Beta: TaintedLetter

(≧ڡ≦*)

After clearing the Second Phase, Miwa and the other contestants boarded the airship and soared throughout the starry sky toward the site of the Third Phase.

Netero stood before all the contestants at the helm of the ship, the night sky making a lovely backdrop behind him. He said with a smile, "Allow me to properly introduce myself to the forty-two remaining applicants. I am Netero, Chairman of the Selection Committee for this year's Hunter Exam."

Beside him spoke a tiny creature in a tuxedo with shiny green skin. "I am his assistant, Bean."

That name suits him a little too well.

'He does look like a living green bean, doesn't he?'

Netero went on, "Originally I had planned to make my appearance during the Final Phase of the exam, but since I'm already here... I'll accompany you for a while and enjoy this nice edgy atmosphere."

'Edgy?'

Supposed to be a life threatening competition, remember?

'Oh, yeah.'

Killua yawned beside Miwa while Netero chuckled.

Bean said, "We are scheduled to arrive at our destination at 8 AM tomorrow morning. You'll find dinner waiting for you in the dining hall. You are also welcome to get some rest. Please feel free to do as you please until you are called."

"Alright!" Killua said, looking over at Gon and Miwa. "Gon, Miwa, let's go explore the airship."

"Heck yeah!" Gon said while Miwa nodded. Without another word Killua took the lead, with Gon and Miwa following right at his heels.

The airship was comprised of mostly pale gold walls, pale gold floors, and bright white lights. There were windows everywhere, giving the trio of friends a glimpse of the beautiful night outside.

"What should we look for first?" Miwa asked Killua, since he had taken the lead.

"Kitchen!" Gon declared.

"Kitchen!" Killua echoed, both boys exchanging fist bumps.

"Hmm... I think I smell food over here!" Miwa said, dashing forward to lead. Gon and Killua easily kept up with her, their childish joy making it hard for Miwa not to grin stupidly. Their footsteps pounded against the tiled floor, and they ducked down hallways before they reached the kitchen.

They were barely able to grab some freshly cooked turkey legs before the chefs noticed them and promptly threw them out, but the trio laughed all the way and off they went to explore some more.

They stopped in their running when the airship flew over a city, and Gon let out an exclamation of, "Wow! They're like jewels."

"Amazing," Killua breathed out, as he and Gon pressed their faces to the window. Miwa peered out beside them, looking down at the golden lights of the city below them.

"Hey... Miwa?"

"Mn?"

"Where are your parents?" Gon asked her.

"Dead," she answered, recalling that Gon said he lived with his aunt. His father had left him to become a Hunter, and he didn't know his mother. But they didn't know Killua's story, yet, so Miwa thought to ask him, "What about you, Killua?"

Killua frowned. "Hmm... they're alive. Probably."

"What do they do?" Gon inquired.

"They're assassins," Killua answered.

"Huh? Both of them?" Gon asked while Miwa said, "That's convenient."

Killua stared at both of them before he burst out into laughter. "That's how you two react? You're both really a riot. You two are the first who's ever responded seriously like that."

"But you're telling the truth," Gon said with a blink.

'Wait is that not normal? Why does it feel normal to have assassin parents?'

Everyone in your family was some kind of assassin, Kurama helpfully supplied.

Killua took a seat at a nearby bench, placing his head in his hands as he looked at Gon. "What makes you think that?"

"A hunch," Gon said truthfully.

Killua clicked his tongue, looking away. "That's surprising. Part of my charm is never letting on if I'm serious or not."

"Why do you need charm?" Miwa felt the need to ask.

Killua just winked playfully at her before he looked back out at the window. "I'm from a family of assassins. They're all assassins. And my family has really high hopes for me, but I can't stand it. Who wants to have their life planned out for them?" Killua grimaced, his voice tinged with irritation. "When I told them I wanted to decide my own future, they all flipped out. My mother had tears streaming down her face as she told me I have potential to be top assassin."

The way he complained about that made Miwa and Gon giggle, and Killua rolled his eyes.

"What horrible parents, right? It's only natural their kid would go bad. We ended up fighting, so I slashed my mother in the face, stabbed my brother in the side, and ran away from home." Killua's face transformed into self pride, a smirk twisting his lips up. "I bet they're all in scrambles, but if they find me, I'll send them packing."

Then his eyes sparkled with mocking glee and he went on to say, "When I become a Hunter, I'll start by capturing my family. I'm sure they're worth some hefty bounties."

I like this kid.

"That sounds like fun," Miwa said, swinging her legs out as she took a seat on the bench beside Killua. "Are they strong?"

"Meh."

A whiff of sunflower and sage drew Miwa's attention behind and to the left, just as Gon and Killua both sharply turned in that direction.

To their surprise, no one was there, and the sunflower and sage instead now came from the right.

"Is something wrong?" Netero inquired, approaching the trio from the right.

'Did he teleport, or did he just move that fast?'

Gon pointed to where Netero had previously ben, asking Netero, "Mr. Netero, did you see anyone coming from that side?"

"No," he lied.

"You're pretty fast for an old man," Killua remarked, his gaze narrowed as he assessed Netero.

"Eh? That little trick? I barely moved." Netero grinned.

For some reason this irritated Killua. The iris-smelling boy's posture straightened, and he took a subtle offensive stance. Flatly, he asked, "What do you want? You don't have to do anything until the Final Phase, right?"

"No need to be so unkind. I got bored and was looking for some companions," the sunflower man said. "By the way, I meant to ask the three of you... any thoughts on your first attempt at the Hunter Examination?"

"Uh-huh! It's fun. There haven't been any written exams, which I was dreading," Gon said cheerfully.

"It's—"

Dull. Boring. A waste of time.

"—um, fine," Miwa settled on.

Killua, however, did not care to spare feelings. Continuing in a flat voice he bluntly stated, "I'm disappointed. I expected the exam to be far more difficult. I hope the next phase will be more entertaining."

Netero casually glanced around, in an uncaring tone he sung out, "Well, now, I wouldn't know about that."

Killua's lips curled back briefly in a moment of disgust before he turned away. "Let's go, Gon, Miwa."

"Now hold on," Netero said, causing Killua to pause. "Would you care to play a game with me?"

"Game?" Gon repeated, immediately interested like a puppy finding a treat.

"If you're able to defeat me, I shall let you be Hunters," Netero offered.

That hooked Gon in and he exclaimed, "Heck yeah I'm in!"

Killua slowly turned back around, glaring suspiciously at Netero.

(≧ڡ≦*)

Netero had lead them to a small, empty gym. It had tall walls, no windows, and plenty of lighting. He discarded his overshirt and shoes, placing them off to the side. He kept his black undershirt and white pants on, though.

"Now then I'll go over the rules," Netero said, dribbling a red and yellow ball Miwa had no idea where he pulled out from. "If you can take this ball away from me before the airship reaches its destination, you win. I believe we're scheduled for an 8 AM arrival? Well," Netero glanced at the clock on the wall of the gym, "that still gives you nine hours. You're free to attack me however you'd like. I won't touch you."

"Eh? That's too easy, you can't call that a game," Gon said.

'Wrong. Error. Incorrect,' Miwa thought, eyeing Netero's ridiculously large core.

"Why not give it a try first?" Netero insisted.

"We just have to take the ball?" Killua clarified.

"Mm-hmm."

"While I'm very grateful for the offer I'll have to pass," Miwa said, moving to take a seat off the side.

"What?! How come?" Gon exclaimed, surprised.

"I don't think I can restrain myself enough not to severely damage the airship," Miwa honestly answered. "All of my attacks are pretty massive, and judging by his core this guy isn't someone I could hold back against."

"I would definitely appreciate it if you didn't blow up my ship," the old man laughed heartily. "Very well, then, are you two still game?"

Killua took the first step forward. "Then I'll go first."

What happened over the next couple hours could only be described as hilariously one sided. The moment Killua and Gon got close to grabbing the ball Netero got a smidgeon serious and practically bitch-slapped them back down.

This infuriated Killua, a surge of killer intent sparking out of him before he managed to squash it back down again. Meanwhile, this seemed to delight Gon, the boy finding the game genuinely fun.

Killua abruptly got back up, snapping out, "I'm done. I give up."

"Ehh?" Gon looked over at him. "How come, we still get a few hours left."

"Are you stupid? We're never getting that ball. He's barely even used his right hand and left leg. It's a waste of time and effort to continue."

"Hmm..."

"Let's go, Gon, Miwa."

"Still, I think I'll stay," Gon decided.

"Ehh? Did you not hear me?"

"But I'm having fun," Gon explained with a smile. "I know I may not get the ball, but... I'm going to try and make Mr. Netero use his right hand."

"Hmph. Whatever. I'm going to get some sleep," Killua said, and Miwa stood up from where she sat.

"Mn, I think I'll go with you..." Miwa glanced over at Netero and smiled. "When the exam is over mind if I play that game with you?"

"Sure, sure," Netero said good naturedly.

(≧ڡ≦*)

Bits of bloodlust and killing intent spiked from Killua as he walked down the hallway. He had removed both of his shirts, trying to cool off. There was a dark glimmer in his eyes, a plain urge to hurt someone.

Miwa walked slightly behind him, yawning.

As she yawned, however, two men bumped into Killua.

Killua didn't pause, though, continuing on with his foul mood. Miwa moved to catch up to him, though, since she had slowed down when she had yawned.

"Oi, kid," growled out one of men. "You bump into us without saying sorry?"

Killua and Miwa ignored him, continuing forward.

"Oi!" the second one snarled out, and then both rushed to children.

Unfortunately for them Killua had apparently reached his breaking point. Without hesitation he abruptly ripped out their hearts with his right hand, moving so quickly that the blood didn't even have time to spurt out on him.

The two idiots fell over, dead.

I really, really like this kid. I bet he'd be okay to let out some bombs.

'You have a problem.'

Yeah. It's called boredom. It's the single worst form of torture known to history.

'Not blowing up cities does not mean you're being tortured!'

Yes it does!

Miwa stared down at the corpses in the middle of the hallway, sighing.

Killua then seemed to remember that she was there, and he turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. If he was focusing any murderous intent on her, she didn't notice.

Instead, she took out one of her spare storage scrolls and looked down at it.

'Damn. I was hoping to fill this with water, not stupid humans. Oh well.'

"It's just bad manners to leave bodies lying around," Miwa scolded him, placing both corpses in the empty storage scroll.

The instant Killua saw the bodies get sucked in, his anger disappeared and was replaced with childish wonder. "How did you do that? What is that? Is that like teleporting?"

Miwa handed him the small storage scroll, and he immediately took to examining it, He unrolled it, surprised to find the fūinjutsu seals drawn over it. "What language is this? How does it work?"

"It's called a storage scroll." Miwa tapped the center of the fūinjutsu circle. "That acts as a sort of doorway to a small pocket dimension of space."

"A what?!" Killua yelped, eyes shining. "Did you make this?"

"Yeah," Miwa said, nodding. "You wanna learn how?"

"Can you show me?" Killua eagerly asked.

"I think I can," Miwa said, rubbing her chin. "You have... something in you. But before we get to that, you have to learn the language of fūinjutsu which might take a while. It's hard work, so don't come into it thinking you'll get it easily."

Killua scoffed. "How hard can it be?"

Miwa shrugged. "Okay. I'll see if I can put together a small guide for you."

"Thanks... so... how do you get the bodies out?"

"I'll show you when we're somewhere safe to dispose of corpses."

"I guess that's a good call."

(≧ڡ≦*)

BONUS TT!AU - In which Miwa, Killua, and Gon have traveled back to this point in time with all the knowledge / skills they possess.

Scenario A - Only five left.

Netero laid on his back, his head spinning as Gon and Killua sat on him.

"So... we pass?" Gon asked.

"Heck yeah you do," Netero laughed, causing Killua and Gon to exchange grins.

"This really was too easy," Miwa commented.

(≧ڡ≦*)

Answer: Pork ramen, obviously.

Question: What's a game you enjoy to play?

Reviews are love!