ꜱᴛᴜᴄᴋ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ- ᴋɪʟʟᴜᴀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ [OLD]

06- 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘹 𝘗𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦

After waiting a bit, We were called to the very bottom row of the bus. 5 other people joined us. "This phase of the exam has officially ended. You all have passed." Audria spoke in her ever-lasting dull tone. "That was easy." Killua smiled a little bit.

"Yeah for you maybe," Quinn grumbled. I sighed. They were about to fight again. The two were bickering in the background while I attempted to pay attention to what Audria was saying. "You are free to roam the bus while we take you to the exam site. In the meantime, just relax." She smiled.

I nodded and headed back to our floor, Quinn and Killua behind me. They were still arguing but they were mainly just repeating "You're the stupid one. I'm a genius." back to each other. I sat down on the hallway floor, watching the two kids fight with each other. 

"So Quinn, why are you taking the exam?" I asked, walking over to the vending machine. It didn't ask for my name this time and the screen where you'd usually pay just read "READY" which was strange, but I didn't mind.

"My dad was a hunter. He took a job one day, a bodyguard job. He died protecting his client. I want to protect people like that too just so I can make him proud." Quinn smiled. I fiddled with the tab on my soda. "That's really nice." I fumbled over my words. I was kind of disappointed with myself. Quinn just told me their entire reason for taking this, how their dad died, and how they wanted to be like him. But all I could say was "That's nice".

"What about you?" Quinn moved their head towards mine. "This is gonna make me sound terrible, but my life's too boring. I wanna be a hunter so I got stuff to do." I replied, putting my hands in my pockets.

"The same goes for me. My family is too strict. In fact, I had to run away from home just to get here. So I'm gonna be a regular kid." Killua grinned. "Right, because getting your hunter's exam at age 12 is normal." Quinn scoffed.

"Oi shut up! I meet the age requirement and I didn't wanna wait for anything!" Killua hissed defensively. "Don't tell me to shut up! You're the idiot here!" Quinn snarled. Here we go again.

"You two fight too much." I scoffed. "Stay out of it!" They both shouted at the same time. I couldn't help but giggle a little bit. As different as they pretended to be, they were so similar. 

"Idiot." I flicked Killua's forehead and walked to my room. "Hey, that's my thing!" Killua shouted after me. I just laughed.

It was finally nightfall, and the bus began to move. 20 people started this phase and only 8 left. It was kinda sad to see, but there's always next year. I dozed off, feeling surprisingly peaceful. I was on my way to a whole new life. I didn't have to be alone anymore. With these final thoughts, my consciousness slipped away and I fell asleep.

Morning had come way too early, and I walked out of my room. I saw a groggy Killua talking to an even sleepier Quinn. "Good morning dumb-dumbs." I waved, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Morning, stupid." Killua yawned. I smiled a little bit. "Thanks for the greeting, Killua." Quinn retorted. "Yeah, you're welcome." Killua grinned.

After driving around for a little bit, we finally arrived at a small town. The bus driver was going to lead the other group of three and Audria was going to lead our team and a group of two. We didn't talk much. We were brought inside a store and were told to go into the book section. We did and one of the employees pulled books in a certain order.

We were shoved inside a dark-sewer-like room. "What the heck-" I whispered. "Don't question anything. I'm sure this is normal." Quinn responded. There were a few people already there, which was kind of comforting. I sat down on the ground, knowing we'd probably have a bit.

I sat next to Killua for about an hour, while Quinn went to go talk to some people. A round man in a blue shirt approached us. "Hey! Are you guys newbies?" He spoke kind of loudly. It wasn't too bad, but it was still loud nonetheless. "Yeah. Why?" I said hesitantly.

"I could tell. Name's Tonpa. I've taken this exam at least 30 times now, it gets pretty difficult. Want a drink?" He held out a hand that held a small orange can. Killua reached out and grabbed it. He opened it and took a sip. Killua seemed fine, so I took one too. He grabbed it from my hand the minute I grabbed it.

"What the heck? You always steal my stuff! That's not fair." I pouted. "Deal with it," Killua smirked and then took a sip of the drink. "I got more!" Tonpa said, turning for his bag. 

"It's okay! I got water anyways." I pointed at my own bag and smiled. Tonpa just turned away. When he was out of earshot Killua turned to me. "The drink's got laxatives in it. You're welcome by the way." He smiled.

"So how are you not affected?" I asked. "Poisons do absolutely nothing to me." His smile grew a bit wider. We sat for a bit longer, looking at the new examinees walking in. None of them seemed too interesting until a group of four walked in. There was a boy around our age with spikey green hair, an older girl with blonde hair, and a grown man with brown hair and small glasses. I nudged Killua.

"They seem interesting." I pointed. "I guess so," Killua grunted. "That girl's pretty." I pointed at the blonde girl. Killua seemed confused. "That's a boy"

"What? No. I bet you 10 bucks that they're a girl." I laughed. "Fine. But I'm gonna win." Killua had his usual competitive smirk plastered on his face. 

A man with lavender hair and a mustache where his mouth should be walked in front of us.  "I am Mr.Satotz. Welcome to the Hunter exam. For this phase, you'll have to follow me."