Chapter Text
“A new mission? How surprising. I’m honored!" a boy with a monotone voice said, his face covered in shadows.
“Don't act like ya didn’t predict this,” another boy responded. His voice is slightly rough, but still nice to the ears.
The boys were not visible, but even a blind man could feel the danger radiating from the two in strong waves.
____
At the top of a hill stands a large tree that can be seen from the harbor. Two magical beasts sat in a wooden hut.
“Those children, they have a bright future, but a long-twisting path ahead of them.”
“I agree, I quite liked that boy, Gon. A charming young man, and so perceptive too; able to tell us apart just from our voice and appearance despite our similarities.” The first continued, “I hope to see where they end u–”. He cut himself off, and the two beasts instantly went silent, the cheerful mood suddenly gone. One beast said to the other, “We’re being watched.” His companion nodded to signify his agreement. The two stood up, ready for an attack.
“Hehe, it seems our two furry friends finally noticed us! I was beginning to doubt their capabilities,” said a familiar voice.
Out from the shadows of the trees walked two young boys. One had brown, fluffy hair with a bandage over his left eye. His only visible eye was dark. Like any light that reaches it gets sucked in like a black hole would do, pulled away into nothingness for eternity. Not only that, but he was covered in bandages on every visible limb. He wore a nice button-up shirt with a black tie; he was smiling, but that didn’t hide the bloodlust in the slightest.
Unlike the brown-haired boy, the ginger next to him wasn’t even trying to look happy. He has a scowl that seemed to get worse as the other talked. His clothes were noticeably more fashionable, a vest and an outfit mixed with red that suited his complexion nicely. Both boys definitely had nice clothes and were well off.
One beast finally spoke up, “How can we help you two boys? It’s unsafe for younlings to be out at this time.” The brown-haired boy answered, “Don’t worry about us, kind navigators! We’re simply asking for directions. You two are navigators, are you not?” One beast nodded, seemingly understanding the boy’s implications. “You two pass. We will escort you to the hunter's exam right away.”
The boy gave a closed eyed smiled and bowed slightly. The other followed suit, still not smiling, but at least he wasn’t scowling anymore. The beast won’t admit it, but the boy’s glare was quite chilling; he wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it again.
_____
“This shabby place is the hunters exam site? Are you fucking with us? I’ll put you bastards six feet under.” He looked quite angry. Probably had a low bullshit tolerance; he himself could relate to that.
“Now now, Chuuya, don’t be so quick to judge. I think this place is rather welcoming!” For the next couple minutes, the two boys argued whether or not the other was acting like a snobby rich girl or a coked-up drug addict.
The two navigators nodded, “Yes, we are at the correct place. Follow me.” That apparently shut the boys up as they quietly trailed behind him. He wasn’t facing the boys, but he could feel their sharp gaze on the back of his head. It honestly felt like the two boys were highly trained, competent soldiers instead of teenagers. But honestly, whoever willingly takes the hunter exams isn’t an ordinary person, and these boys proved it.
They were welcomed by the chef, the navigator recited the special code, and then they were led into the back room. The room was nice, a huge decorated table and portraits hung on the walls. The navigator waved goodbye and walked off. Suddenly, the room started descending.
“Oh shit, the room is an elevator!”
“No, really? I hadn’t noticed. What an astute observation, Chuuya!”
“Shut the hell up, bastard. Why the hell are you so annoying?” he screamed back, pulling out a chair and inspecting it. “Huh, this was recently used. And the table has very new scratch marks on it. That must mean we’re in the right place, right?”
The other nodded, “You’re right for once! Good dog! Chuuya is finally getting smarter.” He actually looked proud. Patting Chuuya’s head, like he was congratulating a dog for a well-done trick.
Since the outside eating area was completely packed, the single room should also be filled with customers, but it wasn’t. It would make sense if the room were reserved for a party, but it wasn’t. Most restaurants leave a reserved sign, but this restaurant didn’t. And as Dazai was entering, he noticed that a single table had a reservation when he passed by the server’s booth, and that the so-called backroom wasn’t on the list at all.
“Shut the hell up! I’m not your fucking dog, you bastard. And don’t pat my head, I don’t want your stupid germs all over me.”
“Aww, Chuuya, did you forget? You are! You lost the bet last year, and the bet said the loser has to be the other’s dog for life! And I don’t have germs. So rude, I must look and smell impeccable for all the lovely ladies to swarm to me.”
The elevator stops, and the door opens to a dark tunnel lit up by dim lights, and what looked like hundreds of other contestants standing around.
Dazai leans in close and whispers to the other, “Chuuya, are you ready? The show is about to begin.”
The other pushes Dazai off his shoulder, “Yeah, yeah. I know.”
The atmosphere is tense. The duo could feel eyes staring at them, sizing them up, and scoffing when they looked no more than two scrawny boys. Those who looked away were stupid. Judging a book by its cover is never a wise choice. Those who didn’t immediately ignore them knew the two were more than they seemed.
A green bean-looking creature walked up to them, “Hello, please take this badge and wear it on your chest at all times.” Dazai was handed numbers 406 and 407. Dazai taps on Chuuya’s leg in their own made-up language. Scout out, but stick together at all times. Chuuya nodded. And followed Dazai around, looking out for strong opponents that they had to be cautious of, and for potential allies. Not like they exactly needed allies, but it would be a lot easier if they had someone to vouch for them, if necessary.
Off to the side, the two found a child, a teen, and two middle-aged guys. They stood out like a sore thumb; instead of communicating in hushed voices or harsh glances, the group was talking rather loudly.
Then there was a loud scream followed by many gasps of horror. The duo looked around and spotted a man losing his arms. They seemed to be turning into flower petals. The man doing this is number 44. He looked like a young adult cosplaying as a clown. Chuuya breaks out in cold sweat. This is the first time in years, besides Dazai and the boss, that someone has ever made him wary like this. Immediately, he knew this fucker was not one to mess with. What kind of ability did that have? And why didn’t the port mafia know about something like this? Is this the work of the gov–?
He’s broken out of his thoughts by the cold rush of No Longer Human and cold fingers on his nape. “Calm down, Chuuya, this is a normal occurrence outside of Yokokama. Don’t you remember everything I’ve told you? This is nen” Dazai speaks in a very monotone voice, not letting a hint of emotion show through except for his fake enthusiasm. Instantly, Chuuya calms down. He sighs and shakes his head, “I just don’t like not knowing others’ capabilities.” His partner nods in understanding. “It’s alright, Chuuya. Your fearless master will protect you!”
“As if your bony ass could protect me. I’d have to do all the protecting.”
The only reason why the Port Mafia knew of Nen was that a hunter with Nen capabilities came storming the mafia’s warehouses and killed dozens of armed men. The mafia eventually was able to capture and interrogate him. Obviously, Dazai was put in charge of the operation and weeded out every scrap of information he could before allowing the mafia scientist and doctors to study the corpse. Apparently, the man only knew the basics. He was only able to make his body stronger and more resistant to physical attacks. But Dazai also concluded that there could be special abilities with learning Nen. So the boss sent the duo out to gather information on Nen, and that was their official mission.
The clown taunts the man kneeling on the floor, armless, “Oh, how peculiar, this man’s arms seem to be turning to flower petals. Maybe next time you should apologize when you bump into someone.” His voice is deep and soothing, but his mocking is anything but. He seems to be enjoying watching the man suffer.
While Chuuya is busy looking around for any clues on the clown’s ability, Dazai makes eye contact with said clown. The man smiles and gestures for Dazai to come. Dazai returns his gesture by mouthing ‘later’. The clown smiles and nods, and they both ignore each other like they didn’t just have a silent conversation.
After he calms down, Chuuya points at a green-haired kid. “Oi Dazai, how old is that kid? Isn’t he too young for this type of work?” And what was that hairstyle? He hopes that as the kid gets older, he will stop with that spiked-up hair. Chuuya can’t imagine how much gel he uses to maintain it.
“Why do you want to know?” Chuuya only looked at him expectantly. “Ughh, fine, I’d say the kid is around twelve to thirteen, a couple of years younger than us.”
“How did you kn-” “-How did I know? Well, it’s quite obvious if you think about it, but of course, my doggy can’t figure it out and must rely on his master to help him.”
“I’m not your fuckass do–”. “I knew h–” Dazai got a taste of his own medicine since he was cut off by the very boy he was talking about.
“Hi, who are you two? I can’t help but notice you staring at us,” said the green-haired boy. Well, actually, Gon couldn’t hear the boys talking at all. One of the boys smelled different from other people. Gon wouldn’t exactly call it abnormal, but it was definitely darker than others. It spooked him a little, to be honest.
His calling out the two on their ‘gossiping’ also made his three friends turn their attention to the duo.
“Who are these brats, Gon? Are they your friends?”
So the kid’s name is Gon, good to know. Dazai can already tell he’ll be a major chess piece for this mission. He just needed to find a way to nudge his new piece in the right direction.
“No, Mr. Leorio, I don’t know them. But I noticed them entering through the same way as us!”
The blonde man speaks up, “Uh, Gon, I think everyone enters through that.” Gon looks embarrassed; he scratches his head, and his face flushes a bit. “Oh, really? Well, they entered just a little after us, too.” The blonde man nods, “Oh my, I didn’t even notice that someone else entered. I guess I was too absorbed with talking.” But before anyone could talk again, the fat man in the back of the group offers a drink. “Oh, it’s nice to see so many new faces around here! My name's Tonpa. How about we all have a celebratory drink for so many newbies arriving this year!” He hands the group a drink each. Dazai and Chuuya inspect it, and soon both smash it under their feet.
Tonpa looks shocked, “What? Why would you waste a good drink like that?” he asks. The other three soon join in, Gon spits out his drink, and the other two pour it out.
“Tonpa, I think the drink might have gone bad! I grew up on an island, so I have a keen sense of smell and taste. Is your stomach okay?
Tonpa nervously laughs and scratches his head, “Haha, don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m very sorry! I’ll be going now.”
Gon smiles and nods, “That’s great, Tonpa. See you later!”
Dazai sighs. How terribly naive that child is; if he were to go into the real world like that, he would be killed within days. That’s too bad. He might have to train Gon a little.
Chuuya nudges Dazai and asks, “Is that kid dumb? Did he not realize that hag was trying to poison them?” Dazai sighs for what feels like the 10th time since embarking on this mission, “Kids like him are just terribly naive, they trust everyone because they weren’t taught to be wary by incompetent imbeciles. Don’t worry, though, Chuuya. I’ll take care of it.” Chuuya raises an eyebrow, “What do you mean you’ll take care of it?”
“Well, we need a puppet here, don’t we? Who would be better suited for that job than a joyful, bubbly kid who trusts everyone without a second thought?” Chuuya doesn’t like this plan, and he makes it known. He grabs Dazai’s shirt collar and pulls the other toward himself, “Oi bastard, don’t drag an innocent kid into your schemes.” Dazai smiled, “Are you questioning my planning, Chuuya? When have my plans ever failed us? Don’t be stupid, Chuuya.” When the other doesn’t respond, Dazai smiles. He looks genuinely happy that Chuuya isn’t fighting against him. That pretty smile makes Chuuya’s black heart skip a beat, and he feels his ears heating up.
“Since that's over, what are your guys’ names? My name is Kurapika, and this is Leorio. And you’ve already met Gon.”
Dazai gives a warm, practiced smile, while Chuuya merely makes eye contact and nods in a greeting. “My name is Dazai Osamu, please call me Dazai. And this is Nakahara Chuuya, my partner!” Kurapika and Leorio look at them in slight confusion, “I'm sorry, did you just say partner? Are you two together?” Chuuya goes red as a tomato, and roughly shakes his head, “No! The bandaged fish and I are NOT together; we just work together a lot and get called partners.” Dazai nods, his face also a bit red, but significantly less than Chuuya’s. Chuuya decides that he likes how it looks and commits it to memory. “Yes, the chibi and I are simply close collaborators. We are not in a romantic relationship with each other. Though I’m sure Chuuya would love to be my boyfriend, since I’m such a good partner anyway, right guys?” Chuuya seems to get even redder, and Leorio could imagine smoke coming out of his ears. Gon starts, “Uh, well actually—” He grabs Dazai by the collar and talks in his face, “I do NOT like you like that, actually, I don’t like you at all! Never say such nasty shit ever again!”
But before Dazai could sprout nonsense anymore and piss Chuuya off more, an alarm rings and a man with purple hair and long limbs appears. In a loud booming voice, he asks all participants to follow him to the next stage of the Hunter’s Exam. Everyone starts jogging after him to keep up.
Dazai looks over to Chuuya, “We should stay close to the others, since we need to earn their trust.” Chuuya nods and jogs over to the others, with Dazai right beside him. “Mind if we tag along? It’d probably be more beneficial for us if we helped each other out.” Right after saying that, Gon nods happily, “Of course we can, Chuuya!” And the other two agree. They all engage in some peaceful chats.
As the group is talking, a white-haired boy on a skateboard rolls up to the group. Dazai listened in as Leorio scolded the boy for cheating on the exam and said that this test was an endurance test. At that, Gon looks up and says, “No, it isn’t. The man just said to follow him; he didn’t say anything about this being an endurance test.”
“Gon! Who’s side are you on?!” Leorio is ignored, and the white-haired boy asks for Gon’s age. “I’m 12 years old!”
“Oh, we’re the same. I guess I’ll run too. My name is Killua.” Gon marvels as Killua jumps off his skateboard and does a cool trick.
“My name is Gon!”
“Hey Gon, are these your friends?”
“Yes! This is Leorio, that's Kurapika, and those two are Dazai and Nakahara!”
Killua looks surprised. Those two names sound familiar. He swore he had heard that name before. Killua thinks hard and tries to remember when he heard it. Just as Killua opens his mouth to say something, he is interrupted by Dazai ruffling his hair. “Aww, aren’t you a cute kid? You look exactly like someone I know, though.”
Killua remembers. His father once had them over as guests to establish an alliance with the Port Mafia of Yokokama. When he asked his parents about how powerful they were to be considered potential allies, his father said they were very capable and competent. In that moment, Killua felt a cold chill. To have his father compliment someone like that and someone so young? That was the highest level of praise you could ever get from his father.
As a reflex, Killua swats his hand away and jumps back like a scared cat. Gon and the other two looked surprised. “Killua, are you okay? Is something wrong?” Gon asks worriedly.
“Do you guys no–” Dazai interrupts him, smiling menacingly, “Oya, did I scare you? My bad. Is there something you’d like to say?”
In that moment, Killua fears for his life. To Killua, that smile looks like it was pulled straight from hell. The ginger behind him is also glaring at him, silently telling him to stay quiet.
“Uh, no..you just surprised me. That’s all. I wasn’t scared!”
Dazai quietly laughs, “Of course, you’re a strong boy, aren’t you? Well, I’m Dazai. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
“Call me Chuuya, kid.”
This is getting even more exciting! Not only did he meet a naive mountain boy brimming with potential, but the Zoldyck heir was also here. Two new pawns, this mission is going very swimmingly. The boss would be pleased with this outcome.
As they keep running after the examiner, they reach a lot of stairs. Dazai does not want to run up those things at all. He’s already tired and so bored with just running. He has an idea. “Heyy, Chuuya. I’m so tired! Will Chuuya be my knight in shining armor and save this princess?” By now, Kurapika and Leorio are farther behind, and the only relevant people around are Gon and Killua. It would also seem that Killua isn’t shaken up anymore. That’s good, a good piece needs to be able to recover quickly.
Gon is still smiling and chatting with Killua, and the other also responds with his own jokes and quips.
“Tch, you’re not a princess, in the slightest. If anything, you’d be the court jester. What the hell do you want?”
“As if I’d be a jester, my amazing complexion would only suit royalty! Anyways, I want my dear dog to carry me!”
Chuuya looks absolutely disgusted by his request. “No, I’d rather die than become your personal carriage.”
“C’mon Chuuya, pleaseee? I’ll tell you a secret about this, only if you agree, though!” A secret? About this mission..that could be very useful, since Dazai always hogs the information and hates sharing.
Gon looks over and starts laughing, “Chuuya, are you going to carry Dazai?”
“No.”
“Yes!”
“Maybe.”
“Yay!”
“Will you be able to carry him for the rest of the way? It’d probably be a long way to go.”
“Tch, this will be a piece of cake; this bag of bones isn’t heavy in the slightest.” Dazai smiles giddily, “Gon, Killua, wanna make a bet?”
Gon looks confused, “A bet about what?”
Dazai’s smile widens even more. “If Chuuya can make it to the finish line before you two, while carrying me, you two will owe us something.”
Killua instantly says no, but Gon agrees. The two kids look at each other, and somehow, Gon is able to convince Killua by saying that Chuuya would definitely lose. Killua still looks unconvinced but agrees too. But Killua asks, “What do we get if we win the bet?”
Dazai points a finger up, “Oh! That’s easy, we’ll owe you two something.”
“Are we not going to ask for my opinion? I’m the one who has to carry this fucker.”
“Hmm, no! You agreed the moment you started carrying me.”
Chuuya can’t help but feel bad for those two kids; owing something to the demon of the mafia is never a good thing. Maybe he shouldn’t have agreed. But if he didn’t, Dazai would give him shit for ruining his plans.
Dazai raises his arm, “Ready, set, go!”
In a flash, Chuuya is swiftly climbing up the mountains of stairs, faster than Gon and Kilua could react.
Gon calls out, “Hey! Wait for us!”, and starts running after the duo. Killua is also running right next to him. Chuuya thinks the kid is a little dumb. Why would he wait for them when this is a race?
Within minutes, Dazai and Chuuya are near the front of the contestants, where they can see the examiner’s back. Dazai cannot see Gon and Killua anymore. They must have gotten stuck farther back. But the other people taking the exam with them are staring at the duo in disbelief. The duo ignores their gawking. Why would they care for insignificant ants with no real purpose?
Dazai did see number 44 on their trek up, but no glances were exchanged. They already had a plan why would they have to communicate more?
Soon enough, they can spot the light at the end of the tunnel. Many participants start cheering that they are finally reaching the end of the tunnel. As they got closer, they could even feel the breeze from outside.
“Hurry up, Chuuya! They’re catching up.”
“Shut the hell up.”
Still, Chuuya speeds up, and they are the first to pass the finish line. They ran past the hunter examiner, and he looked back at the rest of the participants. Soon after, Gon and Killua run past laughing and giggling.
As Dazai examines his surroundings, all he sees is fog. The air is humid, and he swears he can hear snarling coming from the fog. That's odd. Are they at the top of a mountain? They did go up a lot of stairs, but there wasn’t enough elevation to be a mountain with this much fog. Could it be a swamp? That would make more sense. Dazai concluded that they must be at a swamp.
“Chuuya, be careful, this stage of the exam is in a swamp. Knowing this place, there would probably be some strange beasts around here.”
“Got it? So stick together no matter what?”
Dazai shakes his head, “Not just that, I have a feeling that if we aren’t in contact, we might get separated.”
“What the hell? What kind of freaky shit is this place?”
As they were talking, more and more participants were arriving. Dazai noticed number 44 staring at him and waving at him.
“Chuuya, your owner has some business to attend to. Why don’t you go socialize with the kids? Get closer to them, especially Kilua.”
Chuuya sighs and nods, “I swear to god if you die, I’ll resurrect you myself and make your death 10x more painful.”
“Don’t worry, Chuuya, I won’t try to kill myself! Bye bye!”
“As if I’d ever worry about your dumbass.”
“So rude..”