"Is it comfortable, standing like that?"

She turned her head to silver-haired boy who asked her the question, confused. She then looked at her position, before understanding that boy's inquiry.

She was standing with her feet evenly spaced apart, shoulder-width, and her arms folded stiffly behind her back; an at ease stance. She dropped her hands to her sides, and shuffled her feet a little closer together and took a moment to respond. "It's sort of... a habit."

The boy hummed; she couldn't tell if it was with boredom or interest, so she did not reply. She quickly turned her attention back onto Netero, who began to go through some directions and other customaries. The man stopped suddenly before chuckling and commenting on the tense atmosphere.

They were scheduled to arrive next morning, according to Beans, the person that had given her the plate. Until then, it was free time, a great opportunity for resting up.

"Gon! Let's explore the airship!" Killua suggested excitedly, mischief underlying his tone.

She glanced towards them in a concerned manner, though she really doubt they could tell. "You both should rest up while you can. We probably won't get many chances to-"

"C'mon, a little while won't hurt!" Gon insisted, running towards the door, stopping, then turning around to look at her expectantly. "Let's go, Rukei!"

She stared at the two waiting for her, but also listened to the echo of Shichi's advice in her head. Glancing down at her feet, she nodded to herself and headed towards them. "...Just a little while."

Both boys grinned.

They were also grinning when they managed to snatch food from the kitchen, why they didn't simply follow instructions to go to the cafeteria was beyond her, but they had gotten caught either way. Rukei sighed, pushing herself off the wall from across the door that the boys had just gotten thrown out of by their collars.

She didn't know why she still accompanied them, when she should have been resting and could have possibly been caught up in the mischief the two would make. She wanted to stay around them and know more about them, but she did not know her own reason. It had been a while since she had felt this confused, and she suddenly wanted Shichi there to get advice from her.

"Look!"

The brunette was shortly yanked out of her thoughts and to the window that Killua pressed his face up against.

She mumbled the word 'pretty' upon setting her eyes on the scenery below her; the luminous cities faintly reminded her of the summer she and Shichi had released fireflies out in the countryside.

"Whoa!" Gon exclaimed, following Killua's example and leaning against the window. "It's like the ground is covered in jewels!" Rukei rather liked Gon's comparison; she had to agree. It was like looking into a treasure chest full of gold. They all stood there for a while, admiring the lights below, before Gon broke the silence. "Hey, I've been wondering..."

"Hmm?"

"What is it?"

"Where are your parents, Killua, Rukei?"

That was definitely not the question she was expecting and she wasn't sure if she really wanted to answer it either. When she heard the word 'parents' the first two people she thought of was Glass and Crimson. They, along with Shichi, were her family. She supposed they acted like her parents and she did interact with them like their child but biologically...

"Hmm... They're alive," Killua answered first, vaguely, "Probably."

Rukei shifted her gaze up and over to the silver-haired boy. "Probably?"

"What do they do?" Gon asked curiously.

"They're assassins." Killua answered, without missing a beat.

Gon blinked, slightly confused, "Eh? Both of them?"

That certainly explained the 'probably'. "Must be tough."

Killua paused, whipping his head around to look at the two others, then burst out into laughter. "That's your first reaction? You guys are a riot!" He snickered, taking a seat on the bench behind them. She didn't understand the boy's reply until she thought back on what the conversation seconds prior.

She realized what was so off then. She had been accustomed to meeting people of uncommon and or shady jobs, so this type of thing usually didn't surprise her.

"You guys are the first to respond seriously." Killua explained, resting his chin on his hand, still facing the two.

"But you're telling the truth, aren't you?" Gon countered innocently, while Killua's light expression loosened a bit.

"What makes you think that?"

Gon blinked, glancing once to Rukei, then back to Killua again. "There's not really anything..."

The boy let out a deep sigh, looking out the window again, "That's weird. My charm point is that people can never tell wether I'm serious or not. I'm from a family of assassins."

The boy's smile turned melancholic and strained, the reminiscing type that she had sometimes seen on Shichi's. His gaze was not focused on the beautiful landscape below, but rather straight ahead.

"And so, they're all assassins and my family has really high hopes for me. But I can't stand it. Who wants to have their life planned out for them?"

'Who wants to have their life planned out for them?' The phrase rolled around her head a couple times. Was that really something bad? Was there really something wrong? Was there something really that disdainful about orders? She couldn't understand. There was so much... So much she didn't understand...

"When I told them that I wanted to decide my own future, they all snapped!" The boy suddenly turned fully over to the other two, somehow, his demeanor not as sad or wishful as before, as if he decided to cover it with an abstract blanket and shove it far away where they couldn't see.

Rukei wondered what other things the boy was hiding that she wasn't able to figure out. Something told her she wouldn't understand it either way. Not the way she was now.

"My mom had tears streaming down her face as she told me I have the potential to be the top assassin," the boy began to rant, "Horrible parents, right? It's natural their kid would go bad. We ended up fighting and I stabbed my mother in the face and my brother in the side and ran away from home." He grinned suddenly, cupping his chin in his hand in a thinking pose manner. "I'm sure they're out for my blood now but if they find me I'll send them packing!"

Gon chuckled nervously, not quite sure what to say to his friend and Rukei resisted sighing.

"When I become a Hunter, I'll start by capturing my family. I'm sure they're worth some hefty bounties."

"Of course," Rukei agreed awkwardly, but she did think it was true. A family of assassins would probably rope in more than she could imagine on the spot.

"What about you Rukei?"

She was almost about to reply with 'what about me?' but remembered the last instance in which it had happened. "My parents, you mean?"

Gon nodded and Killua sat back down to listen.

Rukei paused, not quite sure where to start. "Well, the people who take care of me now; their names are Glass and Crimson," she quickly informed before going on.

But she was interrupted by the mountain boy, "Are they Shichi's parents?"

"Shichi?" Killua repeated, reminding the girl that she hadn't told him the name of her senior yet.

"She's the person I want to work alongside. She's my sister... Essentially...," the girl added, "But no, they're not Shichi-oneesan's parents either."

Gon nodded quickly, before asking another question. "So, what do they do?"

"They're also Hunters." Rukei explained, "They both have high positions though, so I don't see them all the time."

"High positions?"

"Oh... Right," the brunette realized the reason for the boy's question. She hadn't told either of them. "I work under the XX Alliance."

"XX Alliance?" Gon echoed, "What's that?"

Rukei straightened her posture a bit further, a little proud, explaining to the boy. "The XX Alliance is a small organization of Hunters that do a variety of work, such as eradicating shady syndicates or providing relief after natural disaster; the jobs Hunters are supposed to do. They do it collectively which makes them an organization. Glass, Crimson, and Shichi-oneesan all work under the Alliance."

"Wow!" He exclaimed, surprising her a little, "I bet that means you're surrounded by Hunters all the time!"

"Essentially, yes. But most members, like myself, aren't actually Hunters."

Gon leaned in, pressing on excitedly, "So, what do you do?"

Rukei let out a deep breath, leaning forward a little, towards the glass. "A variety of odd jobs. For the most part however, I-"

She tensed and shot to her feet, sensing great murderous intent from behind her, aimed at her. The corridor she had felt it from however, was empty.

"What's wrong?"

The click and clack of traditional wooden shoes echoed through the hallway. She craned her head over, observing the chairman that walked by feigning innocence and concern. Gon glanced from the man back to the hallway, pointing in said direction. "Netero-san, did you see anyone coming from that side?"

He shook his head slowly, drawing it out. "No."

"Really?" Rukei murmured quietly, not quite sure why he was doing things in such a round about manner.

Killua spoke next, shoving his hands in his pockets casually, though his tone had something a little more challenging than that. "You're fast for an old man."

"Oh, that little trick?" Netero chuckled, "I barely moved."

Rukei silently wondered what about that was 'barely moving'. She knew the chairman was up to something else; he was infamous for his practical joking and mischief.

"What do you want?" Killua demanded, getting straight to the point, "You don't have anything before the last phase, right?"

The elder was not intimidated and he revealed his reason for coming to them, "No need to be so unkind. I got bored, and was looking for some companions. By the way," the man added, "I meant to ask you three. Any thoughts on your first attempt at the Hunter Exam?"

"It's fun!" Gon immediately answered positively, "And there haven't been any of the written exams I had been dreading!"

Rukei almost smiled at his answer but kept her character in tact. "For the most part, it's more or less efficient but rather outlandish. I was not expecting the need of skill to cook for the Hunter Exam."

Killua scoffed, his answer taking the other side of the spectrum from Gon's. "I'm disappointed," he stated flatly, "I expected the exam to be more difficult. I assume the next phase will be more entertaining?"

"Well now...," the man drawled elusively, "I wouldn't know about that."

The silver-haired boy's frustration seemed to reach it's peak when he spun on his heels, thoroughly ticked off. "Let's go, Gon! You too, Rukei!"

The brunette's eyes widened slightly. That was the first time Killua had included her name when he wanted to do something. She wondered if she would able to get along with the boy like she did with Gon.

"Now wait just a moment."

Rukei was surprised Killua listened as he actually stopped in his tracks.

"Would you like to play a game with me?"

Gon's face brightened up, excited at the older man's proposition. "A game?"

"Of what sort?" She asked. She had a feeling that if they won, there would be a benefit of some sort, otherwise the chairman would never be able to get Killua to play.

"Let's see...," the old man hummed, seeing that they had taken the bait, "If you're able to defeat me, I'll let you be Hunters!"

At first she was about to decline. Becoming a Hunter couldn't be that easy. Besides, the other phases may have held valuable experience she needed for her work.

But if there was chance, why not take a shot at it?

"How about it, eh?"

-

Rukei followed the yellow ball with her eyes, watching it be dribbled against the floor as the older man went over the rules. "If you can take the ball from me before the airship reaches it's destination, you win. You're free to attack me as you like. I won't touch you."

"That's quite the handicap," Rukei noted skeptically.

Gon frowned, sounding rather disappointed.  "Yeah! That's too easy! You can't call that a game!"

"Why not give it a try first?" Netero suggested; she could sense the mock underneath his tone.

The silver haired boy stepped forward, and with a bored yet suspicious voice went on. "We just have to take the ball, right?"

'Just have to', huh? Rukei wished it would be that easy.

The old man gave a grunt of confirmation, while the air around Killua continued to shift.  "Then, I'll go first..."

He began to circle the old man, like an animal would to it's trapped prey, in a rhythm that made her head pound. She knew what would come next. Seconds later, Killua's figure began to multiply, filling in the invisible ring he had made around the chairman.

"Woah! I see multiple Killuas!" Gon exclaimed in wonder at their friend's surprising skill.

"That's..." When Killua had said 'high expectations' she did not expect this. She knew of this ability; she had only seen it once or twice in person done by extremely experienced agents, older than the assassin by at least ten or more years. "Rhythm echo..." She murmured in awe.

There was a pause, and a single one rushed out to grab the ball, the real Killua, only to fail. After flips and turns among other futile reaches for the ball, the boy stopped for a single moment to think, before darting forward again. His leg smacked into Netero's, and from what she saw, Rukei was sure that Netero's bones would have shattered.

"Ouch! Right on his pivot leg!"

"He certainly didn't hold back..."

She was proven wrong as Killua paled and yelped in pain, holding tightly onto his shin, bouncing up and down.

Seeing as the boy's chance was lowered greatly at the moment, Gon decided to jump in, "Killua!" He called, holding his hand up, "Tag, tag!"

The assassin limped over, smacking the boy's hand, sending Gon in. The mountain boy did some stretches and slapped his cheeks, before running forward with his usual, unbelievable speed, but straight on, she knew he wouldn't be a match for Netero.

He sprung upwards catching the old man by surprise, Gon had created his chan-

The boy's head hit the ceiling with a loud bang and shortly after hit the floor, rolling and holding his head.

"You idiot!" Killua yelled frustratedly, "We all know you can jump really high! Control your power!"

Rukei sighed, deadpanned as usual, "As always, completely unaware of the environment around him..."

"The old man even let his guard down too!"

She held out her palm to the spiky-haired boy as he headed back over bashfully, "Gon, let me try."

He grinned and gave her the high-five, "Do your best, Rukei!"

She observed the old man for a second, who was balancing the ball on his head. She wasn't quite sure how she would go after the man, and she highly doubted that her attacks could do any serious enough damage to give her a wide chance to take the ball.

Rukei walked forward, knowing that her speed wouldn't cut it, for the first move anyways. When she was within hand's reach of ball, she immediately slipped behind the old man, grabbing his arm, the one without her target as Netero had already raised it out of her reach with a new burst of energy, and used it to swing herself upwards and around, her leg sticking out in hopes of kicking the ball out of his hand.

The chairman moved it just out of her reach as her swing reached the height of it's arc and the moment her feet planted themselves on the ground again, she used her momentum to try and throw the old man over her shoulder and onto the floor only to find him flipping right back over onto his feet.

But her goal was in sight. The old man had to throw the ball in the air to keep himself on his feet, and she took the moment to lunge forward for the ball; the old man took it and she was left with nothing as she slid against the wood floor barely keeping the balance she was so proud of. She grit her teeth in frustration but did not show it.

This could take a while.

It had been a couple hours now, Rukei was sure, as she wiped off beads of sweat from her forehead. She had already tossed aside the amaranth overalls and yellow hoodie but it still felt almost overwhelmingly hot in her black leggings and light pink t-shirt. On the contrary, Netero appeared to be just fine in the same condition as he was when the game started.

It was terribly frustrating, but the familiar feeling was almost a relief as she had been bombarded by foreign ones recently. That familiar feeling grew as Killua slammed into Netero and fell to the ground holding his nose. Were they ever going to get the old man?

"You kids aren't getting anywhere," Netero voiced her own thoughts, "Why not attack simultaneously?"

Rukei's eyes narrowed slightly. Were they that pitiful that Netero had to bend the rules even further towards their direction for them to have the slightest advantage? "You'll regret that."

"Why, you-"

"Alright, we'll definitely get it this time!"

The three now disregarded the hypnotizing footsteps and carefully-planned tricks; this was the same as the thing that Shichi did when Rukei was too short to reach the confiscated items that Shichi took away from her. Her senior would hold the object in front of her face pretending to give it back to her before dangling it up high again.

Rukei collided with her two friends unexpectedly as Netero suddenly jumped upwards. Rukei backed away from them, watching Gon shoot forward again relentlessly.

Netero gave them a look full of pity and boredom, "Your moves are getting pretty old-"

Just when Rukei that Netero avoided Gon's kick, the boy's boot flew off his foot into Netero's face. From behind, Killua kicked him forwards, sending the ball flying out of his hands; he immediately jumped over the old man afterwards to grab the ball, but Netero had kicked it away with his foot and lunged forward for the ball only to have it slip out of his grasp thanks to Gon's other shoe.

Gon and Killua darted towards the ball but Rukei could see the old man behind them, with a different look from before. She quickly stepped in the path between them, holding her arms in a guarding position to stop the chairman. She could hardly see him move as he sprang over her with a new burst of energy, sailed over her head, and stole the ball right from under Gon and Killua's noses.

"I commend you on your efforts."

Rukei's eyes twitched for a second as she turned around, "I'm not that interested in your commendation though..."

"That was amazing, Netero-san!" Gon burst out, as always only finding the positives. Seeing that Gon wasn't too disappointed lifted her spirits a little but her eyes widened as they landed on Killua.

The familiarity tugged at her as she did not take her gaze away from the boy whose glare seemed to pierce through the air itself. What was it? What was this eerie, unsettling familiarity that crawled up her skin when she saw his dark expression? It stayed there in the back of her mind even when Killua stood up with a huff. "Forget it. Give. I quit."

"Eh?" Gon turned around in surprise at his friend's sudden statement, "Why? We still have time. Besides, we came really close just now!"

Killua looked over his shoulder as he picked up the white t-shirt from the floor, "Geez. You really have no clue, do you?" Gon waited for him to explain with a clueless face. "That old man has barely used his right hand and left leg."

"Eh?!"

"But we're still powerless against him. We could chase him around for a year and never be able to take the ball from him," Killua explained and Rukei wondered if her 'you can't be helped' look got through to Gon.

"As always completely unaware of the environment around him," Rukei repeated, but with very slight fondness in her tone.

"Oh, you found out?" Netero chuckled, letting the ball to rest in the palm of his hand instead of his finger, "And here I thought I had you fooled."

Killua gave the chairman an annoyed laugh from the doorway, "You really know how to piss me off, old man!" He disappeared from behind the other door as he headed down the hallway "Let's go, Gon, Rukei."

"Oh, I'm gonna play a little longer."

Rukei honestly didn't even know if she should be surprised anymore.

"Huh?!" Killua rushed back into the room, even further irritated than before, getting up in Gon's face, "Didn't you just hear what I said?! It's useless! You won't be able to take the ball from him!"

Gon did not flinch or frown in the slightest. "Ah, I don't care about the ball anymore," and both of them looked on in confusion, "We've only used up half of the time limit. I'm gonna make Netero use his right hand before time runs out."

If positivity could dazzle, Rukei would have already been blinded long ago when she first met this boy. Killua was left speechless as he gave up, sighing. "Okay, I got it. Good luck." He gave Rukei an expectant look as he stopped mid-turn and she tried not to avert her eyes out of embarrassment due to her unexplainable action that contradicted her senior's advice.

"I'm...," Rukei started a bit too softly so she strengthened her voice, "I'm going to watch for a bit. I'll be over there soon." She didn't want to miss one of her friends' moments of victory.

The white-haired boy gave her the same incredulous look as he gave Gon but he shrugged it off with a, "I see. I'm going to get some sleep."

"Hey, Netero-san?"

The old man gave a sort of 'hm' to show he was listening, though their eyes were still on the door that Killua had left through.

"How did Killua do that thing where he walked really slowly and it looked like there were a bunch of Killuas?" He asked curiously, and Rukei quietly repeated the name of the ability to Gon who smiled at her sheepishly.

Netero answered seriously, "That technique is for those engaged in underground work. You have no need to learn it," he added, "In fact, you should not learn it."

Gon bounced right back, oblivious to the darker tones, "But it's an amazing technique, right?"

"Truly amazing considering the age of the person using it," Rukei noted.

Netero gave a sort of hum, like he was contemplating on the answer he should give Gon. The disapproval in his voice was obvious. "It requires an intensive amount of training."

"Killua really is something!"

Rukei had to agree. Her unease and annoyance was beginning to ebb away as Gon swiped for the ball suddenly only to fail and be chided by the chairman.

It had taken Gon a while, but with his speed that continued to accelerate and two final head butts, he managed to get Netero to use his right hand. Rukei handed the chairman the forest boy's jacket while Netero covered the snoring boy with it. Rukei herself was feeling a little tired and she thought it was about time that she followed both of her friend's actions. Shichi would definitely have scold Rukei if her senior was there.

She glanced at herself in the bathroom mirror as she washed her hands. Shichi often said that Rukei would make a good spy. Her appearance was of a normal twelve-year old brunette aside from the expressive, uncommon, coral eyes and the unexpressive face. Color contacts fixed the former problem. Shichi always seemed to be able to tell what her junior was thinking and when Rukei asked why, her answer was her eyes. They seemed to give away the most about her and she wasn't sure if it was helpful or a hindrance.

She dried her hands in her handkerchief, a bit drowsy, ready to get some rest only to be thrown back awake again as she was met with a strong iron smell of blood from down the hallway.

She immediately headed to the room where she had participated in the game, hoping that Netero was still there. He was, asking her patiently what was wrong while hanging up the phone.

"Two of the applicants...," Rukei trailed off from her urgent tone as Netero placed a finger to his mouth in a 'shush' sign in respect to Gon. She was almost annoyed by this as she tried to bring up a problem. "You should really go see to it yourself, Chairman."

He nodded, following her out, still not as serious as Rukei would have liked him to be, but he was a superior and an elder on top of that so she held her tongue. She led him to the gruesome scene to which he sighed deeply. "What a mess..."

Rukei immediately sorted through her mind trying to figure out the killer; though it didn't really matter because they wouldn't be punished. The first suspect was obvious. "Was it Hisoka?"

Netero turned around, muttering something about calling his assistant, he gave her a passive "maybe" but from the tone, she could tell it was a 'no'.

The more she thought, the more that uncertain, annoying feeling returned. She knew she was just avoiding the other answer.

Killua.

。。。

What's with that face you ask?! This is the face of a very, very grateful, happy, delighted person!

Thank you all readers, I appreciate it very much! Special thanks to TheWaystone @Era-Vera @FerrisWheel28 for voting/commenting/putting this story into a reading list, that really means a lot ^^

Now then everyone, I updated two chapters at once today, so I invite you to go ahead and shoot down the other while you're at it!