Sew Up Your Mouth and Go To Sleep: Episode Two

Episode Two: The x Imiko x Girl

Killua and I parted ways and waited. Soon, an annoying bell sounded. Looking forward, I noticed a tall man that had no mouth. "I apologize for the wait. The entry for the Hunter applicants has ended. The Hunter Exam will now begin!" I tuned the rest out, just as he began walking away. "Very well. All 406 applicants will participate in Phase One."

"Hm…" I calmly followed, weaving in and out of the other participants, my hands tucked into the deep pockets of my blue vest.

"Outta the way, kid!" someone shoved my shoulder hard, jerking me forward, as I glowered at the person, aiming a harsh kick towards the back of his left knee. The joint locked before buckling, making the applicant fall face first. I walked over his back, keeping my former pace, as I passed #44, keeping ahead of the pack.

"I neglected to introduce myself…" the examiner called over his shoulder, increasing his pace even more. "I am Satotz, the Phase One examiner. I shall lead you to the exam's Second Phase." I tuned out more of his voice as I hopped over a few fallen bodies. Sensing movement behind me, I turned my head slightly to see Killua and another boy dressed in mostly green closing the distance between us.

"Yo." Killua calmly greeted, coming up on my left side, while the other was on my right. "Wanna join our race? Looser buys the winner lunch."

"Heh… You sound as if you can beat me, Zoldyck."

"Puh-lease~ I can beat you, no sweat, Senka!" I scoffed, racing further ahead of the boys. "OI! YOU DIDN'T ANSWER ME!"

"Idiot! The answer is obvious, is it not?" I shouted back, turning so I had my back facing the examiner while still running.

"He has a point, Killua." I quirked an eyebrow at this, but chose not to correcting his misuse of my proper pronoun. He pushed himself to quickly catch up with me. "I'm Gon! What's your name?"

He amused me. "Senka… Now keep up, will you?" turning back around, I sped further forward. They both easily kept up with my light jog, slowly speeding up as time passed. My body went on autopilot as I scanned the diminishing crowd, checking most of the applicants' mentality. #44 and Killua were the only two that are able to block me from their thoughts. Though I highly doubt that Killua knew that he is doing it. People kept falling left and right, making the crowd thin out even more.

Our tiny group started running alongside a shirtless man with the tag of 403 on his chest. "See you at the goal, Kurapika!" Gon stated, looking at the blond fellow.

"Catch you later, old timer." Grinned Killua, while I stayed silent.

"I'm not old!" the shirtless man exclaimed. "I'm a teenager, just like you guys!"

All three boys looked at him in disbelief. "No way!"

"You humans are hopeless…" I muttered, looking away from the ragtag bunch.

"Yeah?! Who asked you, creep?!" the tall man shouted, waving a fist at me.

"You asking for a fight?" I redirected my shadowed gaze back to him as I hopped over another, seemingly lifeless, person. He stiffened and slowly back down from my unspoken challenge, allowing Gon, Killua and I to continue forward without problems.

"I'm impressed that you can keep up with me." Drawled Killua, turning to look at a focused Gon.

"Really?" the boy asked, rubbing the back of his spiky head.

"Or maybe it's just that everyone else is too slow." I nodded in agreement, hands still tucked into my vest pockets. "Man… the Hunter Exam is gonna be a breeze." Complained the snowy haired boy, bowing his head in annoyance. "That's no fun."

"Hey, why do you want to become a Hunter?"

"Me? I'm not really interested in becoming a Hunter."

"Huh?"

"I heard the exam was supposed to be really hard, so I thought it'd be fun. But this is disappointing." He shrugged as if it was nothing. "What about you?"

"Well, my dad's a Hunter. So I want to become a Hunter, like my dad."

All three of us ran around fallen contestants. "What kind of Hunter is he?"

"I don't know."

The white haired youth started chuckling. "That's kinda weird."

"Really?"

"You want to be like your dad, but you don't know anything about him?"

"I was raised by Mito-san, so I've only seen my dad in pictures."

"Who's Mito-san?"

"Aunt Mito." Gon stated, as if it was common knowledge. "When he was twelve, my dad took the Hunter Exam. He passed and became a Hunter. Then he left the island. I want to find out why he chose to be a Hunter over being with me." He turned his hazel eyed gaze onto me. "What about you, Senka? Why do you want to become a Hunter?"

"For a better life, for one. However, I'm looking for something… something important… something valuable… Someone whose tears become precious stones. But she's more important – more valuable – to me than the tears she is forced to shed."

"Eh? Really? There's people who can do that?" he questioned, referring to the tears.

"Not people. That'd be implying that men can do it, too. Only women from a special village, cut off from mankind that floats in the sky, with hearts as icy as their home can produce these tears." I looked at him, only to see that he was still confused. "I'm guessing you've never heard of the Kōrime or of the hiruseki stones that they can produce…" Gon chuckled nervously.

"But how is she more valuable to you than the tears she produces? If I remember correctly, the stones can be sold on the Black Market for an indefinite sum of money!" Killua pointed out.

"Ah, look! The exit!" the black haired youth saved me from answering the awkward question. Narrowing our gaze at the small opening of light, we dashed forward as Satotz came to a halt. Slowing down a tad bit, I matched the boys just as we crossed the threshold.

"Goal!" they both shouted as Satotz turned to face us. I simply strolled by silently with them.

"Yay! I win." Exclaimed Gon.

"What are you talking about? I was faster…" both of them continued to argue over who was first. Satotz and I just watched them go at it. To be honest, I am a little surprised that they did not drag me in and tell me to pay for dinner.

"Hey, who was faster?" Gon questioned Satotz.

"I believe that you crossed the finish line simultaneously." He answered.

"Oh… Then I'll buy you dinner."

"Huh?" Killua looked at him in confusion.

"Then you buy me dinner!" he concluded.

"What about Senka, then?" the white haired boy pointed at me, as I simply rose a black brow at them both.

"We'll both pay for Senka, then!"

"I don't get it." That would make two of us.

"Hey, Satotz-san. Is this where the Second Phase of the exam takes place?"

I tuned out the rest as more people started gathering around us. After some time, the fog started clearing away, making the wetlands visible to us all. "The Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindlers Swamp. We must cross these Wetlands to reach Phase Two of the exam. This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures who deceive humans and prey upon them. Be very careful." Satotz explained to us.

Senka closed her shadowed eyes as she opened up her senses; feeling the shifting of life forms around her petite form. Her peace was ruined by a voice shouting, "don't let him fool you!" her crimson gaze fell on a beat up looking man. "D-don't fall for it…"

"How boring…" she muttered, slowly walking away from the weird group.

"He's lying to you!" the man insisted. "He's an impostor! He isn't the examiner… I'm the real examiner."

'Clearly not, if someone can fool over 400 people for such a long time. At the very least, I would be able to tell...' mused Senka, clearly not interested in this conversation.

"Look at this…" the 'examiner' pulled out an ape-like being that resembled Satotz. "It's a Man-Faced Ape, one of the creatures that dwell in the Numere Wetlands! 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."

A faint purple glow can be seen in the darkness of Senka's hood as she sifted through the thoughts of the man, becoming a bit annoyed when some of the people trained in the art of deception fell for the lie. Three cards struck the man dead center, causing the body to fall back from the force of the throw. A few more were aimed at her, but fell to the ground in half, as if they were cut in two. Her bloody glare was directed at #44, a clown/jester-esque man with beady golden-yellow eyes. He simply grinned, bowing 'apologetically' towards her, before facing Satotz, who had captured the cards that were thrown at him. #44 shuffled a deck of poker cards, chuckling softly in amusement. "I see, I see…" he spoke lowly. "That settles it… You're the real one." The crowd looked surprised as the examiner threw the cards away, looking unfazed by it all.

Sadly the so-called 'shinobi' was even stunned, just as the Man-Faced Ape awoke, only to run away in terror. Senka looked up at the birds circling above, curious about when they'll dive in for their new meal. "Examiners are Hunters selected by the committee to perform this duty without pay. Any Hunter, bearing the title we seek, would have been able to block that attack." He explained his reasoning, assuring the idiots around them.

"I shall take that as a compliment." Satotz stated, not amused by being used as target practice for the jester-esque man. "However, 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?"

"Sure." The birds squawked before diving down, eating the man's corpse.

"Nature really can be brutal to watch…"

"It's just the way the world weeds out the weak from the strong." Senka stated. "Though death does have a beauty of its own, I guess…"

"Why you! How can you be so heartless?" Leorio shouted, picking Senka up by the front of her vest.

"The word you are looking for is 'indifferent', not 'heartless'. After all, one needs a beating heart to be counted as alive." She explained, completely uncaring about his feelings. "Now, I suggest letting me go, otherwise it'll be you that will be heartless…" his grip loosened, allowing the small female to land on her feet, her hands still tucked away in her front pockets like they have been. After Satotz explained more about the Wetlands, every last examinee started running after him again. Senka kept pace with the two boys that looked around her physical age, feeling that one of them would possibly supply her with some form of entertainment.

The fog steadily grew thicker, making it nearly impossible to see with regular eyes. "Gon, Senka…"

"Huh?" asked the ever curious Gon.

"Let's move up."

"Okay! We don't want to lose sight of the examiner." This kid could not read the atmosphere, could he?

"I'm more concerned with increasing the distance between us and Hisoka. Staying too close to him is dangerous. I can smell it in the air."

"Smell?" Gon tilted his head back and actually started sniffing the air around us. "Hmm… I don't think he smells." He then turned his head into the direction where the others were running. "Leorio! Kurapika! Killua says that we should move up!"

"Hey! Can't you feel the tension surrounding us!?" Killua scolded the other boy for being reckless. Sighing heavily, which seemed to be a common theme today, I decided to jump into one of the trees and run that way. "Huh? Where'd Senka go?"

The damp wind hit me straight on, pushing my hood back from my face, as I scouted out Hisoka, who was currently surrounded by other examinees. "Pathetic." I mumbled, resting back against the large tree. "Do they honestly think that any of them have the chance to take down the King's fool?" as if hearing my snide remark, Hisoka allowed his golden gaze to drift up to me, as a dark grin curled his thin lips.

"When I saw you last year, I knew you weren't Hunter material." Ahh… and what would that make me? Hmm…

"We'll spare you if you swear not to take the Hunter Exam again."

"Sure." Hisoka spoke softly, causing the others to gasp. "I'm passing the exam this year, so I won't need to retake it."

"Passing? Idiot! Look at this fog. It's impossible to determined which direction the main pack went!"

"Meaning we've all failed the exam!"

Hisoka's chest shook from the chuckle he produced. "So that's why. Having already failed, you wish to play examiner. Hunters require prey. Why don't I play examiner… And judge whether you are Hunter material?" between his index and middle finger, Hisoka held up his right hand to showcase the 4 of spades poker card.

"Shut up!" they all charged quickly, hoping to overpower the enigmatic jester. With the single playing card, he easily cut them all down, just as the formed a tight circle around his lithe form.

Only the leader of the ragged tag bunch was left alive. "Now, then…" the leader fell on his ass before getting on his hands and knees, trying to crawl away to freedom as the jester stalked his prey. Once he started begging for help did Hisoka end his life, throwing the flimsy piece of plastic dead center into the back of the other man's skull. The, now dead, man's corpse fell forward, laying flat on his face. Hisoka pulled out his playing card, before looking towards the edge of the clearing, focusing his beady eyes on Kurapika and Leorio. "Well? Care to participate, in my little game of examiner?"

I stood straight, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched what was going down below my perch. The wind blew, startling a bird, as Hisoka got ready to fling the card, only for both young men to dash off in opposite directions. "Hn."

"I see… A wise decision. Hehehe…" he looked up at me. "And what of you, little girl?" sarcastically I started clapping my hands.

"Give the King's fool a prize! Unlike every other applicant, he can, in fact, deduce my gender." I did not feel like leaving me perch, which caused Hisoka to shrug his broad shoulders.

"Hmm?" a form appeared in the fog.

"I just can't do it…" it was Leorio. And he was holding a large stick. "This may not be my fight, but I won't close my eyes and make a break for it!" the fool had some balls, I will give him that much. He charged at the indifferent Hisoka.

"Mm, I adore that look on your face." He simply stood there, left fist resting against his hip as Leorio swung down, only to hit an illusion. Watching the jester's moves, he appeared behind the glasses wearing man and reached out for his neck, only to get hit in the face with a red bobber for a fishing pole.

"Gon!"

"I made it in time…"

"Not bad, little boy." Hisoka faced the young boy. "Is that a fishing pole? What a fascinating weapon. Allow me a closer look."

Gon and Leorio seemed to have not noticed my presence, as my crimson eyes followed their fight. With a single left hook, Hisoka was able to knock out the tall man, sending him spiraling through the air, as Gon swung his fishing pole down from above. "You came to rescue your friend?" Hisoka appeared behind Gon in a simple crouching position, making him just as tall as the boy. The boy jumped back, only for Hisoka to be behind again, in the same position. "Such a good boy." He kept taunting him, using his magic to dodge the green clad boy's attacks.

Growling lowly in my chest, I leaped from the branch I have been standing on, to tackle Gon out of Hisoka's grabby hands. Those cold hands wrapped around the front of my vest, holding me high in the air. "Ngh!" groaned the boy, as his body met with a tree's thick trunk.

"Oh?" reaching his free hand up, the royal jester pulled off my hood, his golden eyes widening with excitement. "How young, yet old, you are…" he purred, fingering one of the spiky strands of my mostly-black hair. "How wonderful…" Hisoka brought his arm down, so we were face to face, as I glared at him. "Such a lovely look in such lovely eyes…"

Bringing my legs up, I kicked him hard in the chest, causing him to let me go as I flipped back, landing solidly on my feet. Gon leaned against the tree, looking like a lost puppy. I brought my left hand up to my hip, flicking my blade out as my other hand wrapped around its black hilt, lowering my body more to the ground. Pulling my weapon out, I pivoted around and held the sharp blade towards Hisoka's pale throat. "This is your one and only warning, clown… I suggest staying on my good side."

"Oh?" I jumped over his leg, and jumped again whilst in mid-air, landing far above him. "Stories don't do you justice…" he crooned, looking at me directly. "Little Imiko…" I bared my teeth at him, fighting the strong urge to kill him right here and now. Ignoring the blood lust that was coming from me, he knelt in front of a confused Gon. "Do not fear. I will not kill your friend. He passed. Hehe…" he pulled on a cheerful face. "Yes, you pass, as well. Along with that little Jaganshi girl…" Hisoka pointed up at me as I scoffed, biting down on my left hand until I tasted my own blood, before flittering away from them.

"Yo, Senka! Where's Gon?" Killua asked as I made it to the 2nd exam site.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly exhaled. "A few kilometers from here. He and Kurapika will be here just in time… You should not worry so much. He has strong survival instincts, and heightened senses that far exceed regular human means."

"W-Who said anything about being worried?! I thought girls were the worrying kind, anyways!" he stammered, face turning rosy. I rose an eyebrow at him. "I'm not stupid! I can tell the difference between a boy and girl!"

"Hn… Still doesn't mean I'll pull down my hood…"

"Eh?! Why not?! I wanna see your face! Are you ugly or deformed? Is that why?" Killua rattled off, sticking his face so close to mine, that part of his own head was covered by the hood of my vest. "Huh? Blood?"

My spine stiffened and I shoved him away. "Do you not know anything about personal space?" he was pretty lucky that I had placed my katana back in its sheath.

"But… Are your eyes naturally that color?" he questioned. I looked to the side while mumbling a small confirmation. "They're really pretty…"

"Sh-shut up! You sound stupid saying such embarrassing things!"