Hanabi Mirei owns nothing of Hunter x Hunter.

She only owns the plot and her OC.

Enjoy! XD

A Not So Dream Come True

CHAPTER 21

Previously on A Not So Dream Come True

"The required ingredient is pork. You're free to use any meat from any species of the Biska Forest pigs. You must use the cooking facilities here to prepare the pork. And you only pass if we both find it delicious." Buhara explains.

"And we will evaluate more than just the taste. Don't underestimate the intricacies of cooking. Got it?" Menchi continues his explanation, "When we've both eaten our fill, the exam will end."

Therefore the Second Phase of the Hunter Exam begins and I feel quite confident about this particular exam.

And it's all thanks to the great butler, Gotoh-san!

-end

The people around me are getting ready to run back into the forest to capture piggies including me. Although, my brain is spinning with a rush of information of what will happen in this phase and how I should act. Do I purposely failed the exam or test how much cooking knowledge I've gained through Gotoh-san's teaching?

"Gurgle… Gurgle…" my tummy grumbles once again.

Raising an eyebrow to myself, I come up with a much better idea.

"And let the Second Phase of the Hunter Exam begin!" Buhara's tummy slap resounds to a large space around him.

Running in the same direction as the others, I grin in excitement. As we arrive at the woods, we start our search for the Great Stamp. I follow my master and their friends, walking quite leisurely as we haven't got any trace of pigs there.

"You know, compared to the First Phase, this phase is much more easier, huh?" Leorio comments.

The other nod in agreement, but not me.

"Hmm… Not really, Leorio-san." I shrug.

Gon turns to me with a questioning face, "What do you mean, Nagisa?"

I purse my lips before answering, "Well, to begin with, Menchi and Buhara are both Gourmet Hunters. They would expect our cooking to not only be edible, but also delicious in their standard, right? Then, look at us. Can any of you cook? Cooking boiled water or anything instant doesn't count."

Then my lousy mouth starts acting, "Well, I know that Killua can't cook anything~"

A jab to my torso by said person is received.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" I glare at the silver haired boy.

Killua only push a finger in his ear, annoyed, "I don't need someone to throw in that fact now, do I?"

"Well, it's a fact which means it's true. I'm just being honest!" I grumble, "And what kind of food have you ever cooked by yourself, huh?"

Now it's his turn to grumble, "….po…"

I turn to him fully, "What? You cooked poop?"

Killua glares at me, "No, you idiot! I cooked…. I cooked-!"

Raising an eyebrow, challenging him, "Cooked what?"

"…I cooked porridge."

"….."

"….."

"…pfft!" I turn away from him to hide my giggles from coming out while the boy slightly flushes pink while turning to the other way with his nose sticks up in the air arrogantly.

"Well, anyway, that's a good point… When I travel, I usually pack up fruits and breads. Sometimes eats in the diner or the food prepared from my accommodation." Kurapika recounts.

Gon smiles, "Aunt Mito is the one who cooks for me everyday! Oh man, I'm starting to miss her cooking…."

"I usually cooked instant noodle," Leorio sighs, "So this test really is hard, but in a different way."

Gon then asks, "Well, Nagisa, can you cook?"

I smile smugly, "Yep! I learned to cook from the best of the best!"

I almost could feel my nose getting longer out of awesomeness. Hihi~

A few minutes passes after that, but none of us has seen the piggy anywhere until Gon slides to a lower level of the ground and whaddaya know? They are here. A whole lot of them too!

'Whoa! They are so…. Cute!' I thought when I see them, disregarding the fact that they are…

Eating bones.

"Wait a sec… Don't tell me they're…" Kurapika gasps, "Canivores!"

A huge group of The Great Stamp sees us and starts to get angry for trespassing their territory. They chase us down to a higher ground and split up after seeing that a lot more "food" is present for them. A lot of the examinees are squeezed between the tree and the pig's big ass nose. Some are simply pushed down to the ground by the amount of force the piggies shove them.

Thank Kami that the piggies don't eat them quite yet.

Me, myself, is also being chased by a piggy and knowing that it won't stop chasing me, I run towards the gate of the Second Phase so that bringing the pig in will become easier. On the way, I try to recognize some herbs that can be used to season the pork and gather them inside my pocket. My pocket is almost like a Doraemon belly pocket, you know? It looks small, but it's actually large. So, not only that I have a bag full of mysterious but useful stuff, I also have my pockets! Pretty cool, yep!

"Oink! Oink!" cries the piggy.

Well, that not how it really sounds like, but you get it, right?

'Well, I guess the piggy is out of gas?' I look back to see it leans forward on its large stout nose and… sweating a bit?

I walk towards it, feeling that it's quite safe, 'Hm, this piggy is not as big as the other piggies, now that I look closely at it. This piggy is smaller by a quarter, so I guess it's one of their little ones?'

"Sorry, little piggy," I pray, "I hope your next life will be better."

And so, I grab the electric device I used to electrify the tugs a few days ago and push the button. The device touches its forehead as that is its weak spot and the small piggy collapse. I put the device back inside the bag before hauling it back to the exam site.

A few minutes have passed and the exam site is now being filled with examinees placing their pig on the giant grill. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio have been surprised that I was the first one to arrive at the site, but because the time is limited, they put the information at the back of their mind and start grilling the pig as well.

One by one the examinees present their grilled pork to Menchi and Buhara. While Buhara keeps on holding a circle, Menchi keeps on holding an 'X' and most of the times refusing to eat the pork. I, on the other hand, am still cutting the pork into tiny pieces so that the seasoning I gathered before can be used efficiently. Putting the seasoned pork to the griller, I make it grilled in a low heat, so that the grilling process will be thorough from the outside to the inside.

'Oh, sweet mother of piggies! This pork smells SO GOOD!' I thought as I almost felt a drool coming out of the side of my mouth, 'Yes, baby! This pork definitely defines quality! The seasoning is absorbed so fast but still spread out~ Gosh the fat also looks very tempting!'

You know what, I think there really is a drool coming out of my mouth. I think I heard Killua saying, "Nagisa! Don't be so gross! You're drool is pooling on the ground, dammit!"

Meh. I think that's just my imagination. But I do know that my stomach is now singing loudly because of the porkiliciousness.

As I am still in the land of heaven, I vaguely heard the boys talking to each other.

Gon sighs, "Man, Nagisa's cooking smells so good…"

Leorio looks at the chopped pork in front of me and says, "She got this exam easy… I mean, she's a girl and girls do can cook well."

"You know, while what Nagisa said before does have a point, they should've known that most Hunter applicant doesn't know how to cook. They couldn't have made an exam where the majority of the examinees failed. Therefore this cooking exam is not about making delicious food, but they're judging us on originality and powers of observation!" Kurapika reasons.

Leorio and Gon, finding the reason acceptable, smiled smugly, "I see…"

And thus, the pig decorating begins for them.

Killua, though, stops cooking his burnt pork and walk closer to me. Smelling the almost done dish, must have tickle his apatite that he made a very big mistake.

He took a piece of the sliced porkiliciousness, right in front of my eyes.

Almost immediately, my eyes open widely and I snatch the pork from his finger, earning a loud "Hey!" from him.

Killua growls at me, "Gimme that pork! I'm hungry!"

I take a slow step towards him while saying, "No one can ever take my porkiliciousness away from the starving me…"

Killua starts to sweatdrop, "Uh… What?"

As if my head grows bigger like a balloon, looming at him, I give him the starving cat stare, "This is mah food, buddy. Stay away from mah food!"

Killua doesn't want to lose and says, "Well, listen here, baka Nagisa! I'm your master, so you must give me that piece of pork. Do you hear me?"

Dammit! I feel my head goes back to its normal size, "Tch… Pulling on the master card, eh?"

The silver haired boy only smiled smugly, "Now feed me the pork, Na-gi-sa."

I sigh before giving him the pork he stole before.

"Hey, I didn't say give me. I said feed me," the boy pouts.

'Oh. My. Kami. Killua just pouts!' my heart screams out

My ears are turning red while my fingers very shakily put the fork of porkiliciousness towards his mouth.

"S-S-S-Say A-Ah…" I stammer, this time the heat is growing on my face.

Killua obediently complies, "Aaah…"

I notice that he has his eyes closed and something within me that still doesn't want the pork to be eaten by Killua, acts suddenly.

I push the fork of porkiliciousness with more force than necessarily needed.

"Grgh!" Killua snaps his eyes open, making a weird expression. His hands are around his throat trying to make sure he doesn't choke.

I only blink a couple of times, not getting what just happened.

When he didn't choke, Killua fumingly shakes my head, "Are you out of your mind?! Choking me with pork like that! I could have died, Baka-Nagisa!"

Being shaken so hard, I can only manage to let out, "I-I… Dunno… L-Love… Porki!"

A few seconds after that, Killua takes a few huge breathe before stomping to my griller and stuffs his mouth with more of my pork. He's definitely taking advantage of my disoriented head to do this. His revenge…!

When I finally don't see ten Gon at once, I tear up, "M-My… porkiliciousness… My idea to eat it all for mah lovey tummy..."

And once again the birds of the forest fly away together, but this time, not by Hisoka's scariness. It's because of a loud "No".

Just like how the anime is, the Second Phase of the Hunter Exam is once again being held, but this time it's in Mt. Split-In-Half to capture the most delicious egg ever. The examinees are going out of the airship now to listen to Menchi's instruction. The whole way from the previous site to this one, I don't think I remember it very well.

I spend the whole time crying at the pork inside of my master's tummy. I think I was carried into the airplane and being carried again down the stairs of the airship to the ground of Mt. Split-In-Half. The other examinees probably got annoyed by my cries (and my tummy's cries) but not that I care at that moment.

And now, I'm still crying, though.

"Now, now, Nagisa. We've arrived at the mountain now," Kurapika tries to comfort me, "If you managed to pass this exam, you can eat, okay?"

I stuck my bottom lip out, "But that porkiliciousness is what I want… Hic,"

Kurapika stroke the top of my head, "Well, after this exam ended, you can eat pork until you're so full,"

"But, I want it now, Kurapika-san!" I stomp my right foot childishly, "It's all because of him! Ugh!"

The blond teen sighs exasperatedly before lighting up a bit as he remembers something, "Hey, how about a honey lollipop? I have one in my bag."

I sniff, feeling a bit bad that the teen has to handle me, "… Okay."

The teen really does have a honey lollipop. He says that he got it as a bonus from a shop he went to eat in Whale Island. Kurapika smiles as he sees me finally stop crying, "Okay, say Aaah…"

My ears grow red together with my cheeks, but I open my mouth for him, "Aaah…"

He put the piece of candy in my mouth and I grow a bit happy from the candy.

Yes, the candy. Not really, not quite, and I don't think it's because of the darn hot face Kurapika is giving me right now. NO.

….. okay maybe because of that. Just maybe… and a bit! A tiny-tiny-bitty bit!

'Stay faithful, Nagisa!' I remind myself as I suck the lollipop.

Menchi then starts to instruct the examinees, now that everyone is off the airship, "Now, everyone, look down there. That's a Spider Eagle's web. Now look below the web. There are the Spider Eagle's eggs."

The Chairman then starts to explain why the Spider Engle put their eggs there and-

Wait a sec.

'The Chairman!' I whip my head almost too fast to face the Chairman, flabbergasted.

'Oh man….. I missed his grand entrance!' I pout while rolling the lollipop around my tongue

The Chairman's grand entrance is extraordinary and so cool! Although there's another thing that I blows my mind too.

Chairman Netero is still alive and breathing the same air as me.

Unlike how it was when I'm still at my world. He died there to save the world from those insect breed monsters. I have quite of a mixed feelings about him…

"Come on, Nagisa. It's time for us to take the egg!" Kurapika calls, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Hm?" I manage to say, not really understanding his words.

He takes hold of my hand before together with Gon, Leorio, and my stupid master, we jump towards the web of the Eagle Spider. Very surprised by the action, I scream.

And my lollipop falls out of my mouth. Just what is wrong with food and me today?

I close my eyes, scared, but before long, I realize that I'm no longer falling. I'm on Killua's back all of the sudden.

"You're heavy, Nagisa. You should lose some weight." Killua glance at me, from his position of hanging by a web.

Still feeling stubborn about the pork, I turn away from him, refusing to reply eventhough I hold his shoulder more tightly.

"Yes, yes, ignore me now. Fine," Killua scowls.

"Oi, Nagisa." The boy calls.

"…"

"I'll give youa quarter of mine, is it a deal? They said that it's a dream egg,"

"…"

"A half then. Deal?"

"…. Deal"

Killua shakes his head at my possessiveness with food, but it's because it's food that I'm possessive! My stomach is starting to grumble again because the lollipop is certainly not enough to satisfy my apatite.

"Alright, let go now!" Gon gives his signal and everyone starts to let go of their hold of the web and start to fall down.

While they fall down, they take the chance to pluck some eggs with them before every single one of them are pushed upwards by the strong wind.

Menchi, who has finished preparing the boiling water, asks them to put it in the pot for it to boil. When the egg has been boiled, everyone takes their eggs, plucks out the shell, and starts to eat it.

I am still plucking tiny bits of the eggshell when a hand offers me half of their egg. It's Killua's hand when I trail the owner.

"Here's yours," He gives it to me.

I look at Killua a bit disbelieved that he will actually give half of his to me, so I only blink a couple of times while staring at him.

"I did say it's a deal, so take it." He says.

I'm still too surprised to response. Feeling irritates, he takes one of my hand and places his egg portion on it before turning away to eat the rest.

Seeing the caring behavior touches my heart.

Thump… Thump… Thump….

"Ne, Killua," I call

Killua raises one eyebrow at me questioningly, "Hmm?"

I give him his portion back, and this time he's the one who's looking at me weirdly.

"You sure, you don't want to eat this?" Killua asks

I smile, "Nope. You apatite's too big so you need more protein to stay alive!"

The boy only chuckles, "What are you saying? This exam is a too easy. I definitely won't die,"

Shaking my head at his arrogance, I reply, "Die of starvation is still possible. Now help me finish this second egg!"

Killua looks at me surprise, "Wait a sec. You took two of the eggs?"

I nod, "Well, yeah. I'm hungry, but then I realize that the egg is actually bigger than I thought, so I can't eat both. Now help me finish this!"

"… Gosh, you really need to lose some weight."

"Oh, shut up, old man!"

"Hippo-Nagisa~ Hippo-Nagi- Ouch!"

"That's for calling me a hippo!"

Author's Note:

Just got a bit of inspiration when I opened this fanfic (after like 6 months?) so I rushed for 4 hours of making this update (also due to my my boredom from being bedridden of flu and cough my voice gets too sexy for my liking and I think my abs should pop out now because of all of this coughing exercise :S)

I'm very aware that my update is SO Turtlish Slow, but I'm quite glad that I could post this chapter up. This year is a tough because I got a whole lot of exam going on because of me being in senior year of high school. It's done now though! Just waiting to graduate next week!

I'm also pretty sure that most of you have forgotten about the content of this fic and I'm very sorry that you have to read this up from the beginning chapters so that this update will 'make sense'. :( I do hope this update sparks a bit excitement and happiness!

Just 2 questions from me:

1) How are you doin? You okay? Not Okay?

2) Which one is your favorite scene? ;)

Well, I know that I haven't replied to a lot of the reviews I recieved, so I'll reply slowly but surely in PM! :) If I can't PM you then, I'll make sure to do so in the next chapter or you can PM me your account :D

See you next time!

Love,

Hanabi Mirei :3