In the Hunter x Hunter world, there were two seasons, the Manga season and the Hiatus season. The latter could occur anytime of the year and its duration varied from days to months. Within this season, everyone could do as they pleased but its end, they would return back to their assigned roles for the Manga season.
Gon yawned as he watched the sea. There had been numerous Hiatus seasons before and this time, the boy had convinced everyone to go to his favourite vacation spot, an island he had appropriately named "Hiatus Island". They had just arrived and everyone was excited.
"Has anyone seen my red lipstick?", the young boy heard Kurapika asking. "By the way how do you guys like my new bikini?"
Gon was always surprised how fast Kurapika could switch from serious boy to pretty girl. "I always have to wear these old-fashioned clothes and pretend to be male-this short hair makes me look like a boy even now!" The girl looked at her reflection in the mirror. "This Hiatus season I'll let my hair grow."
"Guess what I'm gonna do this season", Leorio interrupted.
"Burn your books like you always do?", Gon offered. There was one law to the Hiatus season which only he was aware of it. At the end, everyone's memories would reset and nobody would remember anything that had happened during this time-the Manga season would simply continue where it had left off. As a result, the Hiatus seasons repeated each other with roughly the same words being said again and again.
As the protagonist, Gon was exempt from this rule and his memories dated back to the very first Hiatus season. Thus, the feeling of vacation had long left him and instead, he experienced the torture of having to live through a never-ending cycle of Hiatus seasons. He had thought about ways to end this, but there was only one conclusion: "I have to kill myself, I have to kill myself this time for sure", the black-haired boy muttered to himself.
"Oh no, he's doing it again", Killua immediately realised. "Here are your anti-depressants." The ex-assassin handed his friend a couple of pills. "Repeat after me: I am a cheerful 12-year-old boy."
"I am a cheerful 12-year-old boy", Gon repeated apathetically. While 12 years was his physical age, due to retaining the memories of the endless Hiatus seasons, his mental age was 20 years. Not that anyone would believe him though. Throughout the Manga season, he still had to pretend to be the same naive and clueless boy he had once been.
"Anyway", Leorio continued, upset that Gon had predicted his plan. "I'll burn those books and finally follow the path of the shinobi. This Hiatus season I will finally become a ninja!"
"I wanted to read those books", Killua protested.
"Didn't you want to become the owner of a sweets shop?", Kurapika asked still preoccupied with the mirror.
"Of course I want to! I want to maximise the addictive effect of sugar", Killua explained. "I'll be spending less on marketing if my customers are dependent on their sugar rush."
"Not sure if you're gonna be a vendor or a drug dealer", Leorio commented.
"I've decided on a new goal", Kurapika exclaimed ignoring her friend's conversation. "This revenge-thingy is so stressful, I'm getting wrinkles." The girl looked at her face. "I'll take over the Phantom Troupe and end this all for once."
Gon looked up. His friends' dreams were meaningless, at the start of the Manga season they would all return to their assigned roles. Whether they wanted it or not, they were slaves of the system, not even allowed to remember their holidays.
"Actually I have invited them to the island", Killua said. "They should be here already."
As the sky darkened, the Spider had made its camp at a beach near Gon and his friend's place. It was a small sandy beach surrounded by rocks, not tourist-friendly, but a bandit would like.
Kurapika marched into their camp without wasting time. "I am going to take over your group."
Slightly amused, Gon looked at the surprised faces of the Phantom Troupe. Seeing them sitting around their campfire, it was the first time he had felt a positive emotion since their first Hiatus season. "Long time no seeing", he greeted Chrollo who was sitting apart from the others. "How's it going?"
"I haven't been in a panel in ages so I'm tight on money", the gang leader gave away more information than Gon wanted.
"You charged 1,500 Jenny for each panel you appeared in", Shizuku reminded him. "So it's kinda your own fault. Feitan's really cheap, no wonder he succeeded you."
"Being cheap equals more appearances, so the end result is the same", the said Spider explained shortly.
"At least you get to negotiate your pay." Money was not Gon's favourite topic. "As the main character, I always get paid the same, whether I appear or not. And I don't get a lot cause I'm under-aged."
"Well, you're just a generic kid, anyone could do your job. You started out without any skills so I wonder why you even get any pay", Phinks replied annoyed.
"No matter how much you earn, I'm here to take over your group", Kurapika interrupted. She hadn't come to have a friendly conversation and patience wasn't her strong point. "Trying to get revenge is too stressful and not good for my skin, so let's end this here and now."
Her words were directed to Chrollo but the gang leader just pointed onto Feitan. "I'm not getting any pay so I'm not dealing with it", he explained unimpressed.
The black-haired male looked at Kurapika and Gon could see the girl wavering. Maybe it was just because she was still dressed in her bikini and the wind had gotten chilly. "Alright, you can be the leader."
Gon was surprised. The Hiatus season was a calm and peaceful time, he had never seen anything of this magnitude happening. If for some reason, his friends kept their memories, the plot would be irreparably damaged.
"You can't be serious", Machi replied in shock.
"Just because you're the new leader doesn't mean we'll follow you", Nobunaga said more calmly. "Right, Chrollo?"
However, the addressed male nodded towards Kurapika. "Follow her." His order was short, but Gon didn't fail to notice the amused undertone in his voice.
"Thank you for co-operating", the girl said, as surprised as everyone else. "Then, from tomorrow on, I will be your leader."
xxx
The next day, Gon worried about Chrollo's and Feitan's strange behaviour. Why would they let someone take over their troupe? Being unaware of the reset, the Phantom Troupe had to assume that the changes would carry over into the Manga season and completely destroy the plot. Unless... this was a plan and Kurapika had run into their trap.
"I didn't think it would be this easy", Leorio commented while throwing his books into the fire.
"This guy-he was so cool!", Kurapika reflected. "I better dress up for tomorrow!"
"Who? Chrollo?", Killua asked while trying to save the books he was interested in. "He's broke, why would you go for him?"
"I meant Feitan", the girl corrected him. "And I don't care about money."
It was a reply that Gon had foreseen. In every Hiatus season they had encountered the Phantom Troupe, those two had always fallen in love with each other. They didn't look like they would make a good couple, yet during one particularly long Hiatus season Kurapika and Feitan had even gotten engaged.
"Anyway, what are you gonna make them do?", Leorio changed the topic.
At that moment the Phantom Troupe arrived so Leorio's question was answered as Kurapika addressed them. "From now on our name is 'Eco Troupe' and our first mission will be picking up the trash from the beach."
Ignoring the Spider's response, Kurapika added, "and don't forget to recycle."
Meanwhile, Gon was looking for the two Troupe members that were missing, Chrollo and Feitan. He found them watching from afar.
"What's your plan?", he asked the tone of his voice and the expression in his eyes not fitting for a 12-year old. "Why did you guys let this happen?"
"I don't get paid for this so I don't care", Chrollo replied. "Let them do what they want."
Feitan revealed the true reason. "They won't remember."
Gon looked at the two. The plot mandated them to be enemies, yet could it be... "You know about the reset?"
"The bonus for being the leader", Feitan answered. "I regained all my memories, too."
Gon was happy someone had a worse fate them him. Being in an endless cycle of Hiatus seasons, at least he didn't start a relationship with someone who would forget about it. How many times had they started to date over and over? The fate of Chrollo was not much better: Without any Manga season appearances, the Hiatus season was all he had. "You remember being engaged?", he asked Feitan.
His reply was short as usual. "I do."
"This is why we want to find a way for everyone to retain their memories", Chrollo explained. "And to find a way for me to make money."
"We thought a disturbance big enough would break through the reset", Feitan continued. "I killed Hisoka a few times..."
"And one time we even donated all our possessions to charity", Chrollo remembered. "Yet nothing happened."
"Let's work together", Gon suggested. Having hope for the first time, his voice had regained the optimism it used to have.
However, in that moment Gon felt his body fading away, a sign that the Hiatus season was over. In a few seconds, they would all be back at the same spot they had been before the Hiatus season had started.
"We'll call ourselves 'Holiday Troupe'", Chrollo confirmed, only faintly audible.
Now I'm going feel bad for Feitan for the rest of the evening...