A Genius Thrown to the Wolves

Test Subjects Ch. 7

After about another half hour of waiting he'd made eye contact with a very round, middle aged man whose eyes shone at him. He started to approach, but Hisoka had returned from the little 'show' he'd put on, making another participants arm disappear. Kiyo watched the plump man's eyes widen in fear before letting out a nervous chuckle and walking in another direction. 'Thank goodness I was able to avoid that.' As if he knew what he was thinking, Hisoka leaned down to say a quick "your welcome~" in his ear. Not even a minute later the room began to shake and the 'false' wall was lifted to reveal a strange looking man. "Looks like this is everybody! Well, follow me."

Without another word he turned around and began down the long hallway at a light jog. The participants picking themselves up and following after him. Kiyotaka and Hisoka stayed relatively towards the front. He adjusted his pace with Hisoka's and found that the reason it changed so much was Hisoka's people watching. Though he didn't seem all that interested in them for very long. They ran for hours watching most off their competitors fall away. They'd been in a pretty heavy sprint for over an hour. This was nothing to Kiyotaka though. In the white room they had to do about 10 times what they'd already run in a sprint and it was timed. That was the closest he'd come to being beaten to death by an instructor. He was just thankful there was someone worse off then him at the time. If not he would have died in captivity instead of getting the chance to leave his cage ... for good.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he sensed Hisoka speed up. The reason being he'd spotted two of the youngest participants. They were extremely energetic given the conditions of the exam. They'd managed to catch his attention as well. The one with white hair was obviously trained despite his sloppy posture and, given the reaction Hisoka's friend had when he rand by, their related somehow. Most likely brothers he concluded. He also deduced that the elder of the two brothers was under cover. He decided not to put more thought then that into the siblings. The green haired boy was also strong and despite his visible potential, didn't get much thought from Kiyotaka.

When they'd finally made it out of the tunnel the two boys were arguing about who won their little race, settling on it being a tie. Kiyotaka was slightly pleased when they were told the first phase of the exam would just be beginning. He was hoping it would be a little more challenging. As the phase instructor was explaining the next phase and gratuitously giving them advice about the territory they'd soon be entering, another one came out dragging a beat up monkey - thing - with him. It was obviously fake, 'but hey A for effort' Kiyotaka thought. "That is one of the human faced monkeys that are native here! (He said holding up the monkey in his hands as 'proof') I'm the real instructor!" Everybody was confused. They began arguing amongst each other and questioning the real instructor. Kiyo could only roll his eyes at the idiocy of the situation and Hisoka chuckled at his response before pulling out a couple playing cards. In one swift movement Kiyotaka watched Hisoka throw six of the cards, 3 at the real instructor who caught them and sent a glare their way and 3 at the fake, killing him instantly. "There. You're clearly the real instructor." Hisoka said satisfied by the quiet and shocked crowd. The instructor himself was not amused. "I will let that slide, but do it again and you'll be immediately disqualified from this years exam." Hisoka only threw his hands up in mock surrender, turning to Kiyotaka and giving him a wink before facing back towards the instructor.

With the rest of the phase prep happening without a hitch, the lilac haired instructor took off, the rest of the group once again following close behind. Groans filled the air from some of the people who'd just barely passed the pre exam phase, their legs still hurting and cramping up. As they ran deeper into the new territory, a fog settled over them and actively continued to low visibility. When Kiyotaka was rely more heavily on his other senses, he felt a a familiar nen wrap around his waist. He was pulled at a weird angle lifted off his feet. He had to constantly be contracting and releasing muscles to keep his balance mid air to ensure a safe landing. When he got closer to the source of the nen he felt it release and was close enough to see Hisoka bring his hands up to catch him bridal style. Kiyotaka might be working with him, but he won't just let him have his way. So Kiyotaka twisted his body, using Hisoka's arms to push himself up and over Hisoka, landing behind him. Hisoka stood frozen for a second before abruptly turning around, a pout on his face.  "Wha! So mean Kiyo~! I just wanted to catch you!" "And I didn't want you to. Especially after you almost drug me through ten different trees." "My bad! But I didn't want you getting lost soo" Hisoka slowly reached his hand out, like you would with a kitten to show you don't mean any harm. Kiyotaka watched his hand approach him and slowly moved his eyes to look back at the man in front of him. Hisoka took this as a sign to continue. He picked Kiyo up by the scruff of his clothes and took off to catch up with the instructor.

They'd been peacefully following the instructor when a group of men went and circled Hisoka. They were surprised to see Kiyotaka in his grip. "Ha! Using the boy as a meat shield won't prevent us from killing you!" The apparent leader of the group called out. Hisoka only looked them dead in the eyes and smirked. "You think this boy is acting as my meat shield?" He asked setting Kiyotaka on his feet and, still holding him in place, leaned down to his ear, "I'd like to see those claws of yours in action. Aim for the neck and take out the four to the right and I'll take care of the other five." "I don't recall agreeing to this yet." Kiyotaka said, not appreciating his assumed participation. "Oh but you have! Look here~ (Hisoka said, quite gently, bringing up Kiyo's hand so he could see) your claws are already out! So come on, your body obviously wants to help, why not let it?" Kiyo made the effort to not respond right way and think over his decision to prove to Hisoka that it was, in fact his choice. "Hm. Whatever. I'll help."