Chapter Text
Blackwater Bay was quiet.
The smell of saltwater filtered through the air, mixing with the smell of oil and brimstone from the docks. Ships came and went, delivering the few goods that this dump of a city had. The dimmed streetlights buzzed overhead, casting shadows over the empty streets. Most had enough common sense to stay indoors after dark, as those who didn't seldom had good intentions.
Azuki Shizumi, the top enforcer of the Black Lotus gang, patrolled through the streets, her hands stuffed into her pockets, her black cloak fluttering in the wind. The hood of her cloak cast a shadow over her eyes, obscuring her identity. Beneath the cloak she wore a simple gray shirt with short sleeves, matching pants, and sturdy, black boots. She didn't walk like a lost kid far from home, but like someone with a purpose. She was headed for the overpass—just a routine patrol, when several voices caught her attention.
A group of five men stood at the entrance to an alleyway, blocking the path of a young woman. Their posture was casual, but their perverted grins told a different story. They were up to no good. With a sigh, Azuki approached, her movements silent. She stopped roughly a foot away, speaking up, her voice calm, but firm.
"Oi, this is Black Lotus turf," she said. "Beat it."
Her words were a command, not a request.
However, the men were not fazed. As they turned to Azuki, their grins never left their faces, a few even chuckling at the girl. "Piss off," one of them said. "This is how things work around here. Us men do what we want, and women know their place. We wouldn't have to take what we want by force if this piece of ass understood that," he continued, pointing to the woman. "Scram, little girl, trying to play hero like this is only gonna get you killed."
Azuki rolled her eyes. She heard such a lecture many times, and it hadn't gotten any less annoying. "I'm not going anywhere," she replied. "This is my turf."
The man laughed again, amused by Azuki's attitude. "Ooooh, we have a little badass over here!" The man's friends laughed along with him. "Looks like we'll have to teach this one a lesson, boys."
The five men stepped forward, cracking their knuckles. They all fanned out, surrounding Azuki from every side. Then, one of them lunged.
He didn't even touch her.
Azuki's foot slammed into his torso, the force sending him sailing back into the alleyway. He impacted the rim of a garbage bin before falling in, the cover of the bin slamming shut.
The remaining four men's jaws dropped, shocked that one so small could strike with such force. Their gazes darkened as two more guys rushed Azuki from opposite sides. The first one reached her, throwing a hard punch, to which Azuki dodged, kneeing him in the stomach. The man yelped in pain, stumbling back as he clutched his abdomen. The other man came from behind with a baseball bat in hand, raising it high to swing. However, Azuki whipped around, her leg slamming into his knee. He yelled in pain, dropping the bat as he clutched his knee. Azuki then circled around him, kicking him in the back, sending him crashing into his still-recovering friend, both landing on the pavement in a heap. Azuki's hands never even left her pockets during the exchange.
Only two men remained, their faces pale at the sight of Azuki dismantling their group one by one. One man turned to run, while the other hesitated, but then grabbed the woman in front of himself, brandishing a knife to her belly. Azuki, quick to respond, blitzed past the knife-wielding man, her cloak blowing in the wind as she appeared behind the fleeing man in an instant. She kicked the back of his head, sending him smashing face first to the ground, dust rising from the point of impact. Now, only one man remained.
"Stay back! I-I'll kill her if you take another step!" he wailed, trying to project an air of authority, and failing miserably. And it's that lack of confidence that prompted Azuki to ignore his demand, taking several steps forward, her hands slowly leaving her pockets. The man, his hands shaking, raised his knife, prepared to run the lady through. However....
ZOOM!
Azuki blitzed past the man, vanishing in a burst of speed. She reappeared a distance away, carrying the woman bridal style, gently placing her down against a wall. The woman looked surprised, but relieved. The man, however, went even paler in the face, realizing his one chance to escape his inevitable ass kicking was quite literally stolen from him. In a flash, Azuki blitzed the man, dealing a roundhouse kick to the side of his head, sending him face first into the pavement. He was knocked out instantly, his vision blurring before blacking out.
Azuki looked at the woman, giving her a glimpse of her olive green eyes. "Go home, lady. It's not safe here at this hour."
The woman nodded, shakily rising to her feet. "I-I hadn't realized that until now. I drove here from five hours away to meet my cousin. He's leaving for the Hunter Exam next week."
That piqued Azuki's interest. "Hunter Exam?" She asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Mhm," the woman confirmed, dusting off her coat. "It's some sort of test to become a licensed hunter. I don't know all of the details, but apparently, if you pass, you get a hunter's license, meaning you can go anywhere, do anything. It's really dangerous, though. My cousin has been training for this for years."
Azuki thought for a moment, mulling over the woman's words. Go anywhere, do anything. Her parents came to mind, and so did her home in Meteor City. Her heart ached with a pang of longing that she quickly pushed down. Giving the woman a nod, she finally spoke.
"...I see."
The woman gave her a small, thankful smile. "Thanks again, seriously. If you hadn't shown up—"
"Yeah, I know," Azuki interrupted with a dismissive wave of her hand, "just get out of here, and quick. Try to stick to the main road, avoid the alleyways."
The woman nodded in response and hurried off, leaving Azuki alone with her thoughts. The cloaked girl gazed up at the moon, the moonlight shimmering down her face as she spoke one word.
"Hunter..."
~~~
The next day came in a flash, the sky a dull gray from the rolling clouds.
Inside the Black Lotus' headquarters, a two-story warehouse in the center of an abandoned, rusty shipyard, Azuki stood, leaning against the wall. The gang's weekly meeting was in full swing, members scattered around various points across the meeting room, most shooting the breeze, others discussing territory expansion, turf disputes with rival gangs, and protection routes for clients and goods. In the center of the room, on an overturned crate, sat the gang's leader, Kira Sinclair.
Kira was a tall woman of an athletic build, with piercing violet eyes that surveyed the meeting going on. This woman was the closest thing to a guardian for Azuki, and the only one in the entire city she listened to without question. Today, however, she didn't seem to be there at all, let alone listening to anything. Kira noticed this right away. She stood up from her seat, approaching the girl.
"Yo, Azzy," she spoke, her powerful voice cutting through the conversations of the other members. "You're making that 'deep in thought' face. What's wrong?"
All eyes turned to the cloaked girl as she looked up. "Oh, nothing bad or anything," she assured. "I'm just...thinking about something from last night."
"That being?" Kira raised an eyebrow.
Azuki began, "I confronted a group of creeps near the overpass during my patrol. They were harassing a woman, so I took care of 'em, like usual." A few members muttered their approval as Kira continued listening. "After that, the lady said she was here to meet her cousin who is about to take this thing called the...Hunter Exam. She said that passing the exam allows you to go anywhere, and do anything." She paused. "I...want to know more."
The room fell deathly silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Kira's expression shifted, going from curiosity to something else, something harder. "...are you sure?"
Azuki blinked. "Why do you ask?"
Kira sighed, trying to find a way to put this delicately. She didn't want to discourage Azuki, but she deserved to know the gang's biggest fumble. "The thing is, Azzy, you're not the first member of this gang to be curious about hunter life."
The atmosphere shifted, as if recalling a deep trauma.
"His name was Rex Thornfield," Kira spoke again. "One of our best fighters. He was strong, fierce, and way more social than you. He had a right hook that could send rows of teeth flying. No, that's not an exaggeration. Anyways, he was tired of the Bay being the cesspool that it is, and wanted to become a Hunter to have the power in order to clean things up. We all encouraged him, figuring that if anyone could pass, it would be him."
Kira paused again, as if needing a moment to collect her thoughts.
"He...never came back."
Azuki's expression didn't shift much, but something in her eyes moved.
Kira, taking a deep breath, continued, "from that point on, we vowed not to take the exam ourselves. If we were gonna fix this city, then we'd do it ourselves, without some fancy license."
A long pause followed, then Azuki spoke again, "I understand. But I never made that vow," this caused Kira's gaze to harden, but she allowed Azuki to continue, "and...if I were to take the exam, it's not like I would do it blindly. I'd be smart about it, like I am with everything."
Kira gave an understanding nod, then spoke, "Obviously. That part doesn't concern me. What I really want to know is why you want to take the exam in the first place. Why even take such a massive risk?"
Azuki paused with hesitation, eventually speaking up, "Because if Hunters can really go anywhere and do anything, then this could be my best shot to go home, to my home, Meteor City," she explained, her voice unusually soft, "I wanna find my parents, to know if they're still looking for me. I know it's a large task, but my dad would always say that this world is wide and full of things worth seeing, and that even if we didn't exist on paper, it doesn't mean we don't belong." She paused again, trying to find the right words to say, "Sure, things are fine and stable for me as they are now, but...as my mom always said, what good is a life where we can't stir the pot a little?"
Kira took in Azuki's words, seeing the value of what she said. With a long sigh, she scratched the back of her head, "sheesh..you may not be as social as Rex, but you're definitely just as stubborn, if not more."
She paced back and forth, deep in thought, then turned back to Azuki, "and you're absolutely sure that this is what you want?"
Azuki nodded without hesitation, "it is."
Kira sighed again, but smirked, "well, I can appreciate your confidence at the very least. How long is it until the exam?"
"A week," Azuki said flatly.
Kira grimaced, pinching the bridge of her nose as if Azuki had said tomorrow. "Just a week?! Damnit, I was hoping for a few months at the very least, but a week?? " She sighed, trying to maintain a positive outlook, "no, no, it's fine. I can work with this, you're a fast learner, after all."
Azuki nodded in agreement, and with that agreement, Kira continued, "Your training starts today. I'm gonna put together a routine that'll make your patrols look like a cakewalk. If you really want to stand a chance out in this world, you're gonna have to prepare for everything."
Azuki simply nodded, having the faintest smirk.
"No problem."