The sound of pen scratching paper. The exasperated sighs, and squeals of frustration.
Mito had missed these sounds. Taking a break from her household tasks, she leant against Gon's open doorway, head resting on the wooden frame. His tongue out, back arched over the desk, he was furiously scribbling away at a sheet of school work. A smile crept onto Mito's face, as the furrowed eyebrows and piles of crumpled paper suggested that he had been hard at work on this piece for some time now.
Suddenly Gon leant back on his chair, and began tearing at his hair in annoyance. He let loose a shout of pent up anger, a shout so loud that it threw him off his balance.
The chair and the child on it collapsed onto the floor behind, causing Mito to let loose a burst of laughter as she watched her foster child lie motionless on the floor, defeated by ink and paper. Sensing that her assistance was required, Mito knelt down next to him.
"What is it, Gon?"
Gon turned his head to look over at Mito and puffed out his cheeks. Distain welled up in his voice as he uttered one of his worst nightmares.
"Math. It's impossible."
A light chuckle escaped Mito's lips, before she offered up words of encouragement.
"Oh, don't be so dramatic, I'm sure it can't be too hard. If you passed the Hunter exam I'm sure you can pass this one."
She slid a hand under the back of the chair, and began to lift if back up, with Gon's assistance. It only took him a second, but she couldn't help but notice how easy it was for him. Like lifting up a sheet of paper. In the time he'd been away, he had grown so much, she didn't want to think about what could have caused such rapid change. While he hadn't been exactly slight before, he was now much bulkier, with smooth muscles running all down his arms.
His eyes were different now. Before he left they were light and carefree, but now they were specked with something darker. It was like Ging all over again, returning, but not returning as the same person. She couldn't help but wonder how brief this return was too.
"M-Mito, what are you.." Gon exclaimed in slightly embarrassed shock. Mito looked down, realising that she was clutching Gon in her arms, his still adolescent body tightly pressed into hers. Looking past her blurring vision, she released him to arms length.
"If you need help... I don't think I could, but Grandma might-"
A smile like the sun lit up Gon's face as he replied;
"You don't need to worry about me Mito!"
And just like that, he was back to it, arcing pen across paper. Deciding to leave him to it and get back to her work, Mito took one last glance over her shoulder as she left, because she knew she had to cherish these blissful moments while she could.