Chapter 14
Nyoka and Sasha managed to catch up to Gon, Killua, Zushi, and Wing. They pretended to be ignorant of the conversation the four had earlier.
"Hey," Nyoka said, making the males before her jump.
"Geez, Noka! Don't creep up like that!" Killua said.
"You should know that that's what she does," Sasha said with a giggle. Nyoka looked from Killua to Zushi and Wing.
"What are they doing here?" she asked. Zushi looked towards Gon and Killua.
"Gon and Killua were interested in learning Nen and Ren," the small brunette said. Nyoka raised an eyebrow.
"Is that the thing that you did when you changed your stance during your fight with Kill?" she asked. Zushi nodded. After a moment of hesitation, Nyoka looked up to Sasha.
"Do you know what that is?" she asked. Sasha nodded.
"Mom and Dad know it. Surprisingly, Mom taught me. She knows everything about it," she said.
"So, you can teach me, then?" Nyoka asked. It was less of a question and more of a demand. Sasha jumped back, holding her hands up as if to defend herself.
"No, no, no! I'm no teacher!" she said with a nervous laugh. Nyoka's eyebrow twitched.
"You'll teach me," she said as she turned to Wing. He paused.
"I guess I can take on another student," he said, nodding. Sasha sighed a sigh of relief as she walked behind the kids. The Evans family has always been talented with harnessing their Nen abilities. Each generation was different and people were never able to predict what kind of Nen that would be used with the next generation. Sasha was excited to see what kind of Nen Nyoka would have.
Later...
The group was in Wing's home, learning the basics of Nen. Gon, Killua, and Nyoka stood in front of Wing.
"Paying attention? Nen, or burn, is the power that fire's our soul. In other words, it's the strength of your will," Wing said, writing on a whiteboard.
"And the four exercises is a training regimen that strengthens your will," he said.
"Strengthen's your will?" Gon asked, sounding slightly confused.
'This better not be one of those believe-in-yourself-you-can-achieve-anything things,' Nyoka thought.
"Training?" Killua asked.
"Correct," Wing said.
"Ten, focus the mind on a single point. Reflect on the self and determine a goal. Zetsu, to put into words. Ren is to intensify your will. Hatsu is to release it into action," he said, pointing to the words which he had written on the board. The kids studied the board carefully.
"Ten. Zetsu. Ren. Hatsu. The four exercises," Gon said as Wing pointed to the words on the board.
"See, Zushi tempered his refusal to lose during his battle with you, Killua," Wing turned to Killua. Nyoka looked in the same direction, noticing the boy's icy eyes widened a bit. She faced forward but kept looking at Killua from the corner of her eye.
"Now, allow me to demonstrate. Killua," Wing said. Nyoka's gaze left Killua and returned to Wing.
"For this demonstration, I would like to kill you now. Alright?" he said. Nyoka raised an eyebrow.
"Sure, why not? But you won't be able to," Killua said.
"Let's do this in order. First, Ten. I focus my mind on a single point," Wing changed his stance, crossing his hands at the wrist and squatting slightly.
"Zetsu, express your desired intent, either mentally or verbally," Wing said, opening his eyes before closing them again.
"I will kill you," he said. Nyoka started paying more attention when she heard gasps from the boys. She noticed a purple aura had formed around Wing. His expression intensified, as did the aura. Nyoka flinched. She had been startled by the fact that is made her think of that encounter with Illumi. She wanted to look at Sasha, who hadn't moved a bit but just narrowed her eyes. However, she couldn't move. Frozen by fear. With quick speed, Nyoka and Killua jumped. Killua clung to a corner of the roof and Nyoka hid behind Sasha. Wing backed down.
"Intimidation plays a big part in this process," Sasha said, pulling her sister out from behind her and hugging her.
"That was a taste of Ren. With enough strength and focus, the will functions as action or Hatsu. With a strong will, your opponent will back down. A more familiar term will be bluffing," Wing said. Nyoka took a few shaky breaths before calming down.
"It's exactly like Illumi's powers," Nyoka said, shaking her head. Sasha nodded.
"Ren hardens that which is soft and you'll suddenly find that you've lost your ability to correct an incorrect idea. Therefore, until your soul has fully matured, avoid using Ren," Wing said. Nyoka sighed.
"As of now, you four should focus on training your souls," Wing said. Nyoka heard a sigh come from Killua. She looked towards him and saw that he was walking towards the door.
"Let's go," he said.
"If you truly wish to learn Ren, focus on mastering Ten first," Wing said with a small smile. The kids looked back to him.
"If you learn Ten, you'll no longer feel the power of an opponent's will," Wing said. Killua and Gon walked out. Nyoka looked back to Wing once more. She bowed.
"Thanks," she said before running after the boys. Sasha stood up, heaving a tired sigh.
"They never stop moving," she chuckled before walking out with them.
Later...
"You know, right?" Sasha asked as the four walked.
"Yeah," Killua said. Nyoka sighed. She looked at her friends.
"What?" Gon asked.
"Wing lied," Nyoka said.
"He lied?" Gon was confused.
"What he said was true, as far as it went. His powers are the real deal..." Killua said.
"But he missed some things," Sasha said.
"Like?" Gon asked.
"Like how Zushi's that strong. In our fight, he got back up every time I knocked him down. That was pretty annoying. Which is why I got a little pushy with him near the end," Killua said. Nyoka thought back to the fight.
Killua had knocked down Zushi many times. The small brunette got up again and again.
"That kid's really pissing off Killua," Sasha said. She couldn't help but smile. Killua got flustered easily.
"How is he doing that?" Nyoka asked, narrowing her eyes and Zushi was thrown down again but got up. Suddenly, Killua rushed towards Zushi, hitting him in the gut with a hard punch. Sasha flinched as Zushi's small body rolled across the arena. He spat up a little blood.
"Go easy on him, Killua!" Sasha yelled. Nyoka watched Killua back down, realizing what he had done. As the smoke cleared, Nyoka crossing her arms and putting one of her legs over the other. Once Nyoka could see through the smoke, her eyes widened. Sasha gasped.
"Damn! What is that kid?!" she said.
"No normal person would be able to do that. Let alone a kid of his stature. Kill's hit should have at least caused some internal bleeding or something," Nyoka said. Sasha nodded. The announcer called that Killua had won by TKO. Nyoka's eyes narrowed.
"It wasn't just strength and will alone that kept him standing that whole time," Killua said.
"There's more to the story than we were originally told," Nyoka said. The group returned to their rooms. Nyoka sighed as she watched Sasha return to her room. She followed Killua. She stopped when she felt a tug on her sweater sleeve.
"C'mon," Sasha said, inviting her sister back inside.
"About time," Nyoka said as she walked into her room.
"Thanks," she said once the door was shut.
"Don't mention it," Sasha winked. Nyoka sighed. The girls changed into their pajamas before going to bed. Nyoka sat awake, thinking over the events that have happened since the Hunter Exam. The good, the bad...and the very ugly.
The Next Day...
Nyoka was watching Gon's fight from a screen in the girl's waiting room. She narrowed her eyes as she listened to the conversation between Gon and his opponent.
"Your little one-hit move won't work on me. I'm as slippery as a snake," the man fighting Gon said.
"Rodent. You don't know what you're talking about," Nyoka scoffed. A few ladies who were in the room looked over to her. She stared at them.
"What?" she blinked. One of the ladies chuckled.
"You're cute, kid," she said. She appeared to be drunk...
"And you're an alcoholic. I can practically smell the booze from here," Nyoka spat, turning back to the screen. The lady laughed, her curly brown hair bouncing as she did so.
"Touché," she raised her glass before taking a swig of it. Nyoka watched as the fight between Killua, Gon, and their opponents ended quickly and the boys advanced to the two hundredth floor. Nyoka got up.
"My turn," she said, standing up and walking to the arena. She was itching for a fight.
"Have a wonderful time!" said a lady who bowed when Nyoka's elevator went up. Her opponent didn't show up so she reached the 200th floor by default. She was glad she was already at the upper-level floors as she hoped for there to be an opponent who would actually give her a good fight. She sighed as the doors opened. She walked out and was greeted by her sister.
"Hiya," Sasha said with a cheery tone.
"Out to find the boys?" She asked. Nyoka nodded as she walked.
"They didn't show..." she grumbled.
"Your opponent? Well, I guess that's what happens when you beat everyone else in one hit. You scared off the competition!" Sasha said. Nyoka narrowed her eyes. People were starting to fear her? She kind of liked it but knew that scaring others would get her nowhere right now. She wanted a real fight! She couldn't help but think of the Phantom Troupe. She unconsciously put her hand over the spider on her arm.
"There they are," Sasha said, finding Killua and Gon standing in a hallway. She held a hand up to point to them.
"Who's that?" she asked. Nyoka looked up to see Hisoka. She frowned as they got closer. The boys looked like they were scared.
"Hisoka," Nyoka said. The three hadn't seemed to notice her yet. She walked up to stand between Gon and Killua. She furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"It's not odd, little serpent," Hisoka said. Nyoka's eye twitched at the nickname. Sasha cocked an eyebrow.
"I love to fight and this is a temple to fighting," Hisoka said. Sasha bent down to Nyoka's ear.
"Is this that magician you told me about?" she asked.
"You talked about me? I'm honored," Hisoka smiled. Nyoka sighed.
"He can hear you..." she said before nodding. Sasha stood up.
"Freaky coincidence," she put her hand on her hip.
"No coincidence. I've been waiting for you," Hisoka said. Nyoka facepalmed.
'Of course, you were...'
"Remember how you bought your Airship tickets over the cybernet? With a little effort, it's possible to determine where and when someone will arrive," Hisoka said. Sasha looked at Nyoka, clearly ready to attack. She put a hand on her younger sister's shoulder, seeming to calm her down a little bit.
"I knew you'd come here eventually. So, as a veteran here, I have a warning," Nyoka's eyes narrowed and the boys tensed up at his words.
"It's still too early for you to step on this floor," Hisoka put a hand up and blew the boys back a bit. Nyoka held her hands up, defending herself from the wind and only scooting back an inch or so. Sasha didn't move at all.
"How you win depends on your efforts. It's too early now. You can't come here right now," Hisoka said as he sat at the end of the corridor.
"That's stupid! We just got up here," Killua said, inching closer.
"I won't let you pass. Not that you could anyway," Hisoka put his hand up and a force was exerted onto the group. Nyoka tensed up. It was so hard to move all of a sudden. Was this his Nen?
"Jerk," Sasha spat. She walked up to Hisoka like it was nothing.
"S-Sasha, what are you-" she grabbed Hisoka's wrist and narrowed her eyes. The pressure was intensified. Sasha was pushed back a little but she trudged on.
"We come from a family of powerful Nen users. We have giant fucking snakes outside our house that have been modified with nen!" Sasha shouted as she got closer.
"Language," Nyoka said. Sasha looked at her with daggers. Nyoka backed down. Gon and Killua tried to walk forward.
"Don't be reckless," a voice said behind them. The pressure disappeared.
"You have no defense against his Nen," Wing said. Nyoka sighed as Sasha walked back over to her. She grabbed her wrist, dragging her away.
"Wh-Where are we going?!" Nyoka's puzzled yet fearful expression was all that Gon and Killua saw as she was dragged away.
"I'm gonna teach you everything you need to know about Nen," Sasha said once they were out of the boys' hearing range.
"I thought you said-" "Forget what I said. That man doesn't get to decide when you guys are ready for anything. I'll teach you Nen and let Wing take care of the boys. I'll make it so you can walk right up to that freaky magician and slap the shit out of him," Nyoka hadn't seen her sister this mad in a long time. She was pissed.
"Now, come on. I'm gonna give you the training of a lifetime."