Light pattering footsteps were heard as bright, cloudy periwinkle and white shoes picked up from the dusty ground and made contact with it once again, continuing in a rhythm.

'pata pata pata….'

Mid-back length lavender hair fluttering in the wind along with a bright, cloudy periwinkle colored dress length shirt with a long royal blue ribbon across the waist; attached to it, an out of place crimson red rose, that reaches above mid-thigh. Her straight bangs slightly swept to the left in the center of her face while the fringe of her remaining bangs on the left was braided and tucked behind her ear and lock of hair, secretly secured by three white clips; the right side similar to the left, just without the braid and clips. Every step she took, her pale golden baggy capris would brush against each other, pulling it up over her knees and dropping it back to its original place. The 16 year old girl, Yukimura Kiyoko, took a look around her surroundings and studied the environment for a while as she was heading over to a certain ship port.

"I-IT'S A POISONOUS SPIDER!" Kiyoko heard a male voice yell nearby.

The girl curiously looked over to her right to see a diner ahead of her and noticed that everyone was backing away from a blonde haired boy and a palm sized spider.

"CAREFUL AND DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE! IF YOU MOVE, IT'LL GET YOU!" the waiter warned the boy, fear coating his voice.

The 17 year old boy clad in mainly blue, red, and white stared at everyone blankly and slowly fixed his gaze on the spider inching closer to his left hand every step it took. Kiyoko flinched when his eyes altered from brown to a beautiful, but frightening looking scarlet when he took sight of the spider. Quickly stabbing the spider with the fork in his grasp, the boy threw the silverware unintentionally at the girl with one swift arm motion, unaware of whom it may hit. The girl's amber colored eyes immediately widened when she caught sight of the flying fork that contained the enormous dangerous creature called a spider heading towards her and immediately ducked when the fork was only a few inches away from her face. Kiyoko's fair colored face went pale when she looked behind her and saw the live spider crawling away from the weapon unharmed and turned back to see the boy casually eating his food as if nothing happened, eyes back to being brown.

'….. D-did his eyes just change colors? What just happened?' the girl thought hesitantly.

The boy glanced over at Kiyoko's area and found her fuming at herself about what just happened and looked away.

'Crazy girl..' he thought.

"Man, all that running around made me hungry!" a voice suddenly grumbled behind the girl.

Kiyoko looked over to her left to see a man in a dark blue suit with small round glasses and carrying a brief case, heading straight with a young boy clad in green and carrying a fishing pole just following him casually.

"STOP, THIEF!" one of the merchants nearby the diner yelled, running after the man who stole some food.

The formal suited man's stomach began to growl loudly.

"… My stomach is empty right now.. That stand over there is also empty right now… so don't mind if I do!" the man said, grabbing some fish and holding them against his briefcase.

"This is it! So long, kid!" he exclaimed with his mouth full, everyone's attention now fixed onto him and muttering something to each other.

'…. That bastard ought to learn some manner since he's dressed so formally and crap,' a harsh and clean voice suddenly said.

'Kuromi, you better not take control now. It's not worth trying to talk him out of this by the looks of it,' Kiyoko thought to herself, answering her second personal.

'That guy over there sure has guts to throw that fork at you too! They both need to learn how to respect!'

Kiyoko mentally sighed to herself as her opposite ignored her first thought.

'You really want to be the one in control now, don't you..? Tell you what, I'll switch with you, but don't do anything ridiculous and head straight to the ship we need to board.'

Kiyoko felt a smirk trying to spread across her face after deciding to switch in with her opposite as she brushed off her clothes and picked up her adjustable wooden staff she dropped when she dodged the fork. The tip of the girl's lavender hair slowly melted into a rosy pink and red color as it got messier, her eyes got sharper and colder, pupils changing to something like slits and the irises turning into a deep red-orange color.

'Oh don't worry, Kiyoko. I'll just keep walking until a douche bag decides to take action first,' Kuromi replied as she gave an evil smirk, tucking the staff into the ribbon at her waist.

The warm-hearted girl, suddenly turn cold, looked at her right hand; closed it into a fist and opened it back up twice, dropping it back to her side.

'You better not turn into that Lynith. I don't want people looking at me weird,' Kiyoko warned.

'It's not like they made contact with a Lynith before. In fact, out of everyone in this world, only a few have the ability to turn into some random rabbit-lynx creature,' Kuromi pointed out.

'That's the thing! IT'S LIKE A CURSE!' Kiyoko screamed mentally.

Kuromi closed her eyes in disappointment, a small frown crossing her face as she continued on her path.

"Hey there, young lady! Are you lost of something? Tell you what, why don't you come with me and tell me where you're heading to?" a man with a smug look on his face asked.

Kuromi ignored the said man and walked right past him as if he wasn't there. The man's creepy smile faltered as she breezed by him, making him grab her arm and stopping her from going any further by force.

"I can take you to where you are heading, dear, so tell me away!" he offered one more time, gripping her wrist tighter.

'Hey, Kiyoko. Can I beat the crap out of this guy?' she asked in a pissed off manner.

'… Go ahead. He gives me chills, honestly,' Kiyoko replied.

Kuromi's head was hung low, hair shadowing her face as she stood at her spot in a relaxed manner. She began to let a mischievous smirk cross her face, a brief view of sharp canine teeth showing.

"Hey, old man, let go of my wrist or else…" the girl threatened with a sharp tone.

The man raised an eyebrow curiously at her threats, not taking it seriously.

"Don't worry, sweetie. It's not like I'll try to-"

The stranger was suddenly interrupted when Kuromi's heel made contact with his stomach; a lot of force from her backswing, his grip loosening around her wrist. Kuromi threw her arm in a downward motion and made the man collapse onto the floor as he held onto his stomach painfully.

"I did warn you, didn't I?" the opposite asked as she leered at the sight before her.

Kuromi took out the adjustable staff and extended it to its fullest, twirling it as the man replied in an irked manner.

"You little-"

Kuromi swung the staff hard onto the man's face with her right hand as she shifted from one leg to the other and set her left hand on her hip, right arm extended before her and pointed at the vulnerable man, grinning a wide sadistic grin.

"Shut it or I'll rip your mouth off."

The girl pulled the staff away and allowed it to decline back into the size of a wand as the man shut his trap and peed a little, tucking it back into the ribbon around her waist behind the rose, walking away casually as she pulled her hair to the front and over her left shoulder.

'Pathetic,' she muttered in a corrupted manner, extending her left arm out as her fingers brushed the stands of hair and allowed it to fall into place.

'I have to agree with you on that.. Even I could've hit him like that, just with weaker power..' Kiyoko added in.

"Welcome, young lady! Are you here to take on the 287th hunter exam?" the captain of the ship asked, heartily.

Kuromi stared at the round man with disinterest written all over her face as her eyes and hair returned to normal. The girl suddenly gave a bright smile to the captain and nodded as if nothing happened.

"Yes, I am! May I board this ship to proceed?" Kiyoko asked.

The captain smiled at her enthusiasm, unaware of the sudden appearance change.

"Of course you can! Just be sure to get ready for the exam, it'll be a tough one!"

Kiyoko's eyes brightened up as she leaned in a little.

"Alright! Thank you, sir!" she said as she ran on board and waved.

The girl entered the deck and looked around, awe struck by the surroundings around her.

'My first time on a boat… This seems quite exciting!' she thought.

'Exciting? On this rocking rubbish? Kiyoko, I don't understand you sometimes..' Kuromi replied boredly.

'Well, that's you. This is me. We may be the same person, but we are completely different, thoughts and personality wise.'

Kuromi clicked her tongue and gave an irritated answer back to herself.

'I sure wish I had a body of my own….'

Kiyoko frowned and closed her eyes to relax and calm down a little from the statement.

'And I sure wish I never had this problem with you!'

The same boy from the diner suddenly set foot onto the ship when Kiyoko opened up her eyes, bright shining amber meeting dull brown eyes.

'Oh great. It's Mr. Good Looks again. Give him a smacking for almost stabbing us with a spider-attached fork, unless you want me to do it.'

Kiyoko looked away from the boy, feeling a little nervous under his harsh gaze.

'I rather not… I feel like he's glaring at me for unknown reasons….' Kiyoko squeaked.

'… It's that same girl at the diner..' he thought finally moving away from the board at the dock.

'Right, I almost hit her with the fork when I stabbed and flung that spider….' the boy muttered as he walked over to the main mast and sat down, leaning against it.

Kiyoko, who was also already standing near the mast, slowly scanned around the area to find a place far away from the boy, spotting an empty space at the forecastle deck. The girl began to walk away from the area she stood and away from the boy only to feel his cat-like eyes burning through her skull, making her slow down her steps involuntarily.

"Hey. You. The girl with the lavender hair," he called out stiffly.

Kiyoko completely stopped in her tracks and glanced over her shoulder nervously.

'Well, we are the only girls here right now, genius…' Kuromi said, annoyed.

"Y-yes? May I help you?" Kiyoko answered him hesitatingly.

An awkward silence passed by the two as the sea continued to crash onto everything in its way, the boy around her age trying to study her.

"There is nothing for you to help me with," he finally answered, attitude not changing one bit.

'I don't like his attitude,' Kuromi complained.

"O-oh alright then….." the nervous girl answered awkwardly, beginning to walk away again.

".. Sorry."

Kiyoko stopped again, this time fully turning her body to face the boy.

"… Excuse me? For what?" she replied stupidly.

The boy frowned and sharpened his eyes at her face, focusing on her eyes.

"What else is there to apologize for? I meant the fork and spider incident," he answered, practically glaring at the girl when he mentioned 'spider'.

'Right.. Sorry.. And it's fine really…' Kiyoko muttered embarrassedly as she tried to hide her last question.

'It was so not alright! If that hit you, you would've been injured and that would mean I would've been injured too!' Kuromi said, enraged at her goody-goody self.

Kiyoko began to lose control over her own body as her negative side tried to reveal herself, only successfully taking over her right eye and her mouth; half of her hair tipped with red and a scowl coming upon her face. The boy took notice of the change in the girl's expression and mood, her right eye being a lot darker and sharper than her left, glaring at him ruthlessly as if someone was possessing Kiyoko's body. The boy's face expression remained the same as he began to wonder what was going on with the girl's appearance, Kiyoko finally gaining control again. The girl covered up her face and frowned into her hand, muttering something underneath her breath.

"... Anyways... That's all I wanted to say," the boy suddenly said.

Kiyoko perked up at his voice and removed her hand, giving a nervous grin.

"Ahh, right! Okay.. It's fine though, really," she said, waving at the boy and excusing his apology.

The boy nodded and began to read a book he brought along with him, turning a blind eye on the strange girl.

"Alright, you bags of bones! Let's set sail, off to the exam sight!" the captain suddenly announced as the ship slowly took off, the ship's gong being played.

"W-WAIT FOR US! WE'RE HERE TO TAKE THE EXAM TOO!" a young boy's voice sounded.

Kiyoko looked over to see the same two guys near the diner running towards the moving ship, waving their arms frantically.

"Too bad, boys, but you're going to have to find a way on board! I'm not turning this ship back for two mere applicants!" the captain responded.

"Have fun swimming on board, haha! It'll be impossible!" an applicant said.

The two boys said something to each other and suddenly turned to an utterly different direction towards a cliff.

'Hm? Are they going to try and jump on board or actually swim?' Kiyoko thought as an image appeared in her head, making her a little frightened at the possible results.

The young spiky haired boy took his fishing rod from behind his back and wielded the item skillfully, snagging at an immobile boulder securely and swinging off the cliff with the older man clinging onto him for dear life.

"A-AHHHHH!"

The two flung themselves across the ocean and made contact with the white sail as the fishing line unlatched its clasp on the boulder, every man, except for the captain, the strange boy, and Kiyoko, on board having a shocked expression displayed on their poor faces.

"Are you okay, mister?" he asked with concern.

"Oww. It's Leorio-san, not just mister to you!" he exclaimed with his face pressed up against his brief case and butt up in the air.

The young boy gave him a cheeky grin as they stood up from where they were, attention slowly dying down.

'This year's challengers may not be so lanky after all..' the captain told himself, staring at the two boys.

The young boy turned his body fully to look at the disappearing island as the boat added the distance between them.

"Good bye, Whale Island. I'll come back as the best full fledge hunter before you know it!" he exclaimed as he waved.

"The best hunter? Yeah right! Are you looking down on us, kid?" one of the passengers said mockingly.

"Every single year, millions of skilled applicants take on this exam and only handfuls are selected. Don't go saying stuff you can't backup!" another supported.

Kiyoko remained quiet and watched the scene unfold before her, studying all the passengers on the ship.

"Hi, miss!" a young voice suddenly chimed.

Kiyoko jumped and looked over next to her to see the young lad standing next to her, both hands clutching at his yellow and brown backpack straps. The girl let out a sigh and faced the boy, locking her hands together behind her back.

"Don't scare me like that, please. Hello, is there something I can help you with?" Kiyoko answered giving a warm smile to the young boy.

The boy stuck out his tongue playfully and winked.

"Sorry about that! Are you here for the hunter exam too?" the boy continued.

Kiyoko's smiling face was replaced by a confused expression as she nodded at the boy's question.

"Yes, I am. It's my first time, so I don't know if I can help you with anything.." she replied.

The boy's smile grew wider as he leaned forward and balanced on his heels.

"It's alright! It's my first time too and I'm really excited about this, my blood is pumping quickly!" he exclaimed.

"Want to stick together during the exam?" he suddenly asked.

'Tch,' Kuromi suddenly clicked.

'What is it, Kuromi?'

Kiyoko put a finger up to her chin and thought for a few seconds, the blond boy and black haired man with glasses looking over at the two.

'This kid's energy is starting to piss me off…'

Kiyoko sighed and glared mentally at her other self.

'Don't be rude. He's just a little boy.'

"Sure, if you want, I guess," Kiyoko answered nervously.

The boy with the book glared at the newly formed duo as his grip on his book tightened, crushing the pages between the hard covered book.

"You're never going to be a decent sailor at this rate, Katsuo!" a voice exclaimed, laughing with another male voice as a scrawny sailor with a bandanna tied on his head picked up the green apples on deck.

The man named Katsuo began to stand up, trying to pick up the crate before him only to get his rear kicked by the man behind him, making him drop more apples. The two sailors around the poor man began to laugh and insult him some more, the captain yelling at them.

"You losers! Don't you slack off!"

"A-aye, sir!" the two indecent people exclaimed, running away.

"Hm? Didn't you hear me!? Move that crate!"

Katsuo jumped and picked up the heavy crate before scrambling off to the other side of the ship.

"Wait!" the young boy suddenly called as he flashed an excluded apple and tossed it to the man.

"Ah, thanks!"

The dark green, almost black, haired boy stopped smiling and looked at the seagulls in the sky.

"… A storm is heading this way.." he told the captain.

"How do you know that, boy?"

He suddenly pointed at the group seagulls and sniffed the air.

"That's what the seagulls are saying…"

The boy leaped all the way up to the top of the main mast to smell the air again.

"A huge storm is coming!" he announced.

The captain's eyes widened as a thought came to mind.

"Listen everyone, bring the sails down!" he said, earning a response from his crew.

Everyone got to work immediately after the order was sent as the man in the suit named Leorio, Kiyoto, and the youngest boy watched them work, the boy that had his book in his hand ignoring everything. A bucket suddenly flew over the long blue flag out of nowhere, causing Leorio to scream ridiculously loud and high-pitched as it made contact with his face and breaking to pieces. Three wooden boards shot at the blond boy who was now closing his eyes and crossing his arms across his chest after the contact, leaning side to side and slumping down a little to dodge each board.

'Hmph! Thinks he's really good and all now does he?' Kuromi huffed furiously.

'Kuromi…. Calm down. He's already apologized-'

'In an ill-mannered way!' the pissed off personal said, cutting off Kiyoko's thoughts.

'You're probably worse than him though,' Kiyoko countered.

The dangerous storm continued to sway the ship side to side violently as every passengers got seasick and was tumbling all over the place. Kiyoko was sitting at the same spot she was at in the cabin before the storm came as she watched the young green haired boy take care of the seasick. Slowly looking over at the person behind her, the boy lying in the tan hammock continued to read his book with a bored expression and glanced over at the girl silently. The captain slowly opened the door to the cabin as he found everyone piling up with a sick face.

'These shrimps are the ones to take the hunters' exam? How pathetic… They couldn't even last a lousy ship ride, so how would they hold up in the exam?' he muttered disappointedly.

"W-waterrrr….." a candidate chocked out.

"Don't worry! Water is coming soon! In the meantime, chew on this herb to help your sickness," the young boy instructed.

The captain became impressed by the younger boy's efforts and kindness then looked around the room to see 3 others who appears to be fine, Kiyoko fiddling around with her ribbon on her waist and the boy behind her crossing his leg as he read the book.

'Oooh! This is one sour apple….' Leorio muttered after taking a bite from the green apple he held, his face expression twisting.

'Hm… So there are a few candidates with guts on board…'

"EXCUSE ME, SIR!" Katsuo exclaimed as he ran into the small room with a cup of water, catching the captain off balanced.

"Here's the water you've been waiting for!"

The younger boy grabbed the cup and smiled.

"Thanks! Here, you can drink the water you've been waiting for.." he said, helping the weak man drink his fill.

Everyone directed their attention at the young boy curiously as he gave back the cup to Katsuo and thanked him.

"Alright now… Tell me your names," the captain said after leading the four to the bridge of the ship.

"I'm Gon!" the youngest boy exclaimed happily.

"My name's Kurapika," the emotionless boy answered next.

"Leorio's the name…." the man said, not bothering to look at anything.

The girl hesitated as her other self tried to take control of her body again.

"I-I'm Kiyoko."

The captain didn't hesitate to ask the next question in his mind after their introductions.

"Why is it that you boys and girl of course, want to become hunters?"

Leorio's eyes popped open and frown at the old man, pointing angrily at him.

"Hey, old man! If you aren't one of the examiners, you can't boss us around!" he yelled.

"Answer the question!"

Gon stared at the man he followed around at Whale Island and then smiled at the captain to give his reply.

"My dad is a hunter. I left the island because I wanted to find out why dad was so dedicated to his work as a hunter!"

The captain lowered his eyes and thought intently at Gon's response.

'Dad? Hunter? So this boy's Ging's son…. It looks like that time has come,' the man thought, pulling his smoke pipe out of his mouth and sticking it back in.

"Kid! You're not supposed to answer his question!" Leorio hollered.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Don't work well with others, eh? I rather not reveal the reason why I'm here," Leorio told everyone, poking at Gon's forehead.

"I agree with Leorio," a different voice suddenly joined.

"Huh. H-HEY, AREN'T YOU YOUNGER THAN ME? SHOW ME SOME RESPECT!" the man yelled pointing at Kurapika.

Kiyoko sighed and brought a hand up to her face tiredly, deciding to stay quiet until she needs to speak up.

"It's actually simple to avoid answering such questions by giving a simple conceivable lie," he continued, ignoring the older man.

"ARE YOU EVEN TRYING TO LISTEN TO ME, KID?!" Leorio yelled, enraged at Kurapika's attitude.

'I told you I can't stand him!' Kuromi told her counterpart, trying to take over.

'Not now, Kuromi! It's not time!' Kiyoko told herself.

"Nonetheless, it is thoroughly dishonorable to depend on those deceptions."

'Hmph! Know-it-all!' Kuromi exclaimed angrily.

"And with that, I am to you the certainty of my fact, I would be revealing my private affairs to you all. That's the reason why I can't pledge to you a simple answer,' the boy finally concluded, clutching at his tabard and closing his eyes shut.

"Quite ignoring me!" Leorio yelled, pointing at Kurapika at the beat of each word coming out of his mouth.

"Alright then. To make this clearer, if you turn down my question… Katsuo."

Katsuo looked over at the captain once he was called.

"Aye, captain," he responded.

"Contact the examination board and confirm to them we have two more dropped out candidates," the captain said, receiving full attention from the two stubborn boys.

"By the looks of your face, you haven't suspected it yet, haven't you? The exam has already commenced."

Their confused face was swapped with a shocked and worried face expression as the captain continued to explain.

"Take it this way; there are just as many hunter wannabes as there are stars in the night sky. The examiners don't have the sufficient amount of time to go through it all which is why people like us are hired to cut down the numbers. The board has already been informed about everyone else on this ship dropping out. They couldn't handle this little storm, so it'd be impossible for them to even attempt this exam which also means you get to the real deal IF I allow you to proceed," the man finished as he pulled the pipe back out of his mouth. "Now, think about my question attentively before you answer it."

Everyone went quiet, Gon suddenly concluding the man's reasons.

"And so he said."

Leorio growled at the boy's statement.

"If only that was announced earlier…"

"Young lady, you haven't said anything yet. Why is it that you strive to be a hunter?" Kiyoko jumped and looked around nervously.

"W-well, I…. I'm aiming to be a hunter because I.. need to… satisfy my other self….." Kiyoko replied, looking away and poking her fingers together.

"Hm?"

The people in the room looked over at the girl curiously.

"What do you mean by 'other self', Kiyoko?" the man proceeded to ask.

Kiyoko hesitated and left her mind vulnerable, immediately losing control of half of her body, her right eye growing sharper and turning back to that same deep scarlet color and half of her hair getting messier, being tipped with a rosy pink and red color.

"Well, well, well…." her voice suddenly turning cold.

Everyone suddenly jumped at the tweak in her attitude and backed away a bit, Leorio dragging Gon away from the girl.

"I-I told you to stay away already!" Kiyoko exclaimed, her left eye glowing with concern.

"Kiyoko, you are too vulnerable when you get nervous. No wonder I rarely have trouble taking over and you always switch places with me when you get into trouble~!" Kuromi said excitedly, her right eye clouding up.

Kiyoko's eye suddenly widened and completely changed to Kuromi's appearance, hair fully tipped off. Kuromi's glower was suddenly concentrated at Leorio and Kurapika as she reached for her staff.

"And looky here.. The boy who nearly injured us two and the discourteous man," Kuromi pointed out, Kurapika glaring at the negative girl and Leorio backing up slowly in a frightened way.

"I'll knock both of you fools unconscious, especially YOU, Cat-Eyes!" the girl said, swinging the extended staff at the two.

Kiyoko suddenly took control over herself again and stopped the staff from making contact with Kurapika's face, dropping to the floor on her knees.

"D-DON'T YOU DARE, KUROMI!" the considerate girl struggled to yell at herself, throwing her staff onto the floor away from her possession and clutching her arms tightly with Gon kneeling by her side.

'Kuromi…?' the captain muttered.

Finally calming down from Kuromi's sudden advantage, Kiyoko sat on the floor with her knees brought up to her chest.

"So, that Kuromi person.. Is it an act or is there really another person in you?" the captain asked cautiously.

Kiyoko looked up at everyone apologetically, bringing her knees closer to her.

"Sir, it wasn't an act. If you've noticed, the atmosphere around her changed. Her eye color and face expression changed completely, her voice got harsher and a lot colder than usual, and her hair got messier, coloring the ends of her hair a pink and red color," Kurapika pointed out as he eyed the girl suspiciously.

"…. I have a split personality disorder… The real me is here right now and taking control, Kiyoko, and my other self, Kuromi, is under my mind's control right now. I'm sorry about Kuro's threats and action, Kurapika-kun, Leorio-san…." the girl apologized looking down at her hands.

Kurapika sighed and went to pick up the girl's shrunken staff, studying it as he headed over to where she sat.

"Is it just me or did the length of this stick change?" Leorio pointed out confusedly.

"It did.. It's a staff that can extend to a certain length and decline back to the length of a wand," Kiyoko answered, accepting her wand from the boy.

"B-besides that… I'm very sorry about my control!"

Gon stared at the girl for a while and gave his usual grin.

"It's okay, Kiyoko! It wasn't your fault anyways!" he reassured her.