Cut // HxH

|One|

     "Hey, this is your first time taking the exam, right?" Niyuki shut her book and looked up at the man standing above her. When she did, the blue-clad man sputtered a bit. Niyuki was probably one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, with light blue hair, striking pink eyes, and the softest smile he had ever seen. She had thick blue eyebrows and a scar across her forehead with small dots suggesting staples had once been there. Her outfit consisted of a baggy black sweater with a white spiral that rested gently on her arms, revealing her sleeveless black turtleneck and a plethora of chain necklaces. For pants, she wore tight black jeans complemented by thick-soles combat boots.

     "How did you know," she asked? Tonpa shook his gawking stare away and said, "Uh- I'm kind of a veteran here. I guess it's not really something to be proud of, but this will be my 48th time taking the exam. You start to recognize people after a while." Niyuki smiled and nodded, pulling her bag up from the floor and putting her book inside. From her seat on the pipes, she analyzed the man in silence. "What's your name," she asked?

     "Tonpa. How about you?"

     "Niyuki. It's very nice to meet you! Since you've been here a while, could you tell me about the other contestants?" Tonpa nodded and sat beside Niyuki, pointing out examinees. Suddenly, the two were distracted by screaming, Niyuki and Tonpa turning their attention to the center of the warehouse where they watched a man's arms turn into flower petals. A sweet yet menacing laugh erupted through the room and Niyuki switched her gaze to a tall man with pink hair and face paint.

     "My my," the man said. "It seems as though this man's arms have turned into flower petals~" Niyuki leaned forward in awe as the man pulled up a card and said, "Now you see them, now you don't!" With that, his card disappeared, Niyuki's eyes lighting up as she turned to Tonpa with an excited smile. "Who is that?" Tonpa was unsettled by her reaction and grumbled, saying, "Great, that guy's back. That right there is Hisoka the Magician, number 44. He was disqualified last year for nearly killing an examiner he didn't like."

     "Intriguing~" Niyuki stood up and threw her bag over her shoulder, Tonpa saying, "Wait, you're not gonna talk to him, are you?" Niyuki smiled back at him and said, "Of course I am! I've always loved magicians!" Tonpa gave her a worried look as she walked away, watching as she approached the feared man. When she reached him, she said, "Excuse me." Hisoka turned around and looked down at her, smiling. "Hello, there! How may I help you?" Without skipping a beat, Niyuki grabbed Hisoka's hands and pulled them up to her chest, holding them tightly as she said, "You are absolutely magnificent." 

     Hisoka stared at her crazed eyes with his own, tilting his head. "I am well aware. Do you like magic?" Niyuki gave the man a toothy smile and said, "I love it! What you did to that man was absolutely beautiful! I wish I could do things like that." Hisoka smiled and pulled his hands away, placing one behind Niyuki's ear and revealing a blood-red rose, handing it to her. "I could do a few magic tricks for you if you'd like." 

     "I would love that." The two received strange looks from those around them as Hisoka performed various tricks for Niyuki, the woman laughing in delight. Towards the end, Hisoka said, "It is refreshing to meet someone with the same joy in magic as myself. However..." He leaned in close to say in Niyuki's ear, "If you ever touch me again, I will not hesitate to break every single bone in your body." Niyuki grinned and said back to him, "Bold of you to assume you could even come close to touching me~" Hisoka stepped away from Niyuki and the two smiled at each other. But these weren't kind smiles, no, these were devious and full of malice.

     Suddenly, Niyuki heard Tonpa calling her name as he ran up to her, the woman continuing to stare at Hisoka as she pulled three throwing knives seemingly from nowhere and threw them at the man, the three daggers pushing him back and pinning him to the wall by his clothes. She slowly turned to Tonpa and said, "You don't fool me, 'rookie crusher'. Don't make me waste my energy on you." And with that, Niyuki walked away to find a quiet place to read as people stared at her from every direction.

     Tonpa was scared shitless, but Hisoka was thinking about all the ways he could break Niyuki. She had caught his eye and there was no way he wasn't going to fight her. Somehow, somewhere, he would destroy her. Not in a sexual way, don't think that. Well, maybe, he didn't know yet. All he knew is that he wanted to kill her... and that flirting was on the table.

     When the first phase of the exam started, Niyuki ran ahead of all the rest, including Mr. Satotz, and she eventually joined a race with two younger boys to see who got to the top first. She got to the top first, but she still insisted on buying the two dinner to praise them for their speed and durability. The second half of the first phase went pretty smoothly, Niyuki having no trouble getting through the forest as she was able to keep up with the examiner. 

     Since she was one of the first to reach the exit, she would have to wait a few hours before the others emerged from the forest. She decided that a little rest would do some good, taking out a fabric roll from her bag and setting up a hammock in one of the trees to sleep for a bit. She asked one of the other contestants, a tall teen in ninja armor, to wake her up, feeling that she could trust him. She ended up being right as the boy woke her up in four hours, the woman yawning and stretching. "Thank you," Niyuki told him. "I could tell you were trustworthy."

     The teen, Hanzo, blushed and smiled, saying, "Thank you, that means a lot to me! Don't tell anyone, but I'm actually a ninja from a hidden village in Jappon! Trust means a lot to ninjas." Niyuki smiled at him and nodded, pretending to zip her lips. Hanzo cleared his throat and said, "I saw you reading earlier. What book is it?" Niyuki pulled up her bag and brought out a book titled, More Than it Hurts You. She handed it to Hanzo who opened the cover and read the synopsis on the book jacket. 

     "This seems so good, how have I never heard of this?"

     "The author isn't very well-known, plus I got the book at a thrift store and they don't typically have very popular books. You can find a lot of weird stuff there!" Hanzo nodded and said, "I see." Their conversation was interrupted when Mr. Satotz announced the start of the next phase. Niyuki could feel she was being watched and she knew exactly who it was, denying him a glance as she put up her hammock.

     She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of acknowledgment.

~~~~~

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