Killugon x male!child!reader
Ch 0, Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3 (you are here!), Ch 4, ...
Summary: Some interesting events transpire as you and your companions make it through Swindlers Swamp. Will you be able to make it to the next phase?
You've been running for a while now.
The fog around you began to thicken with each passing second, forcing you to be on high alert. You're sure that if you let your guard down for even a second, you'd most likely die. Thankfully, staying on guard was easy for you, as you naturally had heightened senses and your years as a hunter had refined them even more. Not to mention, your hearing was otherworldly.
Due to this, you were able to pick up on a group behind you plotting to take down Hisoka. It was beyond doubt that he could hold his own, but you were more worried about getting caught in the crossfire.
After a few seconds of contemplation, you decided it best if you and your friends got as far as possible from this brewing massacre.
Gon and Killua both turned to look at you.
"We should probably go farther up."
As you spoke, you noticed Killua's eyes widened slightly before turning back to normal as if nothing happened.
"I was thinking that too."
"Okay, we don't want to lose sight of the examiner." Gon, seemingly unaware of the situation behind the three of you, agreed.
There was a beat of silence before the white-haired boy spoke up once again.
"I'm more concerned about increasing the distance between us and Hisoka. Staying too close to him is dangerous."
"Smell?" You raised an eyebrow and turned your head to stare at the boy. He paid you no mind.
The green boy to your right sniffed the air, appearing to be just as confused as you are. "I don't think he smells."
Suddenly, you remembered your other two travel companions. Unfortunately, you guys had gotten separated and they stayed somewhere in the back. Usually, you wouldn't go out of your way to help someone, seeing it as nature running its course, but this time you couldn't help but feel a bit worried. They've begun to grow on you and it would be a shame should they die here.
"What about Leorio and Kurapika?" After the subtle reminder, Gon immediately perked up and, without warning, called out to them.
"Leorio! Kurapika! Killua and Katsumi say that we should move up!"
You and Killua couldn't help but cringe at the boy's lack of awareness.
"Hey… Can't you feel the tension in the air?" Killua scolded.
Despite this, thanks to Gon, you were able to locate Leorio after he yelled back. Or, well, his approximate location. You could never be too careful in this swamp.
"Moron! If I could I'd already be there!"
Your ears turn back towards the sound of your two friends. At least it looks like they stayed together. You felt your shoulders relax, relieved that you had nothing to worry about.
"Let's go." Killua called out to you and Gon as he began speeding up. The two of you sped after him.
Eventually, the three of you had managed to distance yourselves far enough from Hisoka. After all, you only agreed to slow down when you couldn't hear his footsteps or the sound of his unnatural breathing anymore. Seriously, that man is an enigma to you. As much as there's a growing hunger inside of you to learn more about him, you're not stupid enough to not realize that he's leagues above you.
It angers you; not being the strongest.
Despite this, you swallow your feelings, choosing to ignore them instead. Your goal here isn't to pick fights with odd guys and die an early death, it's to pass the Hunter Exam.
Your train of thought was interrupted by a series of piercing screams around you. Not only that, but when you looked around, you noticed that your little group was completely isolated.
"Crap!" You shouted out of nowhere once you realized this, causing the two boys beside you to jump. It looks like you had just interrupted their conversation. Oops.
Gon opened his mouth to say something, but at the exact same moment, the ground underneath you fell.
You let out a shriek and everything around you went dark. Your butt hit something wet and slimy, causing you to instantly jump to your feet. You hope whatever you just landed on doesn't ruin your precious clothes…
You were, once again, taken by surprise when everything around you began to shake violently, as if whatever you were in was moving.
Due to this, you were able to deduce that you and your friends had indeed been swallowed by something. Though, you weren't too worried. After all, you could still hear Gon and Killua's movements from somewhere near you. Additionally, you weren't dead yet, so that's a plus.
"Gon? Killua?" You called out while extending your hand out in front of you, trying to feel around. Unexpectedly, someone grabbed ahold of your wrist.
"I was trying to find out where you guys were." You admit while playfully sticking your tongue out. A useless gesture, considering it was pitch black and you guys couldn't see each other.
He didn't answer, yet you felt his eyes bore into you, making you feel a little awkward. As a result, you try to pull your hand back but fail.
You nervously call out to him. Did something happen?
Hearing his name fall from your lips seemed to snap him out of whatever daze he was in and he dropped your wrist as if it had burned him. You tilted your head in confusion, though as you opened your mouth to speak, someone bumped into your back.
"Oh! Sorry." Gon's familiar voice brushed against your ear, causing a slight shiver to run down your spine.
You quickly step forward, trying to ignore the heat rushing to your cheeks. "W-well! Looks like we're all in one piece!"
You hear a slight hum coming from Killua's direction, followed by the sound of liquid gushing out onto the floor, or whatever the three of you were standing on.
You had no clue what Killua used, but it was definitely fast acting. Before you knew it, a wall of fluid began gushing out from behind your group, effectively forcing you three out of the frog's stomach. You're lucky it wasn't some acid strong enough to melt people.
You were the first one to get out of the puddle of mysterious liquid. After doing a quick but thorough check, you construe that (somehow) none of it stuck to you. Still, you vigorously shook your hair trying to get any remaining fluid off you, albeit you resembled more of a wet dog than a fox right now.
"Guess he didn't like the way we tasted." Gon teased, rubbing the back of his neck before getting out of the puddle as well.
Killua, still seated, began rummaging through his pocket then pulling out a familiar orange can.
"It was this." He held the object up so you and Gon could see.
"Ah! That was from Tonpa!" Gon exclaimed.
"Do frogs not like oranges or something?" You'd never heard of that, although you've also never bothered to learn what frogs like and dislike, seeing as you've never really had a reason to.
Killua snickered at your question and you felt a vein almost burst out of your forehead. "What's so funny?" you grumbled to yourself, glaring daggers at him.
Your eyes met and he paused before quickly looking away.
"Well, I could have escaped without it." He spoke nonchalantly which somehow only pissed you off even more.
Killua finally stood up, preparing to move again. You and Gon, as always, ran after him. Though, Gon only took a few steps before stopping and turning back, causing you to stop as well.
"I'm gonna go check on Kurapika and Leorio." Gon spoke with a sort of determination that only served to confuse you.
"What?! Are you crazy?" You tried to reason with him but your words fell on deaf ears. He was already running in the opposite direction.
"Such a hassle…" You sighed but decided not to follow him. Something in your gut told you not to go back; who were you to ignore that?
You turned back around, only to meet Killua's impatient eyes. It seems he was waiting for you.
Without missing a beat, he turned around and began running again, which startled you.
"Hey! Wait for me!" You squeaked before rushing to catch up with him.
Eventually, you guys managed to exit the forest and the main group finally came into sight.
"We've caught up to the main group, 'Sumi!"
The nickname made you pause.
"Sumi?" You silently repeated, turning your head enough to look at Killua while being able to keep an eye on the hoard.
"Nothing!" You flashed him a mischievous smile before taking a hold of his hand and dragging him towards the group in front. It feels like you've done that a lot since coming here.
You and Killua managed to make it to some huge brick wall, which only solidified your belief that everyone outside your island loved to make everything jumbo-sized.
Moving on, you assumed that this wall marked the end of the first stage.
The journey there was a lot smoother than you expected it to be, aside from the occasional quip from Killua. He seems to enjoy pissing you off. Honestly, just thinking about it was getting on your nerves again.
Despite the occasional banter, you guys went around looking for Gon and the others. Hopefully they made it out. You still had a bunch of things you didn't understand and wanted to ask Gon about, after all.
Well, you knew Leorio made it out because you saw Hisoka dragging him under a tree not too long ago. He must have really bad luck to have encountered that strange magician…
Just as you were losing hope in Gon and Kurapika, you caught the faint sounds of their distinct footsteps and immediately perked up.
"Killua! I can hear them coming!" You exclaimed cheerily and grabbed his arm which, as expected, made him recoil away from you.
"Wha- Get off me!" Even though his words said otherwise, he didn't seem to mind your touch all that much. Though, he definitely is stiff as hell.
While holding onto his arm, your ear twitched, making your white-haired captor pause briefly, his gaze fixing on the fox ears resting atop your hair. He stared at them for a beat too long before snapping his head away from you so fast he must've gotten whiplash.
Though, you could've sworn you saw the tips of his ears redden…
You squint, trying to get a better glimpse, but Killua takes advantage of that slight moment you let your guard down and shakes you off his arm. Obviously, this startled you, but before you could argue, he was already walking towards Gon and the others.
"Gon!" You yelled excitedly before full on sprinting towards the boy, completely forgetting about what just happened.
Gon turned his head and spotted you and Killua heading towards him. His whole demeanor instantly brightened.
"I can't believe you actually got here-" Killua was interrupted by you sprinting past him and jumping into Gon's arms.
Your actions took the bright-eyed boy by surprise as he tried to position his fishing rod in a way where it wouldn't bother you. Though, his shock didn't last long and he melted into your touch, wrapping his arms around you in return.
"I almost thought you wouldn't make it!" You half-jokingly complained before rubbing your head against the boy's cheek, earning a soft chuckle from both him and Kurapika.
"I just tracked Leorio's cologne." Gon explained when you finally let go, though he seemed to deflate at the sudden lack of warmth.
"By scent? That was how?" The voice from behind you exclaimed, astonished.
"You definitely are weird."
Suddenly, you hear the examiner speak, interrupting your little reunion.
"The Second Phase of the exam will occur here, in the Visca Forest Preserve. So, I shall take my leave."
Excitement flooded your body as you watched Sato walk past the crowd. You couldn't wait to find out what the next test will be and who the examiner is. Hopefully this time it'll actually be something new!
After Sato was out of sight, the giant steel gate began to open, stealing everyone's attention. You watched with bated breath, trying to catch a glimpse of what was inside. Not wanting to wait any longer, you expertly weaseled your way through the crowd, only to be met with… a huge house and what appeared to be an enormous man and a very pretty woman in front of it. Plus, there were random wood rectangles scattered across the field, along with some odd contraptions next to them.
Just what could this next exam be?
The woman sitting in front of the house spoke first. "All applicants who've passed the First Phase, please enter!"
Everyone did as she told without a second thought, each picking out a station. You made sure to pick one close to your friends and they did the same.
When everyone settled down, the mint-haired woman introduced herself as "Menchi", the examiner for the Second Phase. The rather… plump… man behind her introduced himself as "Buhara". It looks like there were two examiners this time. Interesting.
After they finished speaking, a loud rumble erupted from Buhara's direction.
"There's no way that was his stomach, right?" You whispered to yourself, completely taken aback.
Menchi's next words, much to your horror, did in fact confirm your suspicions.
She got up from her chair and put her hands on her hips.
"There you have it. The Second Phase will involve…" She paused, probably for the dramatic effect.
The moment that lone word spilled from her lips, you felt yourself ascend to the heavens.
Finally, you'd be able to eat!
You had eaten your ancient beef jerky a while ago, but it wasn't near enough to fill your stomach. You were so happy you think you genuinely shed a few tears.
"Hey Gon…" Killua started, inching closer to his companion, "What's up with Sumi?" He was just blatantly judging you now.
Gon simply shrugged while letting out a small laugh before turning his attention back to the examiners.
You and your group walked through the lush forest. However, you were too distracted thinking about food while the examiners were explaining the task, so Kurapika had filled you in on the task at hand. Apparently, you had to hunt down a pig and make a pork dish for the examiners.
You've hunted scarier beasts, so you should be able to easily hunt down a mere pig.
Without warning, Gon started sliding down a hill. You knew why, since you could also hear them: The pigs.
You jumped after him, Killua and the rest following the two of you.
Suddenly, Gon stopped, which made you ram straight into him. Before you could even process what had happened, you heard a scream and then someone crashed into your back immediately after. Then another. And another.
"Ow!" You yelp, "What the hell?!"
"What gives, Gon?!" You hear Killua yell from behind you. Looks like he was the one who collided into you.
"Found them." Gon spoke matter-of-factly, causing you and everyone behind you to look at whatever he was talking about.
"Pigs!" Leorio exclaimed.
Your eyes search the closest animal, only to stop in your tracks once you fully zeroed in on it. This was definitely not what you were expecting. The "pig" was gigantic with an equally big snout. Though, its snout looked pretty hard, not to mention that it has a sharp tip.
As you continued to stare at them, you noticed that they were also, in fact, carnivorous.
Maybe this wouldn't be so easy after all.
You and your friends sprinted in the opposite direction as a hoard of screaming pigs chased after all of you. Everytime you would turn back, someone else was being flown into the air from the impact of the pig's snout hitting them, which only made you wince.
You'd better do your best to avoid a direct hit, too.
However, the more you observed their snouts, the more you started to think. If they had such hard noses, it must be to overcompensate for something. Which means, their weak point was probably behind their shield.
The only problem was figuring out how to reach that spot.
Glancing around for a few seconds, you decided to jump on a tree and wait for one to come into range. You swiftly dashed into the bushes before climbing the tree, taking care as not to alert the pigs.
As you wait for one to approach, you notice Gon fighting a pig not-so far away. Unaware of your presence, he jumps in front of your tree and, as the animal is charging at him, leaps away at the last minute. The pig didn't have enough time to change direction and ended up colliding with the tree, which sent you stumbling out of it along with some fruit.
At first, you panicked and tried to regain your balance by flailing your arms around, but you quickly came back to your senses.
You switched positions mid-air and came crashing down on the beast's forehead. Luckily, your boots had a sort of heel-like platform to them, so it amplified your kick. The pig fell to the ground with a sharp squeal.
The loud thud seemed to have attracted the attention of everyone else around.
"Huh, so their weak spot is their forehead." Killua stated, looking over at the commotion you caused.
"So the pigs evolved large, tough snouts to protect their delicate foreheads."
You perked up at Kurapika's deduction and made your way over to the two, completely ignoring the pig chasing Leorio a few meters away.
"That's what I was thinking too! Though I wasn't expecting for one to launch me out of a tree…"
Your words earned a sheepish laugh from Gon before he yelled out a small "Sorry!".
After that, nobody wasted any time in using this newfound information to kill most, if not all of the pigs. You wanted to give the pig you'd accidentally killed to Gon but he refused, saying he wanted to get one himself. Again, something you just couldn't understand.
Well, whatever. Gon was also an enigma to you sometimes.
After everyone was done acquiring their pigs, you all made your way back to your respective stations.
Thankfully, your dad would often make you cook meals as part of "training" (and definitely not because he was too lazy to cook), so you were pretty confident in your abilities. However, when you looked around to see what everyone else was doing, you saw that they were literally just spinning the damn hog over fire!
You huffed in disapproval yet decided to just focus on your own dish and ignore them.
Much to your surprise, as you were cooking, someone approached the examiners with a practically burnt pig. You noticed that Buhara was chowing down on it, yet the woman had barely even looked at the dish. Despite this, she still failed the examinee.
You thought it made sense, considering his lack of effort, but he most definitely did not share the sentiment.
After him, you thought that maybe other people would be more creative. You had indeed thought wrong.
Even your dear friends disappointed you. Well, at least they tried to decorate and Kurapika even tried to do some tower dish with other ingredients. However, according to Menchi, all of it tasted like crap.
By this time, you were already almost done with your dish, although, on some level, you felt as though you could relate to the examiner. Imagine looking forward to eating all kinds of dishes only to be met with utter disappointment. Therefore, you at least tried to clean up your plate and make it look presentable.
You weren't a five star Michelin chef, though compared to your peers that may have as well been the case. You placed it in front of Menchi and she paused, staring at you as if you were her last saving grace.
You had somehow managed to make a very large portion of garlic pork bites, along with a sweet yet smoky sauce. You did what you could with the little ingredients provided, but you also went out of your way to divide the portions for Menchi and Buhara. Buhara, since you noticed he had a rather large appetite, got a much bigger portion.
"Well, this doesn't look so bad…"
You watched nervously as the mint-haired woman took a bite of your food, her expression never changing. Buhara, as he had done for everyone before you, happily passed you.
However, the real challenge was Menchi.
You heard her let out a small contemplative hum before pulling out her rating stick.
"It's passable. Definitely better than everyone else's."
At that, you heard collective gasps around you, however you ignored them, too busy celebrating your win.
"All right, that settles it!" The woman started, getting up from her seat. "Everyone but this little boy fails!" she announced while pointing at you.
Obviously, this incited the protests of all the other examinees. Now feeling a bit awkward, you used this opportunity to slip away while everyone was distracted.
Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking catches your attention. It was the first guy who failed, and he appeared to be pretty irritated.
"I absolutely refuse to accept this! You asked for pork, so we risked our lives to-"
His words were cut off by the woman's scolding.
"I said to prepare the pork in a manner we both found delicious…no one except for that boy made anything remotely delicious."
You smugly stuck your nose in the air, a boost of confidence surging through you at her indirect praise. You were busy snickering to yourself when you heard the sound of something heavy hitting one of the walls, which immediately snapped you out of your thoughts.
Looks like the fat guy from earlier tried to attack the examiner and got flung… seriously, did he forget that the examiners are licensed Hunters…?
However, as much as you agreed with Menchi, you also didn't want to pass the Hunter Exam this way. It would be kinda boring doing it all by yourself. Plus, you wanted to observe your friends more, and you obviously wouldn't be able to do that if they were sent home.
Just as you were racking your brain for ideas on how to fix this, an old man's voice came from above.
"Isn't it a little excessive to fail a whole pool of examiners?"
This voice came from… a giant flying fish…? No, it didn't seem to be alive and it apparently had the Hunter's logo on it (you definitely did not just hear that from someone beside you).
You didn't even have enough time to dwell on it, as something fell from the aircraft, causing smoke and debris to cover half the field as whatever-it-was landed.
After it cleared, you saw an almost bald old man standing before the crowd. Though, that wasn't the strangest thing about him: The ends of his eyebrows were long as hell and his beard was in the shape of a hook.
How does it even get it like that? You swear, everyone on the mainland is weird as hell.
Apparently, the man before you was Chairman Netero. You're not too sure what that title means, but you've heard your aunt mention it a few times before. Though, it was usually when she was taking serious work calls, so you assumed this was an equally important position.
Netero began talking to Menchi about whatever, you wouldn't know because you tuned them out, finding the conversation uninteresting.
You only started paying attention to it when you heard the mint-haired woman mention boiled eggs. You were still hungry after all, even though you did sneak a few bites of pork when no one was watching.
Your eyes shone with excitement and you swore you felt yourself start to drool. Your fantasizing was cut short by a snicker beside you. Somehow, while you weren't paying attention, Gon and Killua made their way next to you.
Killua was definitely mocking you, Gon, on the other hand, was only warmly laughing at you, which you didn't mind too much.
However, their antics still made you red with embarrassment. Your ears laid flat on your head and you reached up to grab ahold of them, as if they would somehow cover your beet-red face.
Before long, Menchi and the Chairman were done talking and it was time for everyone to board the aircraft. You were all on your way to a place called "Split Mountain".
You stood before a giant crack that split the entire mountain in half. You guess that's where it gets its name from.
Menchi had instructed your group to look down the ravine, in which you happily obliged. There weren't any mountains like this one back on your island.
You felt a shiver run down your spine at the word "spider". There weren't a lot of things you were scared of, seeing as though you grew up in a forest heavily populated by a variety of beasts. You weren't even scared of insects, well, except for one.
There was something just so unsettling about how they crawled, how they moved their legs, how they just…existed. You hope you don't run into one of these "spider eagle" things.
Suddenly, a cold breeze along with a faint whistle erupted from the ravine, making you shiver once again, though this time because of the low temperature and not from fear.
"They build webs down there?" You hear Gon ask from beside you.
Almost immediately after he finished speaking, an even stronger draft pushed your hair up. You scrunch your nose up and stretch your ears back in response; you were definitely not expecting that.
"Look below the web." Menchi spoke up again, completely unbothered by the cold, which was odd considering she was in very revealing clothing. "Those are spider eagle eggs."
"Spider Eagles build their webs in deep ravines to protect their eggs from predators. This makes their eggs one of the most difficult ingredients to obtain." You hear the old man's voice from behind you.
"The eggs are also known as 'dream eggs'."
His words do nothing but ignite your competitive side. Your ego says that you could obtain those eggs without breaking a sweat.
Without missing a beat, Menchi jumps down the crack and grabs a hold of one of the webs.
"Even if she can grab some eggs, how is she going to get back up?"
Leorio's question answered itself when you heard a slight whistle once again. It was the same whistle you'd heard earlier, right before the strong wind came out of nowhere.
"The wind!" You exclaimed in realization as Menchi released the hold she had on the web, grabbing an egg on her way down.
Before long, that strong gust of wind shot up again, causing the woman to quickly fly back up, still holding the egg. Finally, she stepped back onto the ledge, yet you and the two boys beside you continued to stare at her in awe.
"That looks fun.." You and Killua both said in unison.
"There. Now you just need to boil the egg-"
You didn't even wait for her to finish her sentence before jumping down the ravine, your friends following behind you.
It was pretty easy to grab a hold of one of the webs, so now the last step is just to wait, right?
Although, you began to grow uneasy as more and more people jumped down with you.
"Hey… won't the web break with this many people on it?"
Just as those words left your mouth, you felt the end of the web snap a bit.
You need to learn to keep your mouth shut sometimes.
Some people were already beginning to jump down, and Leorio was going to do the same, though Gon stopped him in time.
"There's no wind." Killua calmly explained before Kurapika added, "There isn't always an updraft."
"When's the next updraft?" Leorio asked impatiently.
You let out a chuckle while jokingly rolling your eyes at the man.
"Would you have some patience for once?" You quipped, flicking your tail at him.
Before you could continue with your teasing, you felt the familiar feeling of eyes boring into you, sending a cold shiver down your spine.
You quickly turn your head to face the culprit, only to meet Killua's nonchalant gaze.
You felt another vein bulge out of your head.
"What's your deal?!" You shouted, obviously irritated.
Why did he keep doing that and then pretending nothing happened?
Instead of answering, Killua simply let out a scoff and looked away, causing yet another vein to pop.
You felt another snap as the web struggled to stay stuck to the walls of the ravine, which quickly shut you up.
"Not yet, Gon?" Killua turned his head to look at the spiky-haired boy.
Seeing as he got away from his earlier antics, you grumbled something to yourself before turning away, deciding to just focus on the task at hand.
Suddenly, you heard the faint whistle and perked up.
"Now!" Gon yelled out of nowhere. Looks like he noticed the wind was coming too.
You and the rest of your group swiftly let go of the web and each of you grabbed an egg on your way down, much like Menchi had done not too long ago. Everyone else who was left also let go, choosing to trust Gon's judgement.
When the wind pushed you all back up to the surface, it almost looked like a hoard of worker ants bringing food back to their queen. You snickered at the thought of all your friends as ants.
After boiling the eggs, it was time to feast! Honestly, you wished you'd grabbed multiple.
"These are sho good!" You exclaimed with tears in your eyes, mouth still full of food. Your tail wagged in contentment as well and, if you were a cat, you'd probably be purring right about now.
You felt someone pinch your cheek and immediately pulled away, though their attack was relentless.
"Owww! Let go!" You whined.
"Hasn't anyone taught you not to eat with your mouth full?"
Of course, your attacker was Killua, as always. He sat crisscrossed, resting his head on the palm of his hand. He fixed you with an intense gaze, which you tried your hardest to ignore.
Just as you managed to get him to stop pinching you, he switched to poking you.
Finally having enough, you shoved your egg into Gon's hand.
Killua, sensing what you were about to do, made a break for it, though it seemed more like he only did that to mock you.
He definitely wasn't taking you seriously!
You chased after him non-stop, yet every time you thought you had him, he would evade you somehow, earning a laugh from Gon each time.
You growled in irritation, ears pressed back against your head.
"Stop running and come face me!"
Hello !! Sorry for making you guys wait so long for the next chapter ＞﹏＜ I was busy with school and all that lolol, which is also why i decided to only post updates on the weekends (when i can) until exams are over... again, sorry for the wait !!
also, sorry there's not a lot of moments with Gon (┬┬﹏┬┬) I promise there'll be more next chapter !!
