Chapter two. I hope it's alright, I felt like it was a bit...odd. Oh well. Enjoy!

The Reincarnation Lottery

Bonding

The sound of footsteps was becoming dull. We'd been running for a few hours. Well, Killua and I were using a skateboard and rollerblades, respectively. Thankfully, rollerblading was something I was good at – one of the 'talents' I cultivated in my first life, since I had too much free time on my hands.

He and I were having a conversation about other applicants we thought looked interesting when a loud shout almost sent me crashing to the ground. Killua gave me an amused grin at my small fumble before we both turned to see who was talking to us. My curious face melted into one of concealed excitement.

"You should show the Hunter Exam some respect!" Leorio growled and I could faintly smell sweet cologne from where I was.

"What do you mean?" Killua asked curiously.

"I think he means your skateboard."

"Don't act like you're not part of it! You're rollerblading!" Leorio thrust a finger in the direction of our feet at my comment. "That's cheating!" I gave an uncaring shrug – not particularly worried since I hadn't joined out of free will anyway – while Killua questioned why it was cheating.

"Why…," the older teen frowned before bursting out, "This is an endurance test!"

"No, it isn't," a highly familiar boy's voice denied.

The three of us turned to face the third twelve-year-old in the Exam, my heart racing in excitement at the sight of the main character. With his usual green clothing and spiked hair, Gon Freecss ran at a steady pace slightly behind Leorio. For a split second, I mourned the loss of my 5'6 height. "Gon, what are you saying?!" Leorio shouted.

"The examiner only told us to follow him," Gon stated, much to Leorio's frustration as he questioned the younger's alliance. Before he could say anymore, he was cut off as Killua maneuvered over to the other boy, asking for his age curiously. Wanting to see the exchange properly, I swiveled to face them, keeping up a steady pace of backwards skating, hands behind my back to lessen the impact if I bumped into anyone. It had happened quite enough times for me to learn the best way to stop myself from falling flat on my face.

"I'm twelve years old," Gon announced, making Killua give out a thoughtful hum. The white-haired boy turned to look at me.

"And you?"

"I'm twelve, too, apparently."

The assassin raised a brow at the choice of my wording before nodding to himself. A second later, his skateboard was snatched from the air and held under his arm once more. It had happened so fast, I would have missed it if I'd blinked. My lips pursed to let out an impressed whistle as he began to run beside Gon. "Guess I'll run, too."

As Gon began to complement Killua's performance with his skateboard, I glanced down to my skates pensively. Obviously, I hadn't thought this through very much. Unlike skateboarding, you had to actually change out of rollerblades to run. With a small frown, I shrugged it off. I'd get the chance to change back into my shoes when Leorio almost gives up on the Hunter Exam. With little effort, I found the other two kids by my side and I swiveled to face the front once more.

"What's your name?" asked Gon brightly once the other two had introduced themselves to each other.

"I'm Blaise," I answered, lips twitching into a friendly smile, somewhat flustered by the attention suddenly directed towards me. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too!" he cheerily replied.

It was about two hours later that Gon came to a stop in his running, causing both Killua and I to hit the brakes, as well; mine literally. Leorio was hunched over, hands on his knees and sweat dripping from his chin to the dirt below. Truthfully, I was surprised I wasn't in a similar state. Rollerblading on dirt and uneven terrain usually required a bit more effort than regular skating and we'd been at this for hours. I wasn't even winded. I couldn't help but feel extremely empathetic towards the older teen a few meters away. If I was in my original body, I probably would've passed out a long time ago.

Despite my empathies, I didn't hesitate to quickly seat myself on the floor and switch back to my sneakers while Killua unsuccessfully tried to make Gon continue running. I was already standing back up, slinging my bag back across my shoulders, when Leorio spoke up, voice strained and breathe uneven.

"Screw that…," he grumbled before straightening, "I'm gonna become a Hunter! Damn it all!" His voice echoed off the walls of the tunnel.

A gust of air followed his path and I closed my eyes contently, bangs brushing against my forehead. My eyes opened again when the sound of a fishing reel met my ears and Gon retrieved Leorio's dropped briefcase without any trouble. It had looked cool in the anime, but seeing it in real life made it seem really surreal. I was pretty sure I was gaping in amazement.

"Cool!" the assassin grinned in childish joy and we began running, not wanting to get left behind any further. "Let me try that later."

"Oh, me too, me too!" I giggled, forgetting I was supposed to be a boy.

Gon smiled at us, unfazed by my mistake, "If you let me try your skateboard and rollerblades, okay?"

"Sure," I agreed, glancing down to his shoes before looking to mine. "I think we're about the same size." Not that I actually know my current shoe size, I mused.

We all ran in a comfortable silence for a while before we somehow ended up talking about our journey to the Hunter Exam. Gon was detailed, telling us all about his boat ride, meeting Kurapika and Leorio, the one-questioned quiz they'd had to do, the magical beasts, and what he thought of the city of Zaban. As Killua began to tell his story, my attention drifted to other applicants, some who were beginning to struggle and some who were already fallen. I half expected to suddenly keel over myself. This was weird.

"What about you, Blaise? Anything interesting happen?" I blinked over to Killua, internally cursing myself for missing his story. It had probably been an uninteresting experience for him, since he'd just started telling his story about a minute ago and was already done, but I was kind of curious.

With a sheepish grin, I shrugged one shoulder. "Not anything too interesting," I lied, "I barely remember it."

"Eh?" Gon spoke in his innocent way, "Blaise must have really terrible memory if he can't remember something from earlier today." Killua began to snicker at the other's lack of tact.

A small blush burned my cheeks and my hands fidgeted with my shirt's hem. "I didn't think it was important enough," my tone was slightly awkward, hoping the subject would be dropped. There was no real way to explain how I couldn't remember without sounding like a total nutcase.

"You should've seen him earlier, Gon," Killua said in a teasing tone, "He slept like the dead for hours. Everybody expected him to sleep all the way through the Exam!"

"Jerk," I mumbled without any heat.

The protagonist gave a laugh at our bickering and soon our idle chatting was broken as we reached the stairs, when Killua decided a race would be fun. Of course, both of us agreed – Gon more receptive than me, since I was almost ninety-nine point nine percent sure I would lose in a race against them both. I was more athletic now, yes, but that doesn't mean I'm on they're level. That was pushing it a bit, if you ask me.

"The loser has to buy dinner," Gon announced. My thoughts of inevitable failure disappeared. I had forgotten about this part. Thinking back, I don't think I saw any jenny in my bag.

"Okay, you're on!"

"Ah, um..,"

"Ready…go!"

With little choice left, I sped up, following their lead. We passed fallen participants, our shoes making dull thuds on the staircase. It was probably only a few minutes or so later when we came across Kurapika and Leorio, just as they were finishing a conversation. While Killua and Gon had no problem greeting them, my face was directed downwards in embarrassment.

It was definitely going to take some time to get rid of my girly habits. I couldn't even look at Leorio properly since he wasn't wearing a shirt. Now, I was in no way attracted to Leorio – he looks like an old man, so that was kind of off-putting – but it felt…improper to look at him now. I know, I know, laugh all you want. It's the way I was raised. Without my father in the picture, I wasn't too familiar with men in general and tended to stick like glue to the females in any group. I snorted internally – now look at me.

"See you at the goal, Kurapika," chimed Gon.

"Catch you later, old timer," followed Killua.

"I'm not old," Leorio complained, "I'm a teenager, just like you guys!"

Time seemed to freeze for the other three and I found myself laughing at the looks on their faces. A few seconds later, after a few exclamations of disbelieve, the other two were laughing with me. I swear I saw Kurapika coughing quite suspiciously into his hand. Of course, Leorio was offended.

"What?! It's the truth!"

"It's not that we don't believe you. It's just…," my reassurance was coupled with a chuckle and a half-shrug. Carefully, I peek up at him, making sure to only focus on his face. "By the way, sorry for earlier. You seemed pretty upset about it."

Leorio's gruff expression changed to slight surprise. "Ah, it's okay," he muttered awkwardly, almost bashfully, "No harm done."

My mouth stretched in a grin. "I'm Blaise," I introduced after a moment of thought. "The white-haired one is Killua." At the 'unneeded' introduction, Killua gave me a light glare that I promptly responded to by poking my tongue out at him. He responded in kind as the protagonist laughed at our antics. It was kind of fun to get a rise out of him, as long as it was in a playful way, at least. Gon finding it amusing was just a bonus.

"I'm Leorio," the oldest teen introduced before jabbing a thumb in the blond's direction, "This is Kurapika."

Kurapika gave a brief nod to me in greeting. "Nice to meet you," I responded to the both of them politely, "If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask me!" I blinked. Woah, where'd that come from? 'Feel free to ask me questions'? What was I – a tech-support worker? Thankfully, Killua saved me from any questions the sentence might have incurred.

"Oi, Gon, Blaise, let's go. I want to be the first person to pass the finish line."

"Ah, right! See you, Leorio, Kurapika!" Gon waved a hand at them as we sped up to match Killua's pace. I gave them both a short wave, as well, before turning to face forward. The last thing I needed was to trip on the staircase and tumble to my second death.

"I'm impressed you both can keep can keep up with me," Killua admitted after another hour or so had passed. We were still running up the never-ending staircase, passing people who were giving up left and right. Despite not being tired, I seriously wished this would end already. It was taking a ridiculous amount of time.

"Really?" asked Gon, putting a hand to the back of his head and giving a happy laugh.

Killua gave him a look. "Or maybe it's just that everyone else is too slow," he sighed in disappointment, "Ah…the Hunter Exam is gonna be a breeze. That's no fun."

"Hey, why do you want to become a Hunter?" Gon questioned curiously.

"Me? I'm not really interested in becoming a Hunter. I heard the exam was supposed to be really hard, so I thought it'd be fun," Killua answered, "But this is disappointing. What about you, Gon?"

"Well, my dad's a Hunter. So I want to become a Hunter, like my dad," the other replied, smiling widely. Seeing this as their sort of 'bonding moment', I kept my lips shut. We all maneuvered to one side to dodge an unconscious person.

"Hmm," hummed the assassin, "What kind of Hunter is he?"

"I don't know." The way he said it was so carefree that it had me stifling a laugh.

Killua had less tact, though, being as blunt as ever. "That's kinda weird," he laughed.

"Really?"

"You want to be like your dad, but you don't know anything about him?" he said in the stead of answering, his laughter quelling a bit.

"I was raised by Mito-san, so I've only seen my dad in pictures." Gon began and at Killua's prompt continued, "Aunt Mito. When he was twelve, my dad took the Hunter Exam. He passed and became a Hunter. Then he left the island. I want to find out why he chose to be a Hunter over being with me." There was absolutely no bitterness in his voice. Gon was a really admirable person.

Killua stared at him for a moment before looking over to me. "What about you, Blaise?"

I blinked at the sudden attention and my mouth moved on its own accord. Again. "Ah, I'm gonna become an Information Hunter."

Gon looked over to me curiously, "An Information Hunter?"

"Yeah," I answered, "Their work usually includes finding rare books, hacking protected data, and searching for people who have knowledge not known to the public." My brows desperately wanted to furrow as information kept spilling from my lips. This was probably what Mr. Faceless Voice meant when he said I'll know my family and personal background when the time comes.

"Why do you want to be an Information Hunter?" Killua asked and, just like that, the spill of information flooding my mind halted.

What timing, I thought, racking my brain for an answer before shrugging. "Don't remember," I replied.

Killua began to laugh once more, commenting on both Gon and I's strangeness before we were all distracted by a sudden light hitting the sides of our faces. Low-and-behold, the exit was now in sight. There were cries of joy from the participants ahead of us before we all dashed forward, hoping to get to the exit first.

The light got brighter and brighter as we ran higher, passing all the other applicants easily enough. Then we were all crossing the finish line, Satotz just beginning to turn around and I found myself cheering in time with Gon and Killua, for an entirely different reason. My eyes adjusted to the sunlight as we skidded to a stop.

I had actually managed to keep up. It was a joyful thought filled with incredulous awe. Mr. Faceless Voice had completely upgraded me. My puny fifteen year old body would have definitely collapsed under the strain of running non-stop for hours, but this ten year old version of me was…incredible. I felt like I could fly. My gaze, which had been resting on my hands, moved upwards to the sky above, drinking in the sights.

That is, until something Gon said made me come back to Earth.

"Then, Blaise can buy dinner!" he stated cheerfully.

"W-What?!" I stuttered in disbelief, "No way! I definitely arrived at the same time as both of you!"

"Liar, I got here way before both of you," Killua interjected.

"Yeah right," I huffed before pointing to Satotz, ignoring my manners for the moment. "Just ask Satotz-san!"

Both of them turned their attention to the man behind us. "Hey, who was faster?" asked Gon, being the one less fazed by this. Both Killua and I were glaring at one another. The thought of having to pay for two dinners without any money was daunting.

"I believe the three of you crossed the finish line simultaneously," the man answered.

"Oh…," trailed Gon, "Then I'll buy Killua dinner, then Killua will buy dinner for Blaise, and Blaise will buy dinner for me!"

"I don't get it," Killua sighed, not seeing the point.

"I'd rather just buy myself dinner…," I winced. Gon disregarded both our complaints, turning to look at the examiner.

"Hey, Satotz-san, is this where the Second Phase takes place?"

"No, we still have quite a while to go," Satotz said.

While Gon made a noise of disappointment, we all headed over to rest at the side of the opening as more people began to filter out. A fog had rolled in, making the scenery smoky. It was probably about thirty or so minutes later when Leorio came stumbling past the finish line, followed by a more composed Kurta.

"Hey, Kurapika!" Gon greeted.

The blond gave him a wave as he glanced around, breathless. "Is this our destination?" he questioned.

"No, it isn't."

"I see," Kurapika said before pointing out, "The fog is fading."

The upbeat twelve year old stood up to take in the sights, a large smile forming on his face. Satotz began his explanation, telling us about the Numere Wetlands, more commonly known as Swindler's Swamp, and how we had to pass through it to get to Phase Two.

"This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures who deceive humans and prey upon them. Be very careful," the examiner warned us, "If you let them fool you…you're dead." At that exact moment, the shutters of the tunnel behind us began to close, stopping a person who was finally about to reach the end. His pleas were cut off as it fully closed.

"These wetland creatures will use every trick in the book to fool their prey," Satotz continued without any delay, "An ecosystem in which creatures obtain food through deceit, hence the name Swindler's Swamp. Stay very close to me so you won't be deceived." There was a tense silence among the group of applicants.

"What a joke," Leorio scoffed, "How can they fool us, when we're expecting it?"

"You'd be surprised," I muttered under my breath at the same time another voice rang out.

"Don't let them fool you!"

"I just said that they can't," Leorio retorted, turning to the voice with the rest of us.

"D-Don't fall for it…," a man began to walk from the side of the building, dragging along a body. "He's lying to you! He's an imposter!" His finger pointed accusingly at Satotz. "He isn't an examiner! I'm the real examiner."

Murmurs rang out from the crowd, along with Leorio and Hanzo's distinct comments. "Look at this," the fake examiner told us, tugging out a body that looked eerily similar to an ape version of Satotz. Gasps of shock sounded and I pursed my lips, looking over the others. Killua had a suspicious gaze focused on the two fakes while Gon was surprised by the resemblance to Satotz. The Amori brothers, Hisoka, and Illumi all were smiling, quite unconcerned.

"It's a Man-Faced Ape, one of the creatures that dwell in the Numere Wetlands!" the disguises Man-Faced Ape explained, "Man-Faced Apes love the taste of fresh human flesh. However, their limps are quite long and thin, so they're quite weak. That's why they disguise themselves as humans. They trick humans into following them into these wetlands, where they team up with other animals to kill and devour them."

The Man-Face Ape gestured to Satotz once more, who had been given a wide-berth. "He intends to trap every single applicant!"

"Bastard…," said Leorio.

"He certainly doesn't walk like a human…," Hanzo stated.

Then, just like that, three playing cards had attacked the Man-Faced Ape disguising as the fake examiner, falling dead. My breath was sucked in a surprised gasp. I had known that was coming, but it had been so quick. Quick enough to look like blurs before they had landed and faster than they would've shot out of Kaitou KID's card gun. Unbidden, I gave a breathless laugh, whispering under my breath, "Cool~!"

A laugh different from mine sent a shiver down my spine and redirected my attention from the dead ape to Hisoka, who was playing with his cards. "I see, I see…," he crooned and I froze as he gave me a quick glance, "That settles it, then. You're the real one," he stated to Satotz, now looking at him.

I swallowed nervously. This was definitely going to come back to bite me in the ass, I could feel it. Louise, stop being an idiot that's impressed by Hisoka's magic skills! Think of more amazing people – like the Doctor, or Accelerator, or…or Houdini. The train of thought wasn't helping as much as I hoped it would.

"Examiners are Hunters selected by the committee to perform this duty without pay. Any Hunter, bearing the title we seek, would have been able to block that attack," Hisoka practically purred.

"I shall take that as a compliment," Satotz said, "However, should you attack me again, for any reason, I will report you for turning on an examiner. And you will be immediately disqualified. Are we clear?"

"Sure~"

The loud sound of vultures had everyone turning to see the large birds beginning to feast on the dead ape. "Nature can be really brutal to watch…," Leorio trailed. I was unfazed by the scene. Truthfully, I think I watched too much Animal Planet to be shocked at nature's darker colors. I rolled my heel absently against the ground.

"So he was a Man-Faced Ape, as well," Kurapika sounded a bit worried by this turn of events.

After an explanation of the Man-Faced Apes plan to lure a few others away and a couple sheepish laughs from Leorio and Hanzo, and another warning of being separated from Satotz in the wetlands, we began our journey to the Second Phase. Running through wet ground and thick fog, I stuck close to the other two twelve year olds. While I didn't fear death anymore, it still would be painfully ironic to be killed when I was finally growing to appreciate this new body.

So, when I somehow ended up getting separated from them, I wasn't very amused.