Hey guys! I hope you are liking this story so far. I hope you like the this chapter. I do not own Hunter x Hunter.
Chapter 10
Preview
In the end I was the only one that passed Phase Two and now everyone is angry at the proctor. This is bad, I wonder what is going to happen now. Will I be the only one passed or will something happen. Whatever it is I just hope that I am not the only one to pass.
Now
Phase Two
"This can't be for real... Hana is the only who passed?" Said Leorio.
"That's so stupid." Said Killua. I looked at Gon to see expression sadden.
"I... I want you to become a Hunter Onii-san." I said in a whisper for only him to hear. Menchi was on the phone with the committee.
"Like I said, it doesn't matter. Just tell the committee what I said." Said Menchi. "No way!"
"Menchi always loses herself when it comes to food." Said Buhara.
"Buhara, you keep your mouth shut!" Said Menchi. "I'm the one in charge of this test. Any objections?! Anyway, I will not change my mind! Only one passed Phase Two in cooking." I grabbed the phone from Menchi.
"Please hold it. Give them a time out, okay?" I said.
"Who is this?" Said the other speaker.
"I'm the only person that passed." I said.
"Hey, kid! What are you doing?" Said Menchi grabbing the phone. "You passed so why are you worried about them?"
"Because it's not fair that I am the only that passed." I said.
"We'll I'm sorry." Said Menchi. "But look... the right to decide who passes or fails belongs to me, the proctor. You got that, kid?"
"That's why all you have to say is, 'I will re-administer the test.'" Said Gon right behind the couch.
"Onii-san!" I said with a smile.
"No means no! This year's test is over! You guys too! Go home already." Said Menchi.
"Hey!" I said. Buhara and Menchi looked at me. "This isn't fair Menchi-san! I pointed to everyone. "They worked so hard and you are just going to fall them like this."
"Yes." Said Menchi. My face dropped as I looked at the couch. We heard something crashing to look at the wrestler making a big a hole in the kitchen.
"I can't accept that." Said the wrestler. "I can't just say, 'All right, I'll go home!'"
"I've had enough complaining from these two. I don't need it from you." Said Menchi.
"What...?" Said the wrestler.
"Look, why don't you try again next year?" Said Menchi.
"Don't give me that crap!" Said the wrestler. "I'm not aiming to become a cook or a gourmet, but a Hunter! Not only that, my goal is to become a Blacklist Hunter! And I refuse to be judged by a mere Gourmet Hunter!"
"A mere Gourmet Hunter?" Said Menchi.
"That's right. How can you call yourself a Hunter when all you do is eat find food and lay back?" Said the wrestler. "What a laugh!"
"That man is..." Said Leorio.
"Number 255. The wrestler Todo." Said Kurapika.
'Todo.' I thought. 'Oh so that's what his name was.'
"I'll never acknowledge such a person as a Hunter." Said Todo. "And certainly as a proctor. I bet the other guys here won't accept your judgment so meekly either." Buhara walked forward to Todo.
"Hold it, Buhara. Stay out of my business, will you?" Said Menchi.
"I can settle this by breaking a few bones in his body." Said Buhara. "But if you do it, you'll cook him, won't you?" I notice the knifes she was holding behind the couch.
"Cook...?" Said Leorio.
"I'm curious to see what you mean by 'cook.'" Said Killua. I looked at Killua and shook my head left and right.
'No you don't' I said worried.
"Cripes! That's why I hate amateurs." Said Menchi. I looked at Menchi. "All right. Number 255, I'll show you what being a Gourmet Hunter is really about." Menchi stand up from the couch. "The other applicants can watch too. It'll be my farewell gift to you all." Menchi put back her knife in her holder. "Give me about an hour."
"An hour?!" Said Todo. Menchi was out of the building and was gone in thin air leaving only a foot print. I turned to look at Gon with a sad face still siting on the couch.
"I'm sorry, Onii-san." I said. Gon turned to look at me. "I wanted to pass this Phase with you." I looked at Buhara he had frown on his face. "Buhara-san can you do anything to make Menchi-san reconsider?"
"I'm sorry Hana-san, but once Menchi makes her mind she won't change it." Said Buhara. I looked down at the ground and felt something on my head. I looked at Gon to see him smiling and put his hand on my head.
"It's alright Hana. I'm going to find a way to pass this with you." Said Gon. I smiled at Gon and nodded my head with a smile. We waited and waited. "Say hasn't it be an hour?"
"I'm back." We looked behind Buhara to see Menchi holding nothing.
"You said something about a farewell gift." Said Todo. "You're empty handed." Menchi reaching into to her shirt.
"Where are you looking?" Said Menchi taking something out. "See this?" It was a small bottle with green stuff in it.
"What the hell is that?" Said Leorio. Gon and I walked to look at the thing inside.
"It's moss!"
"But it's not ordinary moss." Said Gon.
"Hey kids, you have good eyes." Said Menchi.
"Moss, you said?" Said Tonpo.
"That's..." Said Buhara. Menchi walked down to one of the kitchen stands.
"This isn't ordinary moss." Said Menchi opening the lid and catching it with her other hand. "Minced very finely and sprinkled over rice... It's excellent." Menchi showed us the dish she created. "Now try it." Menchi handed it to Todo. "Here..." Gon and I looked at the dish.
"How dare you to expect me to eat moss! What an insult! It's not even funny!" Said Todo. Gon and I jumped up on the stand. Gon took the plate and the spoon from Menchi.
"Then we'll try it." Said Gon taking some on the spoon. "Here I go!" Gon put the food in his mouth.
"Onii-san let me try." I said grabbing the spoon and the plate to grab some food. I kept chewing on the food with the same expression our faces.
"Don't do it, Gon, Hana! What if you two get sick?!" Said Leorio.
"Gon and Hana can tell whether it's edible or not." Said Killua. We had confuse expression on our faces.
"It's disgusting, isn't it? You two can spit it out." Said Leorio. We shook our heads left and right. "Is it delcious?" We frowned at his answer.
"Not really..."
"Which is it? Is it or bad? Make up your mind!" Said Leorio made.
"We've never tasted anything like this before." Said Gon.
"It's unusual flavor that we never ate before." I said.
"It's not surprising for kids to be confused." Said Menchi speaking proudly. "This was taken from the Big Horn Bear which is found only in the Lauru Mountains beyond the Milsy Wetlands... Only a few are known to be alive and this is their horn moss."
"Eh?" I said. "But that kind of bear is huge!"
"Really?" Said Gon. I nodded my head.
"Even though the horns are long. It's almost impossible to get that moss from a gigantic bear. You have to be very skilled and must know a lot of knowledge about this kind of bear." I said.
"Not bad Hana-san. Speaking of which, who taught you this anyway?" Said Burhara.
"Oh, my Aunt Mito and my grandmother taught me." I said rubbing the back of my head.
"This is the rare delicacy that every gourmet in the world would drool over." Said Menchi.
"Hey, wait a minute." Said Leorio. "She said she got it by going beyond that marsh where half of the applicants had dropped out?!"
"Not only that, she made it within an hour without a scratch on her body." Said Kurapika.
"She's quite good." Said Killua.
"Do you have a better opinion of the Gourmet Hunter now?" Said Menchi talking to Todo.
"I need a few more bites before I can judge the flavor." Said Gon. Menchi took the plate away from Gon.
"Don't you dare help yourself! Do you know how precious this is?!" Said Menchi. I sighed a little. Todo kicked the table and Menchi caught the moss in the bottle.
"I don't care how precious that food is." Said Todo. "All I care about food is to fill my stomach. A Gourmet Hunter who puts so much value in such a thing is just a frivolous person with the 'Hunter' title."
"You are hopelessly stupid." Said Menchi.
"What did you say?!" Said Todo.
"We're not going to accept your decision to flunk us either!" Said one man.
"I'm going to grab your necks and drag you to the Exam Committee." Said Todo.
"Do as you please." Said Menchi walked to another direction.
"Hold it there!" Said one man.
"Why you!" Said another man. The two men walked to Menchi but was pushed my Buhara to the wall.
"Damn you!" Said Todo picking up Buhara and throwing him to the wall. Buhara looked up at him with not even a scratch.
"You are quite strong." Said Buhara. "Maybe I'll be more serious." Buhara stand up, but Menchi stand in front of him.
"Buhara, don't interfere." Said Menchi.
"Bring it on!" Said Todo running to punch Menchi but she kept on blocking. She grabbed his wrist and kick him in the stomach, then the face and headed him to the ground. I stopped her kick with my hand on her ankle. Menchi and Buhara looked at me surprised. Todo was behind me on the ground.
"I think he gets the message, Menchi-san." I said letting go her ankle.
"You are just full of surprises, kid." Said Menchi. She now looks at Todo who was on the ground. I moved out of the way for Todo to look at her. I was standing next to Gon and Killua.
"You're aspiring to be to become a Blacklist Hunter with that ability?" Said Menchi crossing her arms. "Don't make me laugh! It doesn't matter what kind of Hunter you want to be. If you are a Hunter, you must be skilled in fighting. That's something that you'll learn as a Hunter, whether you like it or not!"
"Menchi-san, that's enough." Between Gon and Buhara was Satotz. "At this point, no one dares to doubt your ability as a proctor. How should I put it? It's not my business to say anything about Phase Two, but..."
"Then keep your mouth shut!" Said Menchi. "No matter what anyone says, I have no intention of changing the test ! What I looked for in this test was not simply physical strength! What I was testing in this Exam was whether you had guts to confront something unknown to you!" Menchi pointed at me. "That kid is the only that pass this phase." My bangs were covering my eyes and my hand was in a fist.
"Then I don't want to pass without Onii-san and my friends!" I said screaming at her. Everyone looked at me.
"Hana." Said Gon.
"It's not fair!" I said.
"She's right, Menchi-san..." Said someone. My eyes were wide as I looked out of the building to see a big blimp. "Don't you think it's too harsh that this girl was the only one who passed?"
"Oh my..." Said Satotz.
"That is..." Said one man.
"The emblem of the Hunter Association!" Said another one.
"That's the Exam Committee!" Said another one. We stopped out of the building to look up and to see a man jumping out of the blimp. The old man landed perfectly on the ground with no bruises what so ever.
"C-Chairman..." Said Menchi.
The man named 'chairman' walked up to Menchi.
"Who is that old man?" Said Leorio.
"Menchi call him 'Chairman,' which means..." Said Kurapika.
"He jumped from that height..." Said Gon.
"That's amazing." I said.
"I'll say! What kind of bones does he have in his legs?" Said Killua.
"It's been a while, Chairman Netero." Said Menchi bowing down to him. Everyone started getting confusion.
"The chairman of the Exam Committee. He's the most important person in charge of the Hunter Exam." Said Satotz.
"So he really is an important person." Said Gon.
"Well that explains it." I said.
"No wonder..." Said Killua.
"Well, I'm the chairman, but I stay behind the scenes and act as a troubeshooter at times like this." Said Netero.
"Anyway, Menchi-kun..." Said Netero.
"Y-Yes!" Said Menchi looking at Netero.
"Look, that Menchi is so nervous." Said Leorio.
"It proves how important that man is." Said Kurapika.
"You were trying to test their spirit by challenging them to something unknown through cooking in Phase Two?" Said Netero.
"Exactly! That was my sole objective." Said Menchi. "That's why I gave them a very difficult subject, but..."
"But?" Said Netero.
"Well, I..." Said Menchi.
"You have evaluated them with that objective in mind and you felt that every one of them, except that girl, had a problem with their attitude." Said Netero looking at me then at Menchi. "In other words, you concluded that girl is the only one to qualify to pass. Is that so?"
"No. Some applicants made light of cooking and I lost my head." Said Menchi. "On top of that, there was another trouble where all the applicants found out how to make the dish... so I not only got even more upset, I became too full and..."
"Then what about the girl?" Said Netero.
"She was the one who knew about this before the applicants found out and was very knowledgeable about cooking, so I..." Said Menchi.
"In other words, she stands out the most to you, and you are fully aware that the other applicants weren't tested thoroughly?" Said Netero.
"Yes. When it involves cooking, I tend to lose myself." Said Menchi. "I am not fit to be a proctor. I'm sorry." The chariman laughed.
"You are an honest young woman." Said Netero. "Certainly, as a proctor, I see some problems. But it's understandable, you being a Gourmet Hunter with the title of Single Star Hunter. It's proof of you passion for cooking."
"Chairman..." Said Menchi.
"Let me propose this. We will administer another test. And I want Menchi-kun to continue to be in charge of the evaluations. However for the retest, I want you to participate by giving a demonstration. How about it? That will make it easier for them to accept you judgement." Said Netero looking at me. "And you will be in the test as well." I smiled.
"So then..." I said.
"Yes, you get to take the test with you Onii-san and friends." Said Netero.
"Yeah." I said smiling and looking at Gon.
"I was really worried about what was going to happen to us." Said Leorio.
"But we're still going to be tested by our cooking ability." Said Kurapika. "We can't take it too easy."
"Now we can try to pass the test together." I said.
"Yeah." Said Gon nodding his head with a smile.
"Aren't you two glad, Gon, Hana?" Said Killua.
"Yup!"
"Anyway..." Said Netero.
"Yes?" Said Menchi.
"What is the subject for the test, Proctor-kun?" Said Netero.
"Let me see..." Said Menchi. "All right... The subject is... boiled egg!"
"Yippee!" Said Gon.
"That's one of your best, Onii-san." I said.
"Gee, that's..." Said Killua.
"Chairman, will you take us to that mountain?" Said Menchi pointing at the tallest mountain.
"I see. That can be arranged easily." Said Netero. We were on the blimp that took us to the mountain she wanted us to go. The mountain was cut in half.
"Here we are." Said Menchi. We all looked down the middle passage.
"Umm... Where the hell is this?" Said one of the men.
"What is it like down there?" Said Todo.
"Don't worry." Said Menchi getting our attention. "There is a deep river down there." Menchi took off her boots and turned to the mountain. "Well, I'm going ahead." Menchi jumped down the middle passage.
"She went down to get an egg of the Spider Eagle which lives in this Split Mountain." Said Netero. "The Spider Eagle hands it's egg on it's strong web to protect them from the land beasts living in the area. Bring back one Spider Eagle's egg." Menchi poped up from the middle passage.
"You are to make a boiled egg with this." Said Menchi holding a Spider Eagle egg. "You have to be careful. The river current below is very swift. If you fall, you will be washed out straight to the sea kilometers away." Menchi was flat on the mountain. I took of my boots.
"I'm glad." Said Killua.
"I was waiting for something like this." Said Gon.
"Yeah, this is going to be easy." I said with a smile standing up.
"It's so much simpler than running or cooking a strange ethnic dish." Said Leorio.
"I agree with you..." Said Kurapika. Leorio jumped down.
"I'm going ahead!" Said Leorio.
"Hey! Wait, I'm coming down too!" I said jumping down. Killua and Gon jumped down.
"Me too." Said Kurapika going down. We pulled on the spider webs and looked around for an egg. I looked for the egg that was close to me.
"Got one." I said. I looked at Gon to see him kicked in the back by Todo.
"I got it!" Said Todo. We saw Eagles coming towards us.
"Spider Eagles!" Said one of the man falling down.
"Help!" Said Todo. I jumped down to save Todo.
"Hana!" Said Gon. Gon jumped and grabbed Todo and me.
"Onii-san give me boast, you can't hold both of us." I said but instead it was Todo who threw me.
"What?" I said looking down at him.
"I don't want to owe you any favor,s girl!" Said Todo. I smiled and jumped on the rocks to the webs.
"Hana, Gon you two alright?" Said Leorio.
"Yup. We're all right!" Said Gon. We got up the mountain and Gon helped Todo up.
"This not the first time, but you two are too reckless!" Said Leorio. We laughed smiling at Leorio.
"We're all right." I said.
"The hunt for the ingredient is over." Said Menchi. "Show me the egg you've gotten." Todo stand up and walked over to her.
"Don't think ill of me. But the egg is mine." Said Todo walking to her again.
"Damn that bastard! I can't let him have it." Said Leorio.
"Don't worry." Said Kurapika. I sighed.
"I swear, Onii-san. You just love to pull games don't you?" I said smiling at Gon. Todo got into his pocket to see the egg gone.
"It's strange." Said Todo. Gon was in front of Todo with the Spider Eagle egg in his hand.
"Here! Look." Said Gon.
"Why you! When did you...?" I chuckled as Killua looked at me.
"You knew..." Said Killua. I looked at Killua with a smile.
"Of course I knew. He's my Onii-san." I said. Leorio was rubbing Gon's head and Gon was laughing.
"It's too early to celebrate." Said Menchi. We all looked at Menchi. "The test is not over yet. You are going to make the boiled egg as assigned." Behind Menchi was big boiler and we put our eggs in the boiler. "Let me remind you. A boiled egg is a find dish too. The boiling time is the most essential point. You can't just boil a Spider Eagle egg for the same time as an ordinary egg. I don't have to tell you what will happen if you over boil it. Naturally, a half boiled egg means you fail, too..."
"Isn't it about the time?" Said Leorio.
"Nope. A little longer." Said Kurapika.
"I don't even know the boiling time for an ordinary egg..." Said Killua. I noticed the Spider Eagle Egg popped up and Buhara's uneasy face. I put my net in the boiler.
"Ohhh!" Said Buhara.
"He just said 'oh'!" Said Gon. I sighed.
"And look Hana is putting her net in the boiler!" Said Leorio. All at once they put there nets in the boiler as I put my net out.
"Cripes! That was so obvious." Said Menchi.
"It's also obvious that I put my net in the boiler before everyone else too, you know." I said in a whisper.
"This is an ordinary egg." Said Menchi holding an ordinary egg in one hand. "And, this is a Spider Eagle egg. Taste them and compare them." I ate the ordinary egg and then ate the Spider Eagle egg, and was surprised by the flavor.
"This is good." I said.
"It's very rick and creamy, and melts in my mouth." Said Kurapika. "It taste as though the life force of the Spider Eagle is still there."
"Yeah. I've never tasted a boiled egg like this before!" Said Leorio.
"It's truly worth risking one's life to hunt for it." Said Hanzo.
"I agree on that." I said smiling.
"I can tell the difference! Unlike the moldy rice." Said Gon.
"It wasn't mold. It was moss!" Said Menchi. "The horn moss! I told you it was a rare delicacy!" Gon turned to look at Todo.
"Todo-san, I'll give you half." Said Gon.
"Y-Yeah." Said Todo taking the Spider Eagle egg from Gon.
"D-Delicious. It's really delicious...! I never imagined there could be anything so delicious in this world!" Said Todo eating the whole thing. I split my egg in half and gave some to Gon. Gon smiled at me.
"When you discover something exquisite that no one else has tasted before..." Said Menchi. "you experience overwhelming joy and emotion which is no less than the feeling you get when you capture a notorious criminal or discover a great treasure. That's why we are proud of being Gourmet Hunters." Todo turned around and started walking to look at Menchi one more time.
"I'll come back again next year." Said Todo walking away.
"That's cool!" Said Gon. Killua was next me as I gave him my other half of the egg. Killua looked at me.
"Not hungry." I said walking up to Gon.
"Well, I'm supposed to be a genius Gourmet Hunter, you know." Said Menchi. "And I must prove I'm a good proctor as well. Well then, Chairman Netero..."
"Yes." Said Netero.
"Phase Two has 43 who passed!" Said Menchi. "Menchi's menu is over!"
"Yeah!" I said hugging Gon as we smile at each other. We were now on the blimp going to our next destination. I looked at the sky with a smile on my face.
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