A/N: Alrighty-o, here's that next chapter, as promised. And the answer to your speculations is... _ (see chapter below for answers lol)

Thanks everyone for reading, enjoying, and reviewing. Your support has been really encouraging and has been a major reason for me constantly returning to this story and enjoy writing it. A lot of your comments have given me extra perspective on what's going on, letting me look at the story in a bit of a different light, and sort of re-equilibriate and figure out how to proceed. So far, I've been really happy about how this story's been going and want to keep going strong 'til the end.

Remember, any constructive criticism is appreciated anytime!

Note: You may want to wait until the next chapter is posted before reading this one! (Will be out tomorrow, probably.)

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Guest response:

Knee:
Lol, I dare. That was exactly the sort of torture I was worried about, but - never fear, for the next chapter is here! And the kiddos are here too.

Poor Zezu indeed. I'm hoping that he'll find a cure, but things aren't looking too hot for him right now. But I think Kurapika being there is a good step, especially since his eye's are fresh to the scene while Leorio's aren't. (And I think Leorio will hopefully be less sleep-deprived from now on. Good friends are good at giving you reality checks about that sort of thing. Less sleep != better work. A lesson I could learn, rip.)

See ya in the present!

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Chapter Twenty Two

Gon had settled into a routine in the few days since he had arrived in Tokyo. He would go explore this world's city for the morning, circling outward from the hotel room All For One had paid for him, then to Killua's place, where the Bakugo family lived. It had become a nice routine, even when Gon knew afterwards he would have to leave to see the Doctor.

He was now at Killua's place, and Killua was wildly waving his hands in the air, enthusiastically talking and explaining everything to Gon. As he spoke and spoke about everything, about Bakugo, about UA, about Aizawa, Gon watched him, paying attention, letting the stories run wild in his own mind.

"Hey, Killua, ne," Gon said, waving his feet idly in the air, cheek propped up on one hand. "You look happy."

That stopped his friend short. He slowed down his wild gesticulating arm gestures, returning his hands somewhere pocket-level, and a half blush came to his face, embarrassed, underneath the face mask he always wore. Then he scratched the back of his neck with one hand.

"Ah, do I?" Killua said, his expression trying to take on a casual tone but failing. "Ah, well, I suppose it's just because…"

He paused, as if unable to find the words.

Gon looked at him for a long moment.

"You like it here," he said simply.

And Killua nodded, hesitantly, a moment later, looking away, his embarrassment growing stronger.

"Killua, do you want to stay here?" Gon asked seriously, dropping his arm to square himself on the mattress, his face meeting Killua's sincerely. His friend immediately understood the question.

"Idiot," Killua said, not quite meeting his eyes, tone harsh like his reprimands always were, "I said I'd go with you, didn't I?" It was what he had said the first time they really talked, just after Gon had arrived at his doorstep, after being at the news station.

Gon frowned.

"Ne, but Killua…"

"It's fine," his friend said shortly. There was a brief, tense pause, and then Killua said, putting on a smile of almost-consternation, "Ah, well now the mood's dropped, hasn't it?"

Gon thought hard for a long moment. If Killua wanted to stay here, and Gon wanted to go back, what were they supposed to do? Especially when he wasn't even sure if they could go back?

He grabbed at his hair, frustrated.

"Ergh. Why can't it be easier to go back!" he exclaimed. "If only everybody was in the same place…"

Killua barked a real laugh, and his smile became genuine once again.

"Yeah," he said quietly, stretching out a hand to the ceiling. "That'd be real nice…"

Suddenly, the door slammed open.

The solemn mood broke as an eerily happy Bakugo appeared at the door.

"Alright, chumps, losers, whatever," Bakugo snarled, eyes flitting over the both of them, a slow smile spreading over his face as he lifted two disk cases in his hands for them to preview. "Who's ready to get crushed?"

Killua immediately perked up, rolling into a straight sit at the edge of the bed. "Yeah, right," he scoffed. "As if you're going to win."

Gon looked from the bedside, confused, and cocked his head to the side.

"They're video games," his friend explained to him. "Like Greed Island, right? We can play them on a console."

… Console?

Then it clicked, and Gon too rolled back into a straight-backed sit, crossing his feet together and slamming one fist into the palm of his other hand.

"Ah!" he said brightly. "Like that joy – ehh – joyer –"

He couldn't quite remember the name.

"Joystation," Killua confirmed, grinning. He then leapt to his feet. "Alright, let's go!" He pumped a fist towards the ceiling.

"Get your fucking feet off my bed," Bakugo said, dropping the disks and adopting a threatening stance.

Gon watched as Killua rolled his eyes, then used the springboard to leap off to the floor nimbly. Gon himself clambered off the bed a moment later, taking care to not let the soles of his feet touch the fabric.

They walked out of the room, into the hall, and into the living room, where a huge TV and couch sat.

Bakugo immediately sped to the TV, shot them a feral grin, then popped out a disk from the case. He then slid it into a metal box in the cabinet beneath the screen. "Let's start with some Need for Speed."

Then, coming up to Gon and Killua on the couch, he said with a nasty smile, "Ready to lose, losers?"

Gon stared at the controller that was in his hands for a long moment. It had buttons, and buttons, and sticks...

But Killua had already given a nasty taunt back and the screen was lighting up.

"Eh – ehhh, wait!" Gon cried, alarmed. "How do I use this thing?"

Killua looked at him, lifted his controller sideways so that it was in Gon's sight, then said easily, "This button moves you forward. This one is for aiming. This one lets you turn, and accelerate, and decelerate. If you need to brake quickly, press this one."

Gon's eyes swam. It was all 'this button' and 'this button'...

Bakugo was already eagerly selecting a game, and the screen lit up, a clear countdown in bold red letters.

3…

"Eh, wait! Again, again, Kiillua!"

2...

"We ain't got no time to teach losers," Bakugo said with an eager smile on his face, eyes fixed on the screen.

1…

Killua opened his mouth, as if to say something, looking apologetic, but then –

Goooooooo!

And even his friend's eyes darted to the screen, his fingers flying over his own controller rapid-fast, until two of the three divisions on the screen had racing cars, faster than any car Gon had seen before, and Gon realized abruptly that the last screen then must be his.

An intense look of focus on his eyes, he began wiggling the buttons around, trying to match the manner in which Killua was pressing his own buttons. He realized quickly that spamming buttons wasn't a very successful approach, when his car started going backwards, and he decided to approach this in a more careful, deliberate way.

He tested the wiggly stick first, moving it forward, to the side, then backwards. The car on his screen moved forwards, curved right, then moved backwards. He nodded, satisfied with himself. So that's what the wiggly stick did.

However, as he looked down, to his dismay, there were two wiggly sticks! He tried the other one, moving it forward just a bit, and then the screen moved! He held it for too long, aghast, and suddenly he couldn't see the car at all anymore, it was just the sky!

"Umm, Killua…" he said, nervous at this result. How did he get it back?

But he was interrupted by a chorus of jeers from his left.

"Take that, sucker!"

"Yeah, right, bet you're laughing right now – "

"Shit, you got the cops on my tail!"

Gon shook his head, realizing his friend was useless, and returned his attention back to his meticulous perusal of buttons.

Maybe if he wiggled the second wiggly button more? He reached out a hand slowly, falteringly to try –

Killua's presence was suddenly there, and he said, voice sounding tense, "Gon, that's the camera! You just do this –"

And he pressed the wiggly button number two back and suddenly the car was all there again and back in view.

"Ah!" Gon said in realization. "So it's like a 'camera'." He cocked his head to the side. "But invisible?"

He frowned, then tested wuggly button two again, motions slow and deliberate. Now it went uuuup, then dooooown. If he moved it to the side, it went leeeeft, then riiiight.

Okay, he was getting the hang of this.

Was Greed Island going to be this hard?

Gon frowned at the sudden thought, then looked at the controller again in bafflement. Was this the kind of thing that his dad did as a Hunter?

"Haha, suck it up, bastard, I'm nearing the finish line!"

"That's what you think," Killua's voice said smugly. "But I took a shortcut," and Gin, from the corner of his eyes, saw Killua's car burst up gloriously from a side alley onto the race track. "I'm already there."

Gon stared blankly at the screen as the words "PLAYER 2 WINS" flashed on the screen and let the controller go slack in his grip.

No way! If Gin was doing things like this, there was no way Gon could catch up to him! Greed Island was an impossible dream!

After some good-natured jeering and arguing with Bakugo, Killua finally caught Gon's slack expression.

"Huh, Gon? Something wrong?"

Gon explained to Killua his sudden fear, and to his surprise, Killua laughed.

"Nah," he said. "It's probably nothing like this. It's a game for Hunters, right? It probably uses nen or something."

Gon sighed in relief. "Oh, I see…"

He had truly been terrified for a moment.

Then he noticed Bakugo's unsurprised look, and perked up, pointing an accusing finger.

"Ah!" he exclaimed in what must have been the third realization of that day. "You told him about nen!"

Bakugo gave him an unimpressed look, before it morphed into a haughty one, teeths bared and eyebrows raised. "Yeah? So?"

Gon frowned, thinking hard again. "But, Wing-san told us not to tell anybody…"

"Lighten up, Gon," Killua said, rolling his eyes. "It's not like anybody in our world is going to know."

"But – !"

Killua wrapped his arm around Gon's neck in a chokehold, then pressed his other fist into Gon's head. "No. One. Is. Going. To. Know."

Gon squirmed, tears coming to his eyes. Killua wasn't gentle. "I got it, I got it! Let me go!"

Killua did, and Gon frowned at his friend, making his displeasure clear by sticking his tongue out.

Killua stuck his tongue out at him, with a nastier and meaner look on his face.

Soon it became a competition about who could make the nastiest look while still sticking their tongue out – there were even impressive variants where Gon stuck his tongue up to his nose and did a suitable troll expression. Killua faltered then, but then came up with a truly terrifying witch impersonation, and they would have kept going except Bakugo started waving his hand repeatedly between their two faces.

"Stop that," Bakugo said. "It's creepy as fuck." Then, when they still tried to persist, he said, "The hell? Am I even here?"

He then resorted to grabbing both of them by their scruffs, flinging them both off the sofa. He had a moment to look down at them victoriously, before Killua launched up with a kick to his stomach and Bakugo half-folded over with an "oof".

Gon caught on to Killua's plan immediately and leapt to his feet, approaching Bakugo slowly with an excited gleam in his eyes. Killua did the same, from the other side, and the explosive teen's red eyes flitted between them.

"What the hell," he said, wiping at his face. "How'd I get stuck from the two demon spawn from hell?"

Killua lunged, Gon laughed, and soon they were in an all-out brawl.

Of course, at that moment, Bakugo's mom then wandered out into the living room, wondering what all the noise was. Gon stopped in his attempt to flip over Killua, only to be dropped to the floor himself in his hesitation. He then breathed, "Wait, guys –"

"What the hell is going on here."

The chaos stopped as abruptly as it had started.

Soon, an embarrassed Gon was lined up with a barely-sheepish Killua and a completely unrepentant Bakugo.

"I didn't start it!" Bakugo said, nostrils flaring up angrily. He pointed an accusing finger at Killua and Gon. "They did."

She lifted an accusing eyebrow.

"Uh-huh."

Gon shrunk even more.

"It's true," he said lowly after a moment, eyes fixed to the floor. "Killua and I started it. I'm sorry."

"Hmph." She gave them all a stern glance. "Well, don't do it again you hear?" She then gave them all a nasty glance that shot terror through their hearts. "Or else you'll be fearing for the rest of your lives." She then smiled pleasantly. "Killua, Bakugo, you're cooking this week."

"Eh!?" Killua immediately protested. "But I can't even eat –"

"All the sweeter the punishment," she said, still smiling. "Though that's a good point. Killua, you get two days, Bakugo, you get five. Figure out who gets what when yourself."

Bakugo sputtered. "But I didn't even –"

She shot him another stern glare, and this time her voice was serious. "Bakugo," she said. "You are the only one of three who is actively studying to become a hero, and more's to say, you are the one responsible for the two of them. You are the oldest one here. If I can't trust you to handle two kids maturely, how can the heroes trust you to take care of them when it counts?"

Gon winced at the real sting on Bakugo's face, and opened his mouth to speak. Mrs. Bakugo raised a placating hand, seeing it herself.

"Now, that's not to say a little horseplay is in the wrong," she continued, more softly, but still stern. "But that's better left for outside. The neighbors downstairs will hear you and be bothered by it – I wouldn't be surprised if Ms. Kawasuki comes up here to ask if anything's wrong. You also made a mess of things. And here, the floorboards are hard, I wouldn't want you kids getting hurt." She paused, surveying their faces. "Do you all understand?"

Gon, Killua, and Bakugo all nodded after their severe dressing-down. Gon's remained fixed to the floor, but when he risked a glance at Bakugo, he saw that the older boy looked frustrated.

Mrs. Bakugo's eyebrows then creased, and she sighed, stepping forward, pulling her son into a hug. Bakugo's gaze snapped up, shocked.

"It's just good to have you back," she muttered, almost so softly that a normal person wouldn't have been able to hear.

Then she retreated, leaving Bakugo wide-eyed, and Gon and Killua exchanging glances.

"Alright, well," she took a breath, then smiled. "Then that's it for the day. How about you guys clean up, and get started on that cooking?"

They all nodded again, and like an army general, she relaxed her posture and they all relaxed too. When she turned away, they scattered and began picking up the loose cords and controllers that had managed to fall onto the floor in their tussle.

"Dude," Killua whispered to Bakugo at one point, ignoring mention of the show of affection. "Your mom is scary."

Gon nodded in agreement with the idea, but found his mouth curved into a smile. She was just like Aunt Mito-san!

"Yeah, yeah," Bakugo said, swooping a pile of stuff into his arms and dropping it into the under-TV cabinet, looking unhappy. "Well, you better remember, she's not as scary as me." He turned to them with a trademark feral grin and leer. "So you better remember to listen to me, alright?"

It was Killua who first began laughing, a sharp, high-pitched laugh. Then Gon joined in too, lingering tension bubbling out of him as he earnestly joined the fray. A moment later, Bakugo rolled his eyes and began chuckling too.

"Alright, you squirts," he said, using his superior height to rest his hands on their heads. "Looks like we got this cleaned up. Let's head to the kitchen."

His vice grip on their heads wouldn't let them move differently, so almost as one lumbering unit, they began shifting towards the kitchen.

"Since I'm in charge, ya know," Bakugo continued, and Gon could tell he sounded pleased. "She said so. Only responsible adult around, and the only one with a whit of brains in me."

"I don't think that's what she said," Killua said doubtfully.

"Shut up, brat."

And they were at the kitchen. Bakugo began ordering them to do this, do that, and Gon happily complied, fetching spices, throwing them into the stove, mixing, even as Killua groaned and shot insults at the older boy. All the while as they cooked, Gon was smiling to himself, a bright, cheery, earnest smile.

It had been a fun day!

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Later, after dinner had been eaten and they were clearing up the table, the talk turned more serious. Gon had to excuse himself just when they had started talking about Kamino Ward - and the largely unsuccessfully police raid launched upon a warehouse in the district - because he had to go see the Doctor. Bakugo had said that they were soon going to move into the UA dorms, both him and Killua, and Gon had to figure out if he could go with them.

Killua didn't like the short explanation, and all the mystery behind Gon's sudden appearance either, but Gon promised to explain everything to him later.

He walked to the train station, humming to himself, eyes still wide with wonder at the differentness of this world. It was closest to Yorknew City that he had seen, with its high skyscrapers, but still so different. Large popping signs and screens stood out everywhere, the people often had crazy interesting features - like a man with mandibles, looking like a humongous spider-crab - and somehow everything felt just a little more orderly. People walked in straight lines, traffic flowed smoothly, there were limits and regulations on everything that Gon could think of.

Gon found the plants and animals to be more interesting than the people and the city, however. When he arrived on the train, like he had the times before, he found his nose pressed against the glass, staring outside while he was carried out of Tokyo.

There were much more thick upshoots - bamboo - than he had seen before in his own world, differently colored and differently shaped. The other plants were also of a kind he hadn't seen before - they had long stalks and thin leaves but they were shaped in a way that told him they weren't Mitsuhoshi. When he caught sight of a bird too, he couldn't identify it - it was blue and chirping with a flash of red on its chest, but it was hardly a Fischer's bird, or anything else he had seen before.

It was like a Beast Hunter's dream. So much new to explore, to see.

He wondered if his dad would have liked it here.

He wondered then, if his dad had even heard of a possibility like this, other worlds to see and explore, beyond their own. He was sure if his dad had, he'd have already been here and explored everything. That was the type of Hunter he was, he was sure of it.

Soon enough, however, he was jolted from his thoughts when the train slowed down, the tenth stop, and announced his destination.

Jaku city.

He sighed, unstuck himself from the window, swung his backpack on, then departed from the station.

Jaku city, too, was new and interesting. It was different from Musutafu, and the rest of Tokyo. The buildings were more squat, but the city still had the orderly, sleek air of Tokyo. Each time he came here too, he often gawked and wondered before making his way to the hospital.

This time, he didn't linger too long. He was pressed forward by a sense of urgency, and it was only minutes before he arrived at Jaku General Hospital.

"Hello," he said politely to the man waiting at the front desk, the whoosh of cold air as he entered, as ever, a shock. The man was behind a glass front that attached to his desk and extended up to the ceiling. "I'm here to see Doctor Kusai?"

The man smiled at him. He recognized him. "Sure, he's seeing another patient at the moment, but he'll be in 412 to see you soon enough. You came early today, Gon."

Gon nodded. "Yeah!" he said, though he was never sure what was "early" or "late". The people here seemed to care about precise times a lot. "I just arrived!"

The man chuckled, then said, "Well, go on. You know the way."

Gon nodded again, then passed the front desk, going down the hallway. He had to open a thick double-door that read "private personnel only" to get there, and got some second looks, but soon enough he was in room 412, comfortably sitting in his usual chair while he swung his feet, his eyes perusing the room for what must have been the hundredth time. It was still interesting, even if the room was sterile - the doctor's room in Whale Island was nothing like this.

A few moments later, the door opened with a click, and Gon's eyes snapped to that direction. Doctor Kusai stood there, a young man with glasses and dark hair. He immediately smiled at Gon.

"Early today?" he asked in a friendly tone, and Gon shrugged.

"Well, I'm glad you are," the doctor continued. "This might take a little longer than usual - today, we're doing more extensive testing, to make sure none of our treatments have had any harmful side effects. After that, we'll have to re-evaluate your condition to decide where to go from here."

Gon nodded to show that he understood.

"Ne, Doctor," he said, still swinging his feet. "When do you think it'll be safe to do this for Killua too?"

The man grimaced.

"You know it's an experimental trial, Gon. If it weren't for that plant you brought from your world… we wouldn't even have a hope of doing this, even at our advanced medical facilities. This is already a high risk you're taking - I would hardly ever call it 'safe'." His voice was almost stern.

Gon frowned.

"But - " he said. "If it's okay for me, then it should be okay for him, right?"

The doctor sighed, but nodded. "You're doing a very brave thing, Gon. We can at least achieve a reasonable degree of certainty by monitoring your health. And we can make some assumptions based on cross-referencing your biology with our own." Seeing Gon's pleased look, the doctor visibly fought off a sigh again, and instead nodded. "Alright, well, please hold out your arm. I'm about to take another blood test."

This was more familiar, and Gon immediately extended out his arm. He winced at the prick, but it was over soon enough, and the doctor slapped on a friendly-looking bandage with pictures of fighting pirates and cowboys over the wound, much to Gon's delight. Yesterday, he had gotten one with unicorns and rainbows on it, and the doctor had had to explain to him what unicorns were.

"Alright," the doctor said, drawing his attention away from the bandage. "I'll take this to the lab, and we should get results soon enough. Hold on one moment, Gon." He walked out the door, then quickly returned, the vial in his glove-covered hands now gone. He closed the door after him.

"Now, I'm going to do a full physical exam. Depending on how this goes, we might want to do a CT scan as well. It's best to be certain, and in this case, your sponsor is covering the costs..."

Gon nodded, but just at this moment, a knock came on the door.

Doctor Kusai glanced at the door, looking confused. "Come in," he called cautiously.

Without further ado, the handle turned and the door swung open.

"D-director Garaki!" Doctor Kusai exclaimed. He now stood to full attention, eyes widened towards the door, and Gon, too, peered towards the entrance curiously.

The man at the door was short, squat, and had a thick, bushy mustache. Other than that, he had no hair - he was entirely bald - but his face was adorned with large goggles that covered most of his rotund face. He had a sense of commanding aura, like he belonged and owned this place, though his demeanor was placid and calm.

The old man chuckled, lifting a placating hand to the young doctor.

"I just came to have a look," he said, gaze set on Gon. "It wouldn't do to miss such a curiosity, would it?"

Gon frowned, but before he could speak, the director trundled further into the room, shutting the door behind him. He took a seat in one of the chairs, settling himself comfortably into the seat.

"Now, Doctor Kusai," he said eagerly, "what's the prognosis?"

"Ah, well - " the doctor looked flustered, then opened his mouth, words spilling out formally, stiffly, before loosening again as he fell into a cadence. "Well, we were going to do a full examination today, but so far it looks like everything is going well. His body hasn't been having any ill reactions to the vaccines - we've been monitoring this very closely - and previous blood tests showed that his immune system was able to respond for the vaccinated diseases, if abnormally quickly." He cleared his throat, eyes sidling over to Gon for a moment. "In regards to the toxins… and his need for an extra vitamin, the labs were able to successfully recreate the vitamin from studying the plant he brought from his world. The device you suggested to clear the toxins - well, there have been no ill effects, either, but there's too much going on at once to really tell for sure…"

He looked abruptly nervous now. "Director Garaki," he said, voice taking on a stiffer tone. "Are you sure we should be doing so much at once?" He glanced at Gon again. "I know Gon agreed to it, but he's just a kid…"

Garaki's eyes slid over to Gon.

When the man remained silent, Gon abruptly realized that the director was waiting for him to speak.

"Ehh, it's fine," he said, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "I know you said it'd be better if I waited, and used a mask like Killua, but I wanted to try it all as soon as possible!"

"And besides," the director commented lowly after he spoke, "the vaccines were the least risky part of the treatment."

The doctor nodded, but hesitantly, looking like he was swallowing his tongue.

"I trust you, Director," he said finally. "You've never led us wrong before."

The director nodded, and it was like a weight Gon hadn't even known was there left the room.

"Well then," he said more cheerily. "Not to take too much of your time, Doctor Kusai, but I was wondering if Gon would tell us his impressions of this world so far! It isn't every day you get to see your own world through the lens of an interdimensional traveler, after all."

Kusai nodded hesitantly again, though now he looked curious. "I don't have another patient for the rest of the day," he admitted. "I think it would be interesting to hear something about that, too." He looked towards Gon.

Gon, after a moment of surprise at the request, began speaking, prodded forward by their open curiosity.

He spoke stumblingly at first, but then with more eagerness, as he spoke of his impressions of the flora and fauna, the people, the way everything was just so subtly different. Kusai and Garaki listened with rapt attention, asking questions often, some about his friends back in his world, to which he cheerily responded.

At some point, however, Kusai said, "Sorry, director, Gon… I think it is time to keep conducting the exam, however interesting this is. There's only so much time left in the day, after all."

Director Garaki nodded, the eager glint in his eyes dimming as he retracted back in his chair. "I suppose there is," he said reluctantly, before heavily standing onto his feet. "Well, until next time then," he said, shooting Gon a genial nod and smile.

"Until next time," Gon echoed, and soon it was only him and Kusai left in the room.

"Well then," Kusai said, pulling out his case of tools, looking somewhat weary but brighter, "The Director's gone now. Let's get started with the exam then, shall we?"

Gon nodded, but then hesitated. A niggling thought had reoccurred to him - the entire reason behind his impatience in his arrival today. "Ah - doctor, there was something I wanted to ask about."

Kusai looked at him curiously. "What is it, Gon?"

"My friend - Killua, he's moving to the UA dorms soon. It's, erm, a restricted area and I don't think I'll be able to come as often if I go." He paused, swinging his feet anxiously. "Is that okay? Would you still be able to do your tests then?"

The doctor looked thoughtful, then worried.

"I don't know, Gon," he said. "More than the tests… I'm worried about your food intake. Your pills will be enough to cover your vitamin deficiency, but we don't know what kind of side effects the toxins will have on you. That's not… something we want to play with, and we only have one device to clean out your system."

Gon grimaced. His memory of that device was a painful one, but he had known he had needed to do it. All For One had explained these things to him.

"Killua knows someone who's been making him food," he said quickly. "I can ask her for it too, while I'm there."

The doctor's eyes widened in surprise, before he grimaced and gave Gon a flat stare.

"Gon," he said accusingly. "You can't hide things like this from me. It would have been much safer if you had done so earlier - we could have done these procedures more slowly, more carefully…"

"There isn't enough time," Gon cut in worriedly. He looked earnestly at the doctor. "We need to be able to live normally, without her help." He tried to explain. "We're at a hero school, so we don't know what might happen… And Killua told me it's not easy on her, either..."

The doctor stared at him for a long moment.

"Alright," he said finally, sighing, acquiescing. "I can clear it if you can impose on her to make you safe food in the meantime… But!" he said sharply. "If you start feeling off or anything, you have to come back here. We're the only ones with the equipment to treat you."

Gon nodded.

The doctor frowned, looking at him suspiciously for a long moment. Then,

"Well, that's all I can do to stop you, I guess. Let's finally get started with this examination."