes.

"You are the fruit from last year, yes? I would like to see your skills in action. " Tôko shivered. That _was_ creepy (and he hadn't even answered)! No wonder Kimiyo had complained! She held her breath and continued glaring, this time suspiciously.

"I'll fight you only if you don't kill for the duration of the exam. You are a thorn in my side and I have no reason to humor you, ne?" Hisoka purred for unknown reasons.

"I might not be able to last that long. Are you sure you won't give me an early taste?" Tôko shivered. Why did he have to be so perverted and creepy?

"Unfortunately, I have business during the exam. Business which _you _keep interrupting with your murderous impulses. I'll won't do you favors until you stop interfering, ne?" Tôko snapped, jabbing his chest with her pointer finger. Hisoka grinned like a cat and grabbed her arm intending to flip her over. She leaped to safety, snarling at his antics. "You won't get anything by force, Hisoka. You have to play nice for now, ne?" His grin widened as he pulled her arm-first towards him. She had forgotten his stupid nen ability. Cursing him for pushing her (too far this time), she breathed in, pulling all of her nen (and the foreign nen attached to her arm) inside of her until it was all one tiny little ball of extremely condensed nen inside of her core. Synchronizing with the swamp, she then breathed out, releasing her nen to do whatever it did when she wasn't controlling it (and Hisoka's back to him). The trees around her were once again teeming with life as the swamp's residents chittered angrily at her excited opponent(who she was NOT fighting, not now, not here). Hisoka's glee encompassed the clearing. Was he... turned on? Disgusting. She paled considerably and pulled out to her watch-place surrounded by fr- allies, she reminded herself, allies (friends BAD don't think don't feel even if they're animals they can't be FRIENDS bad) and sighed heavily. Hisoka was... dangerous for lack of better words (danger DANGER don't fight _yet_ hide plan).

She needed a plan, she thought, as she distantly observed her allies pestering Hisoka, who was filled with a child-like happiness; what a child feels as he receives a new and excited toy.

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><p>Kimiyo sensed Tôko's nen and worried a bit before sending half her rats to check on her. They returned and reported, squeaking nervously when she swore (Kimiyo barely ever swore). Even if Hisoka refrained from killing (which she didn't think he would), Tôko would end up killing <em>him<em> and all their work would be useless. Sighing, she asked them where Tôko was now. They told her she was in the cave on the mountain, which wasn't very specific, but it was enough for Kimiyo. Narrowly grabbing a man who was about to walk off a cliff, she heightened her senses, ordering a rat to send off tiny nen pockets surveying the area. Nezumi-ta complied and gave Kimiyo the information she needed. Of the ones who sensed the nen pockets, none had killer intent. Or rather, had killer intent and intended to act on it (she couldn't be sure of anything about Gittarakkur as he was obviously not in his/her true form).

So Kimiyo headed back to the middle of the runners' pack and jogged along with the heavily sweating applicants who were too busy freaking out over this frog and that crow to notice an extra person.

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><p>Satotzu tensed his muscles at the nen pocket zooming around him like a scout. After being assured that it was <em>just <em>a scout_, _he took a second to admire the finesse of the applicant who created it. It resembled a firefly and with gyo revealed a miniature lantern floating innocently in mid-air. He had seen something similar in the Country of Kan except so much more deadly. _These_ nen-fireflies were small yet refined, gathering information and hoarding secrets while captivating those who could preform gyo (who were also the ones who could hinder their objectives) with their simplistic beauty. You just didn't find people who could do that kind of thing these days.

Wondering which hunter wanna-be had crafted such a work of art, he sighed and turned back to his task at hand to discover that he was nearing on his destination.

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><p><strong>Ayan~ Please review. Questions for the chapter: What do you think of Kimiyo's rats? What do you think her nen ability is? What is Tôko's? Will Tôko ever fight Hisoka? Who would win?<strong>


	4. Observation X Approach X Realization

**Ayan~ I'm so sorry! It being Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday of repentance, I must beg all of you lovely readers' forgiveness for my extremely major transgression of never updating! Although it is short, here goes!**

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><p><span>Chapter 4: Observation X Approach X Realization<span>

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><p>The anxious Tôko observed the exam hall in which two beings of hunter-size nen proportions waited. Hisoka (annoyance anger hate irritation calm down breathe it'll be ok) was toying with some group of four - oh. Those ones. The bright ones. She looked away. The green boy was far too pure. When she looked again, she discovered that by focusing on the dark child, she could ignore the overwhelming purity for short periods of time.<p>

Her faithful Kimiyo was in the center of the swarming cloud of applicants, also observing, and glaring at her. No concern of hers that Kimiyo was worried. Well, ok, it was but she could deal with it later, when Tôko didn't have to watch applicants be idiots. What in the world was Tonpa thinking? Was he trying to... convince some newbie that... She perked up her ears and sent an ally near. It couldn't be... Tonpa was... She almost cracked up laughing, only barely stiffling her giggles in time. That stupid Tonpa! She was supposed to be hidden! She couldn't afford to laugh! But, he... He just... Oh! (calm emotion is bad stop laughing you aren't happy be apathetic where was Kimiyo? focus you're hidden so shut up calm no being happy) She was ok. Just breathe. What was with her this year?

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><p>After sending about 1,000 worried glances in her master's direction, Kimiyo knew she had to calm down. Tôko was ok. Nothing serious had happened. She took a deep breath. Ok. She was ready. Her feet began to move, her destination the large tree near the edge of the clearing.<p>

"Um, excuse me..." Her voice didn't reach, it was too quiet. Try, try again. Another breath. You aren't in danger, stupid! You're doing this for Tôko-sama! "E-excuse me!" Oops! A bit too loud maybe? The applicants all looked at her with various expressions, but returned to being bored when she didn't do anything. "You are... Gon-san, yes?"

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><p>Satotzu was busy, scanning the applicants for that beautiful nen he had seen earlier. He couldn't sense anyone with their nen out though, so he settled for staring at that girl who had almost yelled 'excuse me'. He had no idea who she was, or who was excusing her, but he was bored, and there was still an hour until the next test. She was talking to Gon, the kid in green with the latent ability. He was a wild child, that one. And his companions, too, were interesting. There was a boring scruffy man, a child from the underworld, and an effeminate boy wearing traditional tribal garb of... Was that... No, it couldn't be... What would a Kuruta be doing here?<p>

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><p><strong>Ayan~ Please review. Questions for the chapter: How did Satotzu know about Kurapika? What does Kimiyo want to talk to Gon about? ...That's all I can think of.<strong>


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Hunter X Hunter, Adventure, Mystery