Welcome to my first Hunter X Hunter fanfiction! Please enjoy your read :)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hunter X Hunter.

Chapter One: Shoes

She tucked her black bangs behind her ear again as the little man in the suit handed her a tag. "You're number 101. Please keep your tag on at all times." Accepting the tag, she flipped it over multiple times, looking for any signs of traps, but the only thing on it was a little bug that she recognized as a tracking device. Shrugging, she clipped it onto the outside of her deep blue t-shirt. Wiping the dust off her black pants, she hitched the bag over her shoulder and gazed around.

Everyone here looked intimidating. Kinda.

"Hello! You must be a rookie!"

The black-haired girl turned in the direction of the voice. It was a short, fat man in a blue shirt with the tag number 16 pinned on. He smiled. "I'm Tonpa, I'm a veteran here. What's your name?"

"...Aliara."

Tonpa beamed brightly, his smile becoming more and more forced. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. This girl is...

She was dressed in a simple blue t-shirt and black pants. She had raven black hair pulled up in a short ponytail, and her eyes were a rich, emerald green. As cute as she sounded, with a lovely name like Aliara, her look was a mix of boredom, and what-the-hell-do-you-want. She had a rather large, forest green bag slung over her shoulder, that looked lighter than it probably was.

This girl was creepy.

"Look," she stated with a bored and quiet tone, "I don't do well with people. I appreciate the welcoming." However, her tone suggested she clearly did not and she would've preferred the stout man to be a million miles away.

Tonpa sweat-dropped. "Well, uh, I'd still like to be friends with you! Here, a juice to toast our new friendship!"

Aliara didn't trust the man with a single cell in her body. But, humoring him, she accepted the juice, and cracked open the can, sniffing it. Must be a poison of sorts. Shrugging, she downed the entire can, and didn't miss the small smirk Tonpa gave off. Finishing, she tossed the can back to him. "Thanks."

"I'll take one."

Aliara whipped her head around and saw a boy about her height with pure white hair- not something you saw everyday. His hair was messy, but his bright blue eyes suggested a child of innocence. The boy clutched a skateboard under one arm. He beamed.

"Uh... Uh, sure!" Tonpa complied, digging out another juice can. "What's your name?"

"I'm Killua," he said cheerfully, also downing the can eagerly. Idiot. But when it didn't seem to affect Killua at all, the stout man's face went red. Okay, maybe not so much of an idiot. Tonpa's expression of pure fury made Aliara smirk slightly.

She pulled her bag up onto her back. "Sorry, Tonpa-san. Poisons don't work on me." Aliara turned on her heel, whistling, and made her way towards the far wall. She heard stuttering behind her, but then the boy's voice rang clear. "Thank you, Tonpa-san. The drink was good." More footsteps, heading her way.

Aliara plopped herself down at the wall and pulled out her bag. The boy stood over her. She looked up. "What do you want?"

"You know there was a laxative in the juice?" He asked quietly.

So did you, apparently. "So?"

He narrowed his eyes, then stuck out a hand. "Killua."

She hesitated a second, then returned his vice grip with the same stare- sizing each other up. "Aliara."

With a plunk, he sat down next to her. He's very irritating. Opening her bag, Aliara pulled out a case of metal objects and tools. Killua's eyes widened in surprise as she pulled out a pair of metal shoes. "What's that?"

"Shoes I made," she replied, pulling out a screw driver and fitting it into a screw. He waited for her to elaborate, and with a sigh, she did. "I built them because I'm not very fast. But I can build things. So I made these. Watch."

She held the shoes in from of Killua. With a flick of a switch on the side of the shoes, small little wheels popped out. "They're roller blades."

He watched intently, and she could barely read his expression. Annoyed, she flicked another switch, and the wheels contracted and made way for small, black pads. "This is the jump version. These are pads with springs inside, and can help me jump twice as high."

"Cool," he remarked. "But why are you working on them?"

Aliara's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Because they're not done yet, idiot."

"They're done," he argued. "You made the two little gadgets move without problem. There's nothing wrong with it."

This kid was good at reading people. It was kind of scary. "Fine. Two reasons I'm working on it," she snapped, holding up two fingers in front of a flustered Killua's face. "One, I'm trying to get something on the outside, so they look like normal shoes. Second..." she shrugged. "I guess I just kind of wanted to show someone."

He frowned. "Nobody knows about them?"

Aliara shrugged. "Well, my family does, but they think it's a waste of my time and effort. I never really see if they think it's good or not."

There was a long pause as the girl tightened some of the screws. Killua eventually said, "They're really good."

"You think so?"

"The craftsmanship is really good. And you did a good job with making the wheels and springs contract and stuff." He looked away awkwardly, like he had said too much.

But Aliara beamed. "Well, as my first official critic, Killua, thank you. That means a lot."

He smiled sheepishly. "How are you going to make them look normal?"

Aliara pondered this for a second before she proceeded to take off her red and black runners. Killua watched her as she managed to slide the metal shoe inside, almost like a sock. "Ta da."

"You forgot about the springs. And the wheels."

"Oh." Frowning, she took the metal shoe out, eyed her running shoes casually, and then tore the bottom of the shoe off in one swipe of her hand and inserted the metal shoe inside. Before Killua could protest, she had used some tools from her bag to tie the sides of the shoe down. On the outside, they looked completely normal. "There. One down, one to go."

"But now you have no shoes!"

"I'll just wear these."

"But what if it hadn't worked?!"

"I would've gone barefoot."

"You are an idiot."

"So are you."

They glared at each other for a second, before Aliara's face brightened. "Did you know I can operate them from this thing?" She pulled a metal band out of her back.

The confusion completely forgotten, Aliara fixed up her other shoe (by ripping her other running shoe apart), and tried them on. They spent a while fiddling with Aliara's metal wristband, which she had fashioned with a few different buttons that automatically activated or recalled the wheels of spring pads. She spent a few minutes attaching things to the metal piece so she could fasten it on her wrist, and then tied it on. It worked, much to her delight.

Aliara had no clue why she was sharing all this with Killua.

It's not like I'm doing myself any harm. Knowledge of the shoes is no good in battle. Besides, I've got other things up my sleeve. She didn't allow Killua to try on the shoes, but let him see what else was in her bag. In return, he showed her his skateboard, which she quickly learned she was no good at.

It was kind of fun to smile. This was fun.

"It's Tonpa," Killua said after a while, motioning towards the man. "I'm going to go screw with him and ask for another drink."

"Get me one too!" Aliara called to his retreating back. He didn't make any notation that he had heard her, and she frowned, before packing everything up in her bag. The room was getting crowded. They'd probably start soon.

She heard the can coming before she saw it, so Aliara raised her hand and caught the can out of midair. "Thanks, Killua," she called without looking up.

There was a loud noise, and a man with purple hair and a darker purple suit appeared, carrying a weird device that was making the noise. Aliara sighed. I guess it's time to start. Let's test out the shoes. She gathered her bag and walked forward with the crowd, keeping low, which wasn't very difficult because of her height.

"The hunter exam will now begin. Please, follow me."

How the heck can he talk if he has no mouth?!

Everyone moved forwards.

"Let's begin with a little verification," the man she assumed was an examiner said, "it's an extremely difficult exam. Sometimes you miss a chance, and other times, you may die." With those solemn words, he began walking down the long, wide tunnel. "Count is okay. Please, follow me."

With that, he broke into a run.

Aliara's eyes lit up like the sun and a grin stretched across her face. I get to try out my new shoes already!

Skating along the ground, navigating through the crowd, and spotting Killua, Aliara zoomed around. This is it! Maybe this won't be so bad. Hopefully, this won't be so bad.

And hopefully, my family doesn't find me here.

Hello again!~

A bit about the story.

I will make the other chapters a bit longer than this if I can. I will try to aim for 2, 000 words but I may not make it every time. My minimum is 1, 000. If you have any other opinions on story lengths, please drop a review or shoot me a PM.

This story is rated T. There will be blood and a bit of gore. I will not be writing sex scenes, because this is a story about twelve-year-old children.

If you have any questions, ideas, or feedback, please tell me! I love to hear everything. But, please, no flames.

Thank you, lovelies!~