𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗿 (Killua x oc)

➵ Chapter 1

12 years old - present

Itsuki hummed her favourite melody as she tied her long silky hair. Using a puddle to see her own reflection, she flashed a smile, satisfied with her work.

She was now ready, ready for the hunter exam.

Two years have passed since Itsuki has left her clan.

For the first few months she was utterly devastated, she couldn't get over her mother's death. Everyday she was drowned in despair, disorientated in the direction of life.
But Itsuki was strong, no matter how harsh life was on her, she will always come back as that lively, optimistic Itsuki. That was one of her greatest advantages.
So, not long after, Itsuki came back as fierce as ever, determined as ever. After all, she had a duty, she had her clan to save, a curse to terminate.

But there was a problem. How will she break the curse if she barely knows anything about it? Where can she look? She doubts that asking strangers would help since her clan doesn't even know much about the curse.

She was stuck.
Completely, utterly stuck.
She face-palmed to the ground and stayed there for hours, until suddenly, a vague memory emerged into her head. It was a memory from years ago, when the mysterious man showed up.

"...Yes, your history. I happened to know quite a bit about your clan's origin, maybe even more than all of you. The powers...the curse..."

The man! How could Itsuki forget about him? He definitely knows something about the the curse. And by his wording, the man said he knows about their clan's origin too.

It's decided, the first move is to find this man. A sudden swarm of determination washed over her. She will find him, and she will terminate the curse before any more Zalax dies.

Itsuki calculated. The current oldest member in the clan is Aunt Suna, she is 23 years old, which means she's got 8 years more until her 31th birthday, also her death.

8 years... Itsuki has to find a way before then.

For the following year, Itsuki visited many places, mostly small secluded villages, asking the villagers if they have ever seen the man or heard about anything about the curse of Zalax. But all her efforts were to no avail. She realised she needed to go somewhere with more people, more sources. Her wish was granted as she stumbled across civilisation, a city packed with people and resources.

Itsuki was absolutely fascinated. There were big chunks that ran on itself that people called 'cars' and small luminous boxes called "phones." And the food they eat wasn't anything Itsuki has ever seen before. It was truly fascinating.

For the next year, Itsuki slowly learnt more and more about this society and managed to blend in. Though she didn't live in the best conditions. She spent nights in alleyways and lived off the plants she found on the street, which tasted of dust and grime, however it was the closest thing to herbs she could find.

Searching for the information Itsuki wanted wasn't the least bit easy. She would ask strangers, read newspapers, she even tried searching about her clan in the public computers in the libraries. But the most Itsuki could find about her clan was that they live on a cliff and that their blood has the power to heal, which was the most basic knowledge. Nothing about the curse came up no matter how much time Itsuki spent on the internet. In fact some of the information about her clan was absolutely ridiculous. Some websites said that the Zalax clan was an alien specie, whereas others stated that the clan were relatives to vampires, and some even said that the clan doesn't exist at all.
Itsuki didn't even bother trying to search about the man. She didn't know his name, or anything about him. All she knew was that he was a hunter, which wasn't very helpful.
However, what Itsuki did find was that being a hunter could have access to top information that normal citizens cannot get, along with some other advantages that could potentially be useful. So, her next move was to be a hunter, meaning that she needs to attend the next hunter exam. But Itsuki knew that passing the hunter exam is no easy task, so for however long she has got left, she started preparing. Each day, she ran until she couldn't feel her legs. She even made her own weights by putting bricks in a backpack that she found in streets. She carried the backpack everywhere she goes, adding more weights when she became accustomed to the heaviness. Months passed by until finally, the day of the hunter exam arrived.

She was ready.

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