Phantom Troupe's Web

Chapter 2.

Leaving the abandoned warehouse, the young female treks through the nearby towns to reach Zaban City, where the Hunter Exams were to be held, taking the route her friend and comrade, Shalnark, mapped for her. She keeps to herself, disregarding the blatant remarks townspeople would make about her appearance compared to theirs, snickering to themselves. The female clicks her tongue at their failed attempts to be discrete, hearing every comment about how her abnormal appearance disturbed them.

"My goodness...What exotic hair she has..," an elderly lady whispered to her friend, scrutinising the foreigner with a hand covering her wrinkly mouth. "Do you think she's one of those people?" she questions, darting back and forth from her friend to the traveller.

On the other side of the street, a child and her mother shopping for lunch spotted the visitor, pointing excitedly at the exotic woman. "Mommy! Look! She has 2 colours in her hair!" the child waves her finger in the female's direction, gaining her attention from how explosive her reaction was. Her mother's eyes widened upon laying them on who her daughter was pointing at, making eye contact with the foreigner as she passed.

"Do not point," the mother lectured her daughter, grasping the small wrist of the child to whisper harshly to her. "See if you don't listen to me, you'll end up like that. And you don't want that," she intimidated, pleased with the way her child grimaced at the thought, hiding behind her mother's leg.

Passing a small market area, stall vendors paused their transactions to observe the newcomer in their town, gossiping to their customers and next-door vendors about her gothic look. "Oh my...Does she not go outside?" one says softly, covering their mouth in shock at the sight of how pale the traveller was.

The next town was the last one before the female reached Zaban City and its community was similar to her past visits to other towns; people berated her exotic hair and attire which she ignored. Upon reaching the city, the young woman walked around to find Tsubashi Street where the diner Shalnark had informed her about was located. Standing outside the establishment, the female observes its exterior with her index and pointer finger holding her chin, the other arm crossing over her chest.

'So this is it' she thought, staring at the diner with a raised eyebrow. It was a small building made out of wood, and the signage plagued on the front read 'Meshidokoro Gohan' as its name with an open banner hanging in the doorway. The young adult then pivots her head to the left, deadpanning at the large modern building beside it. 'I see why people wouldn't expect this dump to be the meeting place. They probably expected something like that building' she shrugged, entering the diner with a grin.

Inside the diner was a small bar area where customers could see the chef cook, tables scattered around across the bar stools where a few customers sat eating. Not bothering to look up from the glass he was wiping down, the chef greets the new customer with a passive tone. "Welcome. What can I get you?" he asked.

'I should probably change my entire personality while I'm here' the female thought, clearing her throat to raise her voice an octave higher than her usual deadpanned tone that she normally spoke with when she was around strangers. "Hi! Is the back room available?" she began, her hands linking themselves habitually behind her back as she rocks on the balls of her feet. "I'd like the steak combo that'll open your eyes to the light," she brightly grinned, reciting the order her friend had given her.

Doubtful upon hearing the familiar order, the cook stared down the customer, frowning deeply as he stopped wiping the glass in his hand. "How'd you like it?" he cautiously asked.

"Grilled over a low flame until cooked," she verified with a smirk.

The cook nods his head, advising the female the back room was all hers. Understanding the hidden message, she makes her way past the eating consumers and into the small room where a round table and chair with a pre-made meal sitting on the table welcomed her. Settling into the chair, the young adult chooses to eat the dish provided, activating one of her Nen abilities to hide her true identity; allowing her long hair to shrink until it reached the middle of her back, changing to magenta while her blue eyes shift into an emerald hue. As the room begins to descend to the tunnel where the exam was, which Shalnark advised her about, a pleased smirk appears on the woman's pale face.

Echoing through the hollow area was the chime of a bell that signalled a new competitor had arrived. The steel doors of the elevator slid open to reveal a petite girl with a perfect posture dressed in a pair of black cargo shorts with a mesh top underneath a velvet red crop top and black combat boots, belted around her thighs were a harness on the left and a knife garter on the right. Her rose-tinted lips curl into a pleased smirk as she feels the tension flowing through the air, ignoring the different stares she received from applicants already inhabiting the tunnel.

A second later of her standing outside the elevator, a green blob dressed formally in a suit approached her with a round object in its hands. "Please take a number. Be sure to wear this on your chest at all times. Be careful not to lose it," it instructed, walking off after handing the number badge to the woman who smiled gratefully at the blob.

The female pins the 101 number bandage onto the front of her shirt, glancing around the space to find a place to occupy until the start of the actual exam. She wanders to the furthest wall from the elevator and climbs her way to the highest ledge where she elegantly sits with her legs crossed and dangling off the edge, chin resting in the palm of her hand as she analysed the other applicants.

Skimming through the growing crowd, she identifies her assigned target easily with their flamboyant style being a dead giveaway. Her emerald eyes watched his movements discretely while scanning the others, thinking to herself about who would be trouble for her during the exams and who wasn't worth her time. In the middle of her evaluation, a familiar ball of white hair enters her peripheral vision; a boy in brown shorts and a blue long-sleeve with a plain white tee over it stood with a skateboard in his hands.

'Oh? This will be interesting...'