A few moments of silence passed before...
All the men burst out laughing. "You, a little girl, want to take the hunter exam?" Number one exclaimed. I glared at him. "Sorry kid, but I don't think you'd even get past the first phase, much less the following ones," Number two said.
"You guys can't order me around. I have free will too! I can take the hunter exam if I want to. I... I have to." They exchanged looks. "That's alright with you, right?" I asked Mr. Beans. He contemplated it. "Well... we can't really force you into going anywhere or doing anything..."
"No way."
"You're actually gonna let her take it?"
"That's absurd! There's no way a weak little girl like her would pass!"
I frowned at them. I won't know until I try, and why do they keep calling me little girl? I'm 22, I don't look that young. Though I appreciate the comment, hehe... But anyway, this means I can take the hunter exam, and finally figure out why it seems so familiar. There's just something peculiar about the numbered pins, Mr. Beans, the name 'hunter exam,' and these phases they keep talking about. It gives me a sense of strange nostalgia.
"Here you go, Miss Aki," Mr. Beans said. "Huh?" I blinked and looked down, snapping out of my thoughts. He was holding out another badge. Oh yeah... these must represent the order the applicants got here in.
I pinned the badge to my shirt- wait a second, I fell asleep in a tank top and sweatpants- what's with this outfit?!
From what I could tell from my angle, I was wearing an oversized sweater with a dark vintage-pink color. Beneath it I had on jean shorts with black leggings and black leather combat boots.
I stared at the clothing that definitely wasn't mine, feeling the fabric. Where did I get these clothes? And... more importantly... who dressed me?! I looked down at my body again. It looked... smaller. And more child-like. Please don't tell me...
"Mr. Beans, do you have a mirror? Or a phone? Or- or anything?" I asked desperately. "I- uh, well, yes." He rummaged around his pockets and pulled out a normal looking sleek black phone. He handed it over to me after switching on the camera. My hands were shaking as I clicked the flip button to see my face.
I stared at the screen for a few moments. "Miss Aki, are you... okay?" Mr. Beans asked. "You don't look well. Maybe you shouldn't take the hunter exam," Number one said. I smiled weakly and gave Mr. Beans his phone back. "I'm fine. Perfectly fine."
Only I wasn't. I wasn't Evly Dare anymore. I was literally a different person... aside from my mind. My hair had gone from brown to a wavy midnight black, and it flowed halfway down my back in two low and loose pigtails. Damn, I'm pretty cute. Wait, this is NOT the time for that.
My eyes weren't brown anymore either- I had heterochromia. My right eye was a coppery caramel color, like maple syrup. Some kind of pretty hazel color. It shone like amber. My left eye was an attractive ocean blue color, like rich sapphires.
These colors... they reminded me of something. I'm pretty sure it was related to all this hunter stuff. I gritted my teeth. Why can't I remember this stuff? It's obviously important to this situation!
Anyway, I know a few things now. My new name is Aki Arata. I look like a completely different person- a little girl around 12 years old. I'm applicant number four. I'm here to take the hunter exam in order to spark my memory, and somehow find a way home.
(A/N: if you watch hxh, I'm sure you know that although Japanese people normally address others by their last name, in hxh, they start with their first names. For example, when Gon and Killua first met, they introduced themselves with their first names and called each other by their first names too. So that's why instead of calling her "Arata" or "Arata-san" it's "Aki" and "Aki-san.)