ꕥ

Light footsteps echo throughout the exam sight, the sound almost muffled due to the chatter that filled the air and eyes the color of gold slowly scanned the area, looking over the multitude of participants.

ᴛʜᴇ 287ᴛʜ ʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀ ᴇxᴀᴍ.

An exam located in a secret underground area, where contestants must first undergo rigorous tests and trials to earn a spot in this exam.

Blonde locks framed her gentle face and traveled up to her shoulder in a straight wave of hair, pink lips lightly curved into a gentle smile.

Feeling a gentle tap on the skin of her leg, golden eyes slowly looked down and surprise filled the girl's face at the tiny green creature staring up at her, before that surprise turned into a gentle expression as she smiled lightly.

'Please take your number',The small creature said, holding up a badge in his small hand causing the young blonde to slowly reach forward and take it between her fingers, her gaze turning towards the pin.

Written in black, bold paint upon the white pin was a number.

399

Looking up, she gave the green creature a small smile and mouthed a 'thank you', before slipping the cold, metal needle through the fabric of her shirt and clipping it together.

Slowly, she began to walk away from the small creature and her golden gaze swept across the room, her fingers tightly grasping the jet black straps of her backpack.

Standing amidst the crowd of people, she began to wait for the exam to begin and even with the large number of occupants, the room was deadly silent.

A tan, portly and stubby man with a large nose appeared in front of her, holding an orange soda can as he smiled.

'Hello! You must be new here',The man in blue greeted, walking towards the girl as she frowned deeply and quickly put on a smile, her bright golden eyes shining with distrust,'My name's Tonpa, what's yours?'

Without permission, the man quickly grabbed her small hand in his large one and quickly shook her hand.

There was something off about the way his smile was plastered on his face. And even though it was a simple greeting that anyone could muster with genuine politeness, his gleeful tone didn't sound genuine enough.

It was fake.

A disturbingly fake smile, which the child wishes she could wipe off of his face and a subtle frown creased Valentine's forehead, but quickly disappeared to avoid seeming suspicious of the man's intentions. Maybe, she could toy with him a bit as he was doing with her, trying to use her innocence to twist her into trusting him, but she was a lot smarter than he took her for.

Valentine may be a star of innocence, but she had a leopard of suspicion and fierceness underneath.

"Hi! I'm Valentine",She returned the greeting happily and a candy sweet smile adorned her face,"It's lovely to meet you, Tonpa~san"

A rather annoying giggle left the man's lips and an urge to roll her eyes passed throughout Valentine's body, but she simply ignored it and kept up her facade.

Which wasn't too hard for her, she was quite innocent to an extent but she wasn't fooled easily.

'So, you must be new here, huh?',Tonpa questioned and without giving the young girl time to respond, he quickly fetched two cans from his pouch,'Let's take a toast to our new friendship!'

And without another word to the man.. she had simply walked away and he could only stare at her in shock.

Continuing to calmly wander down the hall, Valentine's golden eyes slowly fluttered over each and every face as a thoughtful hum left her lips. When her family didn't have enough money for food when she was younger, the girl had to learn the skill of pickpocketing just to get at least some type of meal to keep up her strength.

But when her father had finally begun to work, they had saved up their savings to buy a home and slowly, their life had become better; but those skills had stuck with her.

Being stuck in her mind, Valentine didn't notice the figure in front of her until it was too late and a small squeal of surprise left her lips as she fell to the ground, slowly lifting her hand to rub the spot that began to ache.

'Are you alright?',A gentle voiced asked and his tone showed his panic.

Gently opening her eyes, golden irises connected with amber one's and a soft smile coated her lips as she continued to rub the sore spot, a gentle laugh leaving her as she slowly nodded.

"I'm okay",Valentine reassured the boy, watching as his worried eyes scanned her for any injuries he could have accidentally caused,"That was my own fault for not paying attention to my surroundings. I'm sorry"

A small exhale of relief left the boy's lips as he slowly stood to his feet and dusted the dirt from his clothes, his eyes snapping towards her as he brightly smiled and held out his hand, offering to help her up.

With a kind smile of thanks, Valentine placed her hand in the boy's and he gently pulled her to her feet, releasing her hand once she was up, causing her to dust the grime from her clothes.

'That's okay',The boy reassured her,'I sometimes get lost in thought too'

Smiling at the boy's kindness, Valentine slowly clasped her hands around the straps of her bag and took this time to study the boy in front of her.

He looked to be around her age, had green spiky hair and bright amber eyes.

'My names Gon',The boy exclaimed cheerfully and looked towards the people he was with,'This is Kurapika and that's Leorio'

Looking towards the friend's he was pointing out, her eyes examined them and she tilted her head with a gentle smile; one was an older man with a long face. He wore circular, thin-rimmed glasses and was dressed in a business attire.

The other was a teenage boy; albeit she thought he was quite cute, he had blonde hair with gentle grey eyes and he was wearing a blue tabard and periwinkle shoes.

A scream of pain sliced through the air, causing the group to jump and turn towards the noise. A man collapsed to his knees and his arms slowly morphed away into flowers.

Wait— flowers?

Immediately perking up, Valentine slowly peeked out from around Gon's body and saw the man was still, remaining unmoving on the ground as more crimson flower petals poured from his severed arm.

'My. How unusual',An eerie voice sounded and chills were sent down Valentine's spine at the amount of malice that was in his cheery tone,'Seems this poor man's arms have turned into flower petals'

Blazing gold eyes turned towards the source of the voice, another tall figure stood; with too-pale of skin and bright fiery red hair, almost pink in color, styled as if it had defied gravity itself. There was a pink star under his right eye and a teal teardrop under his left.

From where she was standing, Valentine could feel the ill-intent of the man flowing from his body.

'Now you see them, now you don't. You should be more careful',The man's voice came out as a honeyed purr and he tilted his head towards the man's writhing form on the floor,'And do apologize if you bump into someone'

Taking a step back, a frown tugged at Valentine's lips and she shuddered lightly, trying to brush away the murderous aura the man had admitted.

'I think this juice might've gone bad, Tonpa-San'

Hearing Gon's voice and a familiar name, Valentine perked up and quickly turned around, watching as he spat juice out of his mouth.

'It tastes funny'

The tallest of the group, Leorio, quickly spat out the liquid that filled his mouth with an incredulous look and wiped the remaining liquid from his lips with the sleeve of his shirt.

'That was a close call!',Leorio exclaimed, rubbing the liquid from his lips.

A layer of sweat formed on the base of Tonpa's forehead and he scratched the back of his head, a fake laugh leaving his lips.

'Huh? T-That's odd, real sorry about that, fellas!',Tonpa exclaimed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

Watching as Kurapika slowly tilted the can, the liquid flowing from the open lid, a small smile formed on Valentine's face and she watched as he opened one eye, grey and gold connecting before a gentle smile tugged at his lips as he looked at the young girl.

'Please forgive me',Tonpa begged and bowed his head, his hands pressed together,'I had no idea the juice was bad!'

'You don't have to apologize',Gon stated, causing Valentine to looked towards him with a look of surprise.

He sure did have to apologize.

'What about you?',Gon questioned,'Is your stomach okay?'

Looking up towards the boy, Tonpa slowly nodded his head and ignored the gaze of the innocent; but seemingly terrifying, girl beside him.

'I'm alright, I'm totally fine!',Tonpa insisted, still looking up from his kneeling position.

'Oh, good!',The thirteen year old continued, beaming at Tonpa with bright innocence,'I've tried all kinds of plants and grasses on the mountain back home, so I can usually taste when something's bad'

Looking towards Gon with a look of surprise, a bright smile formed on her face and she lightly bounced on the ball of her feet at the similarity of the two.

'That's some talent you got there! Never seen anything like it',Tonpa stood up and put his hands in his pockets,'Sorry again. I'll see you guys around!'

Watching as Tonpa turned around, Valentine frowned.

An obnoxious ringing filled the air and Valentine flinched at the sudden noise, before a gentle touch fell upon her shoulder, causing her to look up.

Grey and gold connected once more as Kurapika gave the young girl a gentle smile, his gaze full of comfort, causing Valentine's muscles to slowly untense and she slowly smiled back.

Slowly following everyone's gaze, there stood a lean built man with lilac hair and a fine mustache; the way he presented himself was similar to a nutcracker, prim and proper.

'My apologies to keep you waiting',The examiner spoke in a placid tone, making an incredulous effort to speak without a visible mouth,'The entry period for the Hunter exam has ended. The Hunter exam can now begin!'

ꕥ

According to the examiner, the First Phase was to simply follow him and it sounded easy enough, but Valentine doubted that this was going to be as easy as a walk through the park.

And she had been correct.

The applicants had run over an estimate of thirty kilometers.

At first, it had started out as a simple walk, before Satotz had begun to pick up the pace and his running was quite abnormal; his arms were straightened and swinging back and forth in sync.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of people had already dropped out due to exhaustion and some were already laying down on the ground, having lost the willpower to continue on. Exhaustion had consumed their bodies and that alone disqualified them from achieving their goal for that year.

Having barely broken a sweat, Valentine was used to running long distances without breaking a sweat and experiencing shortness of breath, showing that she did well with stamina and endurance.

'You're pretty fast, Val'

Jumping with a small shriek, Valentine turned her head and sighed lightly at the familiar face, before a small giggle left her lips.

A sheepish smile gently formed on Gon's face and a bashful blush filled his cheeks, his hand reaching up to itch the back of his head.

'Sorry',Gon apologized, lightly scratching the back of his head and his amber eyes were hidden by his eyelids, his close-eyed smile shining brightly.

Opening her mouth to answer, Valentine was cut off by a familiar voice and she huffed lightly.

'Hey! Wait up, kid!'

Looking up, Valentine saw the man in the blue tuxedo; Leorio, angrily gesturing at a young boy on a skateboard. The boy looked back and looked at the older man, the color of his hair reminding her of freshly fallen snow.

'How about showing a little respect for the Exam?'

Looking towards the older man with a confused face, the boy tilted his head and kept perfect balance as his skateboard rolled across the floor.

'What do you mean?',He asked, completely unfazed by the adults anger.

'I mean quit using a damn skateboard! That's cheating',Leorio continued, shaking his fist at the boy and Valentine looked at the skateboard, curiosity clear within her irises.

She had only ever ridden a skateboard once in her life, maybe she could ask him to teach her some time.

'Why?'

'Why?',Leorio snapped back, seemingly getting more and more agitated by the second,'This is an endurance test!'

Pinching her eyebrows together, Valentine looked towards Gon; as he looked at her, and the two looked at each other with confusion masking their faces.

"No, it's not"

'No, it isn't'

Looking back at the two in annoyance, Leorio ignored the way they had both answered at the same time and instead, gave them an attitude.

'Gon, Valentine? Who's side are you on!',The man exclaimed and Valentine flinched lightly at his loud tone.

Meanwhile, the snowy haired boy casually slowed down to be at the same pace as the two.

'Hey, how old are you two?',He inquired. Now, they had caught his interest.

Two kids around his age. Maybe the Hunter Exam wouldn't be as boring as he had thought.

'I'm thirteen'

Looking towards the snowy haired boy as his icy eyes turned towards her, a gentle smile formed on her lips.

"Me too"

Unexpectedly after those words had left her lips, he had kicked off of his skateboard and safely landed on the ground, before catching his skateboard and tucking it under his arm; coolly.

'Guess I'll run too',He stated as he briefly closed his eyes and with equanimity, continued to keep up his 'cool' act to mildly impress them.

'Wow!',Gon exclaimed in awe,'That was so cool'

With her lips parting open in awe, Valentine couldn't help but agree with Gon as she looked at the spiky haired boy and was baffled by the way he had controlled his balance on the skateboard with such ease.

As if sensing someone staring at him, the blue-eyed boy turned his head and locked eyes with her.

A wild ocean clashing with the sunrises rays.

Quickly glancing away from one another, Valentine awkwardly cleared her throat and looked towards Gon.

'I'm Gon!'

'I'm Killua'

"I'm Valentine"

The three smiled at one another and without even knowing it, the three were about to embark on the greatest journey ever and the trio were about to find a friendship that was worth so much.

ꕥ

Around four hours had flown by since the First Phase had begun and by now, the applicants had run approximately over sixty kilometers. Many dropped out and had given into the exhaustion, while most were still able to run.

No one was giving up just yet.

The pace had quickened considerably and the terrain had gradually grown less flat, the tension in the air heightened ever so slowly; despite it being only the beginning of the exam.

As Valentine continued to run alongside the other's, she abruptly came to a hault when she had noticed that both Killua and Gon had stopped as well.

Turning around, she had begun to grasp the idea of the situation.

"Oh, it's him...",Valentine muttered, tilting her head as her innocent eyes gazed upon the man and slowly waited for him to give into the weariness like the rest.

However, that hasn't seemed to be the case; his body was submerged from head to toe in sweat, panting like a dog and his thin-rimmed glasses were fogged over with condensation.

'What're we waiting for? Let's just go',Killua urged persistently, not giving a second thought to the man who was so close to giving up in his eyes. The only thing he was interested in, were the kids his age and no one other than that to be exact.

By the way Gon's eyes were lit with the fires of determination, Valentine could tell that he was patiently waiting for his friend's to join him.

His faithfulness was very admirable and it was clear that Gon wasn't the kind of person to ever leave a friend behind.

Suddenly, with profound persistence, Leorio boosted forward with lighting speed and it was very unexpected, to say the least.

"That was odd",Valentine commented, causing the two boy's to nod and hum in agreement, watching the man's figure slowly disappear.

Taking his fishing rod from his backpack, Gon grabbed Leorio's suitcase with it and caught it in his hands.

Both Valentine and Killua's eyes widened in awe.

'Woah!',The two exclaimed in unison.

They were surprised by the simple, but very cool, trick that Gon had done.

'That was a cool trick!',Killua said,'Can I use your fishing rod?'

A grin formed on Gon's face and he nodded.

'Sure, but as long as I get to use your skateboard',Gon bargained.

A small hum left Killua's lips and he pondered for a bit, before making his decision.

'Sure, I guess',He answered.

Periods of comfortable silence passed between the trio, like wind smoothly passing through the waves of the sea, and none of them had any traces of sweat heading down their faces; unlike the other competitors. So far, the first phase of the exam was a breeze for the three; in their opinion.

Their immense stamina already excelled the majority of the adults in the exam, they could've run faster but their main goal; for now, was to simply be able to finish the First Phase. Either way, the trio were definitely ready to face any challenge that would come their way.

'Gon, Valentine, wanna race to see who finishes first?',Killua questioned, breaking the silence around them.

Excitement filled Gon's eyes and his face brightened as his smile grew.

'Alright'

"Sure"

'The loser will have to buy dinner',Gon wagered.

A look of determination washed over Valentine's face and a competitive one formed on Killua's as the two looked at one another, nodding in agreement.

'You're on!',Killua challenged.

'Ready.... go!'

Once the three yelled out in sync, they bolted; running faster than they ever had in their lives and with adrenaline pumping through their veins, none of them were willing to lose. By the time they reached the eighty-kilometer mark, the trio were running at the same pace.

'I'm surprised that you two can keep up with me',Killua stated and his hands were shoved in his pockets as he continued to run with them, the skateboard safely tucked underneath his arm.

'Oh really?',Gon bashfully smiled and let out a chuckle,'Well...'

Looking towards Killua, an unamused expression was plastered on Valentine's face and she deeply frowned.

He was underestimating them.

'Or perhaps everyone else is too slow',Killua continued with a bored expression and he hung his head down in disappointment, before clicking his tongue in annoyance,'Man, this exam will be a breeze. It'll be no fun'

'Hey Killua, why do you want to become a Hunter?',Gon questioned out of curiosity.

'Me? I'm not interested in becoming a Hunter. I heard the exam's difficulty is set really high, so I thought it'd be fun. But this is pretty disappointing so far',Killua responded,'What about you?'

'My dad's a Hunter',Gon began,'So I want to become a Hunter, just like him'

Tilting her head, Valentine looked towards Gon.

"What's he like?",Valentine questioned,"What kind of Hunter is he?"

'I don't know'

Suddenly, Killua burst out laughing; smoothly flowing like water in a calm river and all in all, it was a very pleasing sound that illuminated the tunnel.

'You don't know?',Killua asked,'That's weird. You want to become like him, but you don't know what Hunter he is to begin with'

'Well, I was raised by Mito, so I only saw my dad in pictures. He entered the Hunter Exam when he was thirteen years old, he passed and became a Hunter before he left the island completely',Gon answered honestly,'I want to know why he became a Hunter over raising me'

Eyes widening in shock, Valentine took a moment to process everything he had told them.

"You're awfully cheerful for being raised in a situation like that, Gon",Valentine commented, her mouth gaped in shock.

Shrugging, Gon seemed unfazed by the situation and she was completely surprised by that.

'What about you, Valentine?',Gon asked, curiosity clearly shining within his eyes as the two boys turned to look at her.

Thinking deeply about the question, Valentine pursed her lips and thought of the reason.

It was simple.

"To be honest, I guess that I'm just looking for an adventure",Valentine answered, humming lightly,"And I thought that taking the exam was a step in the right direction"

Silence overcame the three for a moment, until a bright and blinding light reached out towards them, it illuminated the dark tunnel; giving them hope.

The light was a clear sign to an exit, so with all of their might, the trio pushed themselves up to try and be the first to reach the end.

Noticing that both Killua and Gon had taken up either side of Satotz, Valentine had no other choice.

She was going to jump over him.

"Satotz-San, I suggest you duck!",Valentine yelled out and to her surprise, he did.

Jumping as high as she could, the blonde soared over the man's head and her feet gently touched the grass. It was clearly a tie between the three, but the boy's were swamped with pride.

'Yay! I win!',Gon cheered, throwing his hands high into the air in celebration.

'What are you talking about?',Killua frowned and jabbed his thumb at his own chest, raising an eyebrow at his new friend,'I was faster'

'No, I was!'

Rolling her eyes, Valentine pushed between the two boy's and looked up at their slightly taller figures, crossing her arms over her chest, before she looked towards the examiner watching their small banter.

"Mr. Satotz, did you see who won?",Valentine asked kindly.

Killua nodded in agreement and looked towards the tall male.

'Yeah, tell us!',Killua exclaimed.

Looking between the children, Mr. Satotz kept his stiff posture.

'I believe you three all finished at the same time',The lilac-haired male answered, before his eyes turned towards the smaller blonde the was settled between the two boys.

Watching the children's conversation, Satotz kept his composure still and didn't bother to inquire about their childish acts. Instead, he let them settle their little conflict between themselves and simply watched them.

As an idea suddenly popped into his head, Gon's eyes brightened once more.

'Then in that case, I'll buy Valentine's dinner, Valentine will buy Killua's dinner and Killua will buy me dinner!',Gon decided.

Blinking quickly, a drop of sweat trailed down Killua and Valentine's foreheads and they looked towards each other.

'Hey, Satotz-san',Gon called out,'Is this where the Second Phase is taking place?'

'No. We still have a long way to go'

A small groan left Valentine's lips and she fixed the straps of her bag over her shoulders.

"Well, that just means that the race is still on then, boys",Valentine stated, turning towards the boys and a smile brightly shined on her lips.

It was the glint in her eyes and the shine of her face that made her the daughter of both the Angel and the devil. Even though it was a playful glint, a small shiver ran throughout the examiners spine.

Why had she made him slightly uncomfortable but also intrigued?

Could it have been her angelically bright demeanor? Her pools of melted gold that were eyes? Or could it be the way her brightly shining smile contrasted against the devilish intent in her eyes?

But by all means, Valentine was the reincarnation of an Angel harboring a devil within her wings.