Just the Maid

Chapter 20- Hunter Exam: Phase One Part One

As we stood looking out into the crowd, a small, green creature in a suit walked up to us.

"Hello there," it said. "These are your tags." He gave Killua a round pin with the number 99 printed on it. Mine had 100.

"Just put those on. You have another few hours to wait until the exam starts, so please, make yourself comfortable," he said. Then he walked away.

We looked at each other and shrugged. I put mine on my cloak and he put his on his shirt.

"So, what do we do for however long we have left?" Killua wondered out loud. I scanned the room, assessing each individual with a hidden stare. None of them really looked like much trouble.

"Hey! Kitty! C'mere!" I suddenly heard Killua call from the left side of the room. I walked over to find him talking to a portly man in blue clothes.

"This is Tonpa. Apparently, he's been here a couple times in the past," he said. Tonpa looked over at me and held out his hand.

"Hi! Nice ta meet ya!" he said. I politely shook his hand.

"Well, we still have a while yet before we start, so how about a drink? I always give them out before we start to anyone who's thirsty!" Tonpa took out two cans of what looked like orange soda. He gave one to Killua and held the other out to me. I shook my head. Then he shrugged and put it back in his bag. I looked over at Killua. He was happily chugging away.

"Ah!" he exclaimed as he finished. "That was pretty good stuff. Can I have another?" Tonpa gave him another.

"Thanks. C'mon Kitty, let's go find somewhere to sit down." I nodded and followed him to the other side of the cavern. He plopped himself down and opened up his second soda.

"I'm glad you didn't take one," he said. I sat next to him on my knees.

"Why?"

"It has a laxative in it." My eyes grew wide.

"Then why did you take it!?"

"So he wouldn't suspect anything. I'm immune to poison, you know. You think a Zoldyck would be brought down by something like a laxative?" He smiled at me then took a drink.

I shook my head. "I shouldn't be surprised. It's like your family is immortal."

"Basically..."

We spent the next few hours talking and sizing up the other contenders. Some of them, we even made funny impressions of. I found out that Killua was really good at making impressions, surprisingly. He made me laugh a lot. Just us talking and making jokes, that was the most fun I've had in a long time. Suddenly, an image flashed in my brain. I shook my head to clear it and looked at the ground.

"Something wrong?" he asked me.

"No, I'm okay."

"Okay. Well, it's getting a little crowded now and I want another soda from Tonpa."

"Why in the world do you want MORE of those things?"

"Because, they taste good."

"That's probably the laxative you're tasting!"

By that time, he had already called Tonpa over for another drink. I saw him hand a few over. He said something to Killua and he responded with a smirk. When he came back over, I asked him what Tonpa said.

"He just told me there was a laxative in it, haha!" He laughed and opened another drink. He offered one as a joke, but I actually took it. The dry air was really getting at my throat.

"Whoa, you're actually gonna drink that? Are you sure? I'm not carrying you if you start having a mud problem," he warned.

I grinned. "You're not the only one who has an immunity to poison," I said. I drank it all in one gulp. "Whew! You're right, this does taste pretty good. Gimme another!" I reached for another, but he pulled back.