Slicin' Fruit!

Riakke had her phone at its dimmest setting, and wasn't really listening to what's happening on the stage. The commotion when that Leorio guy had punched one of the Zodiacs had died down a while ago, and was on stage talking about helping his friend? Like she said, she wasn't listening.

She sliced another watermelon on her screen. "Pssst!" Riakke turned to see a woman with red hair and yellow eyes holding up her own phone with the same game displayed on the screen. "Wanna match? Sitting here listening to them talk is going to give me wrinkles!" She pleaded. Riakke smiled, and switched to multiplayer. They played through the next few rounds of voting, eventually introducing themselves somewhere after their seventh round of playing. "I'm Khara, by the way."

"Riakke." She grunted, focusing more on the combo she was growing on her phone than being polite.

She heard a sound of recognition from the other Hunter. "I think I remember hearing about you a while back. Didn't you wander into the Hunter Exam and pass?" Khara sounded a little incredulous by the end, not really paying attention to the game and still wracking up points. How was she doing that?

She hummed noncommittally. "It wasn't my fault the password that time sounded like a viable request."

The countdown ended, and the words "YOU LOSE!" bubbled up animatedly before they burst.

Never let it be said that she trusted this crowd to decide anything. There were obnoxious shouts of "What kind of father are you?" and other slurs that were along the same line of thought. But she figured they hadn't caught how the kid addressed Ging.

Not once did the kid say anything that could be heard as a relative status. No dad, no father, just Ging.

And Ging was obviously affected by Gon being there.

Riakke could see it from where she was sitting in the back row. Ging only started to get flustered when his kid started to cry; he didn't seem to react or care about anything else this election had thrown his way. He definitely cared about Gon.

Aaaaand there was a brawl going on now that the voting ended. Ging was certainly putting the smack-down on everyone else. Riakke had very carefully positioned herself out of the way when a bulky figure leaned against the wall next to her. The silence was comfortable when she eventually spoke. "Can I have a rain check on getting roaring drunk with you?"

"Having a plus-one made you responsible? I should have foisted someone on you years ago!" Morel laughed.

She chuckled with him. "Maybe, yeah. I'm not looking forward to the damage control I'll have to do when I pick him up." She rested her head against the wall with a groan. "And then there's the paperwork to get him legal. Not including the hoops I would have to jump through if he got it into his head to take the Hunter Exam!" Good thing she had a few contacts at a really good law firm. Maybe the Chimera Ants have a system that works for them, and she could borrow it to use for Cheetu. She thumped her head on the wall a few times to banish those thoughts before stepping away and headed towards the pile of people near the stage.

She was going to get in a fight. She didn't want to be responsible.

These Hunters were extreme wimps. Riakke didn't need to use Nen to fling these losers back in the general direction she thought they had sat for the election. A punch or two to the head for the more difficult ones, and then she let them fly. With Ging in the middle of the crowd curb stomping everyone within reach, and her tossing those on the outskirts into unconsciousness, it took no time at all for the some-odd six hundred on two to finish.

With the urge to be contrary satisfied, Riakke started to climb the stairs to talk with Morel some more. "Not going to comment on my fatherly abilities?" Stopped her, and she turned her head back at one one the candidates for the Chairman position.

"He seems to be doing just fine." The without you was left unsaid, and seemed to fly over the father's head judging by how proudly he smiled. She withheld the eye roll she so wanted to do, and stomped up the stairs to Morel. "Let's get you some normal clothes. It's just freaky not seeing you in your suit."

He chuckled at her, and lead her out of the huge auditorium. "I've got a set back at the hospital I can change into." He said when they were in the elevator. Riakke hummed, her phone out and in her hand with the other holding the suitcase. "I've been meaning to ask, but why'd you let him live? And none of that bullshit you used when you first called me."

Riakke was confused for a moment before she realized he had switched topics. She thought about it for a while, and followed him out of the elevator when they reached the ground floor. "Hmm? I suppose I did it because I could understand him."

Morel stumbled, and she could see is eyebrows were raised above his sunglasses. "How is that a reason?" He demanded.

"Well, I wasn't really thinking when I decided." She scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "But lookin' back on it, I'd like to think I made the right call."

Morel made an encouraging sound for her to continue, but she waited until they were out of the Hunter's Association building and in her rented car. "Cheetu is able to communicate, articulate his thoughts, learn from his deficiencies, and improve at a rapid pace." She explained, glancing at Morel in the passenger seat from the corner of her eye, buckling her seat belt, and started the car. "I wouldn't be surprised if the other surviving Chimera Ants were able to do so as well, though not as much if I understand it right. I'm guessing it's because they remember being human before they were eaten. Cheetu has mentioned a couple things that supports my theory." She barely paid attention to pulling out of the parking lot and into traffic. Idly, she cursed out the idiot in front of her for going so slow in her head, but didn't let it distract her from her conclusions.

"But have you asked them who they were before? What did they do? How old they were?"

There was a moment of tense silence in the car as Riakke let Morel think about what she was insinuating.

He remained quiet throughout the rest of the trip.

Eventually, Riakke commented quietly as she watched Morel step out of the car, "I'm really glad I didn't end up killing a kid. It's not in my restrictions, but that sort of thing would stick with me for the rest of my life." She smiled at him.

Morel grunted, and shut the door.

Riakke sighed deeply, and made her way to the rental agency. "He is a lot like me when I was younger." She murmured. The sun would be setting soon. If she was fast enough, she might be able to make it to the Chimera's mansion by sunrise.

Including time zones, of course.

((A/N: I don't even know anymore... I was going to write about her Hunter Exam, but Pitou77 from Ao3 turned it over to this (thank you, by the way!). I tried to squeeze it in, but it never turned out right. Maybe next chapter, yeah?

Has anyone figured out what Riakke's Nen is? Like type and ability? Leave a guess down below!))