Chapter 10

Eventually, night fell. My hearing, eyesight, and perception, however, were all off.

The sea's smell, the waves' motion, the temperature, and the motion of the clouds were all out of the ordinary. A sea storm was brewing, and I could feel it…

Time passed quickly after we boarded the ship, set sail, and departed from the port. I was probably less impatient now that I had achieved my first objective than I had been when I was still trying to board this boat.

It was only a matter of time before the following sequence of events began, and I found myself taking the exam alongside the Hunter X Hunter cast. Having carefully honed my skills, which I had worked hard to obtain, I wasn't concerned that I would fail the initial portions of the test.

Some things changed on board as the hours passed, while other changes were already in place.

Things and events were changed or altered, such as the seaman who was supposed to fall into the ocean. When I first saw him, he wasn't dressed the way I expected. He was wearing an orange bandana instead of his usual light blue one. Another distinction was that I joined Kurapika and Leorio on a boat in a different location than depicted in the episodes. Some things, however, remained constant…

I was about to meet Kurapika and Leorio, just as Gon did in the episodes. The chance to speak with them had come up in a natural and unobtrusive way.

The captain was rounding up groups of three candidates one at a time in the control and steering room. He was interviewing people as the boat was being battered by the waves. It was our turn to be interviewed.

The storm had not yet reached its ferocious climax outside, but it was on its way.

"Kid, you have a strange snake here; I heard from my guys that he's taking the hunter exam as well?"

As I nodded, Severus was fast asleep. Leorio on my left and Kurapika on my right both looked at him with curiosity rather than nervousness.

The captain hummed and said in his dated voice at this point. "OK, this doesn't happen often; I've only heard of it, but everyone is free to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't violate the exam's rules, so let's start with your names,"

"My name is Gon, and this guy here is Severus." I responded on behalf of Sev and myself.

"My name is Kurapika." Said the person to my right.

"… My name is Leorio…" My neighbor standing at my left grumbled. His hands were tucked away in his pockets, and he didn't seem to want to be here or answer these questions. He wasn't erect in his posture. His shoulders, back, and entire body were rounded in a bored-looking stance as he stood.

"Why do the three of you want to be hunters?" After we responded, the captain immediately inquired.

"Hey! You're not an examiner, why are you asking us?" Leorio became upset out of the blue. He asked, agitated, removing his right hand from his pocket, and waggled a finger at the captain. He deserved his tier 0 scouting skills given his current impatient behavior. His actions further suggested that he was likely at the bottom of the scale; each tier contained both strong and weak people.

"Just answer me." The pipe-smoking, red-nosed captain remained unfazed. He simply spoke, as if he were an old, patient, and inquisitive man conversing with an excitable child. He had his hands in his pockets, just like Leorio did.

"Well, I can't speak for my snoring snake, but for me, I guess it's because my father is a hunter, in my case. At least, that was all this was about for me years ago…" I presented the story somewhat differently than Gon did in the episodes. Before I left, I only wanted to talk to the old captain about Ging for a short while. Finding him was less important than getting to know him better and discovering more about him. Finding him wasn't as difficult as people claimed, I knew what he was after… I spoke passionately when I followed up with new words. "As my father did when he left Whale Island at the time, I want to understand what it is about being a hunter that fascinates people. But I also am keen to explore the world and make friends with curious creatures besides just people. That's all."

"Hey there, brat!" When Leorio looked at me with annoyance and exclaimed, I turned with a wry grin. "Don't interrupt and stop being such a good-natured busybody…"

"Was I wrong? Go ahead, then." I laughed and said. I didn't respond as the other Gon would have. I was amused by Leorio's belief that he could make me listen through seniority or force.

Kurapika spoke when the captain had a pensive and sharp look on his face as he looked at me. "I concur with Leorio…"

"Hey, you're younger than me; use honorifics!" Leorio had forgotten about me and this time pointed his excited finger at Kurapika.

Kurapika said this with her eyes closed, not even looking at him. "It's simple to concoct a logical lie to avoid answering questions."

"Hey! Did you catch what I said?"

Kurapika continued to ignore the excited man in the suit and told the captain, holding his chest at a specific moment. "… However, lying is heinous. Nonetheless, telling the truth… The reason I want to try this out is very personal to me. As a result, I'm unable to respond."

Leorio was growing angrier.

The captain himself grew soundless. He looked unfazed again. Then he started speaking. "That means you guys have no answ—"

I chuckled as he was about to finish speaking and things were about to proceed as they had in the episodes. "You two, this guy is the main examiner of this phase. Haven't you caught on? If you don't answer his questions, he'll probably exclude you from the test. What will it be then? Are you going to keep acting like haughty jerks, or will you just answer his fucking questions to pass the test? I don't know your history or background, but you most likely don't want to fail, right?"

I was rude and blunt about it.

I was also checking out Kurapika's chest when I stated helpfully. What Severus had said to me at the port hours before had stuck with me…

My mind was torn between whether he was a he or a she. I had no choice but to find out.