Soooooo.....

I tried hugging Killua again, because he's just so adorable, but he dodged me easily. Unfortunately, I ended up awkwardly hugging Leorio's lower back, my Easter eggs pressing up on his butt.

Talk about awkwaaaard.

"Get off of me, you idiot!" He yelled, almost falling over.

I immediately pushed him away, causing him to face-plant into the ground.

'It's better to fall on dusty ground than concrete', I grinned mischievously.

He's lucky we just got out of the tunnel; any earlier and his face would've met a set of stone stairs.

"Hatsu-chan!" Gon called. "Look at the fog; it's going away!"

I looked around us. Sure enough, the fog was clearing up, revealing some cold, damp forest-y area.

"What is this place?" I asked Gon as I walked to Killua's side. Sadly, he switched for Gon's left side to his right, leaving me to stand next to Gon.

Not that I minded, but it wouldn't hurt to stand next to him.

Before I could think any harder about it, Satotz started talking. "This is the Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindler Swamp. We must cross these wetlands to reach Phase Two of the exam."

"Phase Two?" Someone asked. "You mean we're not done yet?!"

Satotz ignored him.

"This place is home to many bizarre animals." He continued, glancing at the applicants every once in a while. "Many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures who deceive humans and prey upon them."

As he spoke, his tone became more meaningful, like he was trying to tell us indirectly that some dangerous things are going to happen.

"Be very careful..." The air around him becoming darker and more mysterious. "If you let them fool you..."

Cold silence.

"You're dead."

Gasps emitted from the cloud of applicants who looked in horror at the gate that closed behind us.

"Guess no one can turn back now..." I whispered to Gon. He nodded back, but I could tell that, if he had the choice, he wouldn't take it.

I tried waving to Killua, but he didn't even seem to notice, despite the fact I called his name, too. 'Huh, guess he's hard of hearing.'

"These wetland creatures will use every trick in the book to fool their prey," Everyone focused back on Satotz.

"This is an ecosystem in which creatures obtain food through deceit; hence the name, Swindler's Swamp." He stated before turning towards the forest. "Stay close to me so you won't be deceived."

Leorio laughed undeniably, obnoxiously and unnecessarily loud. "What a joke! How can they fool us when we're expecting it?"

"Hey, Leorio." I called.

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna kick you."

"What?"

I kicked his shin hard enough to make him fall to his knees. He let out a cry before growling at me. "What was that for?"

"Maybe it's because you just shouted like an idiot. Or maybe it's because you looked like an idiot. Or maybe it's because you acted like an idiot."

His face held fuming rage.

"If you ask me, I think it's all of the above, but I'm not one to know things like this so take your pick." I grinned at the irritated 19 year old boy, who looked about ready to smack me. "Plus, you did ask how you can be fooled if you were expecting it."

I gestured to his injured shin. "Well? Did my example help?"

Before he could strangle the living daylights out of me, someone shouted, "Don't let him fool you!"

Confused, everyone looked at where the voice came from. It came from a beaten-down man hiding behind the corner of the wall with short, sandy brown hair, a crooked nose and a tattered purple shirt with a green scarf.

He didn't really peak my interest so while everyone's attention was on that guy, I sneaked over to Satotz-san. I had a few questions for him.

"Satotz-san?" I called, pulling on his sleeve.

He looked down at me, his mustache bobbing up and down as he said, "Yes?"

"Do you have a mouth?"

"It's a secret." He flashed me a closed-eye smile.

Or, I at least imagined a smile where his mouth should've been.

It was quiet between us; I stared weirdly at his face as he watched the applicants.

Suddenly, I asked, "Can I touch your mustache?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Can I hold your mustache?"

"Please refrain from doing so."

"Can you talk while I hold your mustache?"

"No."

'Sad face', I thought. 'And here I am, hoping I could do something else other than pay attention to the pointless talk...'

"Don't fall for it..." The impostor shouted despairingly. "He's lying to you!"

Despite hearing this, Satotz-san kept a straight face.

"He's the impostor; not an examiner..." He said before pointing to himself, "I'm the real examiner."

"And I'm a real person!" I shouted sarcastically.

Loudly, Killua declared, "Well..."

"Killua, not so loud!" Gon shushed.

"Look at this!" The imposter said, dragging out a body to show us.

Even more gasps emit from the crowd because the body shown looked just like Satotz-san.

"He's a Man-Faced Ape, one of the creatures that dwell in the Numere Wetlands!" The man continued.

Confused, Leorio repeated, "A Man-Faced Ape?"

"Man-Faced Apes love the taste of fresh human flesh. However, their limbs are long and thin, so they're quite weak."

"That's why they disguise themselves as humans. They trick humans into following them into the wetlands, where they team up with other animals to kill and devour them."

The imposter jabbed a finger right at Satotz. "He intends to trap every single applicant!"

"Bastard..." Leorio growled like the idiot he is.

A ninja-looking person butt into the conversation, "He certainly doesn't walk like a human."

Before I could kick the both of them down, three cards shot out and nailed the imposter on the abdomen, the chest and the forehead.

At the same time, three more cards shot out and aimed at Satotz-san's direction. With ease, he caught the cards.

"I see, I see," The creepy magician spoke suggestively. "I suppose this settles it; you're the real one."

Slightly annoyed, Satotz-san threw the cards to the side.

"Examiners are Hunters," he said. "All of whom are selected by the committee to preform this duty without pay."

He explained, "Any Hunter, bearing this title we seek, would have been able to block that attack."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Satotz-san said.

"However," He cast the magician a warning look. "should you attack me again, for any reason, I will report you for turning on an examiner and you will be immediately disqualified."

"Are we clear?" His eyes narrowed at the magical man.

"Sure." He shrugged.

Eyeing the magician, I could feel a malicious aura radiate from him. 'Note to self: stay away from oddly dressed freak...' I thought.

A 'squack' emit from over the dead body of the impostor. There were several huge and carnivorous birds who seemed to be eating the impostors flesh.

"Nature can be brutal to watch..." Leorio trailed off.

"It seems he was a Man-Faced Ape as well." Kurapika commented softly.

"Nahh, really??" I said sarcastically. "I thought he just wanted a birthday cake."

"Well, by the looks of it," Killua said as I looked at him dreamily. "We can't let our guard down."

"I'll drop my guard any time around you, Killua." I tried to give him a hug but he stepped out of the way, making me hug Gon instead.

"Oh, haiii Gon!!" I greeted randomly.

"Hi, Hatsu-chan!" He returned my hug happily.

"Do you understand, now?" Satotz-san asked. "You'll be encountering such deception on a regular basis. During that trick just now, I do believe that a number of you were fooled into suspecting my identity."

His eyes traveled to the ninja and Leorio specifically. The two laughed nervously, shying away from the proctor's watchful eyes.

"If you lose sight of me in the Numere Wetland fog, you will never reach the exam's Second Phase. Bear that in mind." He said before turning towards the mushy path. "Let us be on our way. Please follow me."

So we followed the tall, oddly-mustached man into the woods. Gon was in between Killua and I, so not even a sidestep would let me stand next to him.

"Tsk." Leorio groaned. "Another marathon."

"Not to mention, we are running through a marsh at this time of day. Running on wet ground requires more energy." Kurapika added.

"There's a difference?" I asked. That was before I stepped in a squelching patch of mud, which made my shoe stickier and harder to run.

"There's a difference..." I groaned sadly.

After I got over my dirty foot, I thought I could hold Killua's hand to make me feel better. Of course this was no easy task.

I tried to just jump for his hand but he pulled away, leaving me to grab nothing.

Sad face.

"Pay attention now," Satotz-san said suddenly. "Be sure to stay close behind me."

Just as he said that, the fog became incredulously thicker than it was before, making it more difficult to find Killua's hand.

Blindly, I went for whoever there was because I don't wanna lose either of them in this maze-like fog.

"Ehh, who's hand is this?" I asked as I ran.

"It's mine." Gon replied.

"Aww." I moaned sadly.

"Oh, you don't want to hold my hand?" Gon asked confused.

"No, it's not that." I said, swinging our arms together like two little kids skipping.

"This is fine." I smiled at him, although I wasn't sure he could see it.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Killua burst from inbetween Gon and I, forcing us to drop our hands from each other.

"What are you guys doing?" He asked with his nose up in the air a little. "Let's move up."

"Okay." Gon agreed, not making another move to hold my hand, but I didn't mind.

"True; we don't want to lose sight of Satotz-san." I said.

"I'm more concerned with increasing the distance between us and Hisoka, that magician. Staying too close is dangerous," Killua said. "I can smell it in the air."

As he explained, I tried to hold his hand once more but it didn't work. "Why you no hold my haand??" I whined. Then I remembered that we were still missing two people from our party.

"Leorio! Kurapika!" I shouted back to them. "Killua says we should move up!"

"Moron!" The shirtless guy screamed back. "If I had the strength, I'd already be there!"

"Then grow a pair and hurry up!" I retorted snarkily. "Or do you not have enough testosterone for that?"

To avoid further conflict, Kurapika replied, "Don't worry about us!"

With one last wave to them, we ran forward, closer to Satotz-san.

"Hmm..." I heard Gon hum. "I hear people screaming all around us."

"Just stay on guard." Killua warned again.

"Yeahh..." I paused for a second, something in the mushy grass catching my attention.

"Guyys..." I called out. "Look at this! This piece of fog looks like a flower! Ooh, and this one like a cookie! Or is it a circle?"

I wondered about the oddly shaped fog until I realized that Gon and Killua never replied.

"Hey, Gon! Killua!" I called again, turned back to the path. "Where are you?"

The scene that unfolded in front of me was one I think I won't forget. The largest lips I've seen in my life seemed to open into a black hole and swallow Gon and my beautiful Killua all in one gulp. It hopped out of a gargantuan hole in the ground and waddled away.

It took me a few seconds to process what just happened.

...

...

...

"GIVE ME BACK MY KILLUA!!"

I chased the fat thing, easily catching up. Building up my power, I enveloped my fist with fire, ready to blast this frog to the heavens.

I pulled my fist back and made a lunge for the frog.

Then the unexpected happened.

Right before my punch landed, the frog puked my friends out, let his butt rip and hopped away.

A strong, smelly wind eeked out of its big, fat butt crack. It's gas reacted with my fire, cooking me whole.

Or, well, it should have, at least.

Let's just say that it's great to be immune to fire. Not so great to have a nose that's overly-sensitive. So I wasn't currently dying from fire, but more from the horrible smell my fire caught on to.

The explosion, at the least, reached around a two-meter radius. It cleared the fog for a second, but it quickly settled back.

Worried, Gon ran over to me. "Hatsu-chan, what happened? Why is the ground singed and dry?"

Then the two made a face of disgust, Killua adding on, "And what is that smell?"

"..."

"NYAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" I anime-cried. "DISGUUSSSSTIIING!!"

Confused and worried, Gon tried comforting me by trying to catch the waves of tears and putting them back in my eyes, only to end up adding to the moistness of the marsh.

"Ne, ne!" Gon stammered. "Don't-don't-wait-neee-eeh-HUG!"

The boy smothered me with a comforting hug filled with all the love, happiness and everything that makes you feel gushy inside.

But that didn't last very long.

"Gon!" Killua called out louder than needed. "We need to catch up so we don't lose sight of the proctor!"

"Yeah." Gon replied, getting on his feet. "Here, hold my hand."

Just as I was about to grab hold, Killua pulled me up from under my arms and lifted me up to my feet. "Would you get up, already?"

"And stop holding hands," He added. "It's disgusting."

"But Killuaa!" I whined. "I wanna hold your hand!"

I held out my hand towards him, but all he did was shiver and change the subject. "We need to go."

"Ne, but what about Leorio and Kurapika?" Gon said, looking over his shoulder back at the fog worriedly. "I have a bad feeling."

"Forget about them; Let's get a move on." Killua said bluntly. "We can still catch up."

He ran forward without hearing out approval.

"I'm going back for them." Gon said. "You go on ahead."

"Okay, I'll meet you at Phase Two." With that, we went our own ways; me towards Killua's direction, Gon towards Leorio and Kurapika's.

"Killua, wait for me!" I called out. "Let's be buddies! Running buddies!"

"You know what?" Killua stared at me irritably, "Why don't you just wait here and I'll go on ahead without you?"

"But then I'll be lonely!" I pointed out as we ran together. "Besides, I'm not that bad! How about I tell you about all the interesting stories I know and all the things I can bake and-"

"No." He replied bluntly, taking no interest whatsoever in what I was saying.

"But-"

"No."

"What about-"

"No."

"Not even-"

He stopped and looked at me dead in the eye. "N. O."

"But Killua-" I started.

"I already told you no; would you stop bothering me?" He cut me off with a tone of exasperation. "You're so annoying."

"Killua," I said, trying to grab on to his shoulder.

He wiggled out of my grasp. "Let go!"

"Look out."

We both face-planted the ground.