The clock strike noon and the doors started opening slowly.
Inside the building, there was a really large man who looks like the size of two rhinos and a woman who is tall and slim with a weird pink hairstyle.
I wonder what Phase Two of the exam will be about.
"Welcome to the second part of the Hunter exam." said the pink haired lady. "I am Menchi, this is Buhara"
Menchi, the pink haired lady, pointed herself and then at Buhara, the large man.
"We're Epicure Hunters." Buhara said with a lazy tone.
"What is that you say?" Menchi said with excitement. "Well we're hunters who specializes in searching for the rarest, most finest food that no other man can find. We are also your next proctors so respect us!"
"Epicure Hunters huh? Does that mean the second part will be about food?" Asked Gon.
"I guess so since they are one of the top class chefs." Kurapika replied.
"For this part of the exam. Everyone here will be cooking." Said Menchi with a smile.
"Cooking!?" Everyone around the crowd exclaimed.
"What the!? But I can't cook for life!" Leorio shouted.
"Well you're not the only one Leorio..." Gon said as he sighed.
"Is there any one of us here that knows how to cook?" Kurapika asked.
"Well I sorta know how to.." I whispered. That was because I cooked a couple of times with my Spiders family.
"Cooking is easy. There's nothing to fail about it" Killua said in a cocky tone.
"Don't have to brag about it brat!" Leorio said while holding his fist up and Killua just stick his tongue at him.
"QUIET!" Menchi yelled which made us all be quiet. "Buhara and I are starving. For this part of the exam, all of you are going to cook us whatever food we specifically want. The only way to pass this part of the exam is if you satisfy the both of us. Not just one of us."
"Me first! Me first!" Buhara said with a smile. "I am really really really hungry. I think I am craving for...I got it! Barbecued pig!"
"Barbecued pig!? Are you crazy!?" a random participant shouted.
"But barbecued pig is my favorite" Buhara said with a frown.
"Oi! If you get Buhara upset you'll automatically fail!" Menchi said while yelling at the guy.
"I only crave for the really violent pigs. So catch me my favorite pigs, the Great Stamp! They taste really yummy!" Buhara said while clapping.
"The Great Stamp?" Leorio questioned
"Where the hell can we find those?" I asked
"They live in the forest behind us. So hurry and grab one! They're going to run away soon!" Buhara started stomping on the floor.
Within a few seconds, a whole stampede of boars started running towards us!
We were all startled by this but eventually running for their lives. These pigs are almost the same size as Buhara and he is an extremely large man!
How the hell am I going to capture one and cook it?
"Take that!" I heard Gon from a distance and noticed that he attacked the Stamp with his fishing rod.
He hit its head which killed the pig.
"Aim for the head Aoi! That's their weak spot!" Gon shouted.
"Got it!" I took out my flute and jumped on the pigs back.
I raised my flute as high as I could and smashed it onto the pigs head as hard as I can.
The Stamp fumbled around for a couple of seconds but soon died on the ground.
"Well that was easy." I said quietly.
I grabbed a couple of sticks, started a fire and roasted the pig until it was golden with a slight crisp.
With the pig fully cooked, I grabbed it and headed back to where Buhara and Menchi were. I laid the pig in front of Buhara and noticed the drools all over his face.
"Wow...this looks so yummy! They all look so delicious! Time to eat!" Buhara grabbed each pig one by one and ate them all.
I was counting the amount of pigs he ate and the number was seventy. Seventy big, gigantic, whole pigs. Holy cow...
"Buhara you didn't even savor them or criticized each pig!" Menchi yelled. "Did anyone fail?"
"Nope, all 70 passed" Buhara said as he made the loudest burp ever.
"Jeez...you're such an idiot Buhara" Menchi said as she lightly punched Buhara's stomach. "I guess all 70 of you passed his part of the exam. Now it's my turn"
Menchi gave a slight smirk and looked at each one of us. "My dish is going to be slightly tougher since I am more strict when it comes to food."
"Come on, how hard can it be? His food was easy as pie" Leorio said as he was pointing at Buhara.
"Hah! Wanna try me? The dish I want is something that is exquisite in Japan and are rare to find anywhere else. The dish I want is..." Menchi said started with a pause as she looked at each one of us.
"I want sushi!" She shouted and jumped in excitement.
I gave a quick smile and changed my expression.
I noticed that everyone else had a confused look.
Does no one knows what sushi is or something?
"What's a sushi?" Gon asked.
"Probably a rice dish" Killua said.
"What the hell! How do you expect us to cook something we don't know!" Leorio shouted
"That's what you get for bragging boy!" Menchi said as she took out a knife and threw it to the ground. "I'll give you a little hint, the materials needed are inside the building. Each table has its own counter so pick one and get started with my meal!"
We all went inside the building and picked a counter. All of my friends went separate ways and chose counters from opposite areas.
I looked at my counter and noticed that there were knives, a rice cooker, cutting board, a small bamboo mat, seaweed and a sink.
I looked at my surroundings and almost everyone were questioning the materials given.
How do people not know what sushi is?
"Good luck everyone! I'll be waiting right here for my meal. Take as much time as you need!" Menchi and Buhara sat at a table next to the building entrance.
I looked to my right and noticed a guy in a ninja uniform whose stationed next to me. He seems to be laughing. Does he know what sushi is?
"Is there a reason to why you're laughing?" I questioned him
"Oh no reason. I just thought of something that will make me the only person to pass this exam" He said
"Well then I guess I'm not the only one who knows how to make sushi" I whispered to him so that no one else could hear me.
"Oh? You know it too?" He stopped laughing and looked at me.
"Yeah. I use to cook with my..." I paused and thought how I should word this. I can't say Phantom Troupe or else I'm done for. "family. yeah. My family"
"I guess the two of us are going to pass then" He said while smiling
"I guess so. By the way, judging from your outfit. You're a ninja right?" I asked
"Indeed I am" He responded.
"Then that means you're from Japan. Of course you would know what sushi is" I said.
"Well that is true. I'm Hanzo by the way." He placed his hand in front of me to shake.
"I'm Aoi. Nice to meet you" I replied as I shaked his hand.
"You know Aoi, I've noticed you from the moment you stepped into the examination site." Hanzo said, starting a real conversation.
"What? really?" I asked confused.
"Yeah. You're one of the few females I see taking this exam. Plus you're the cutest one here" Hanzo said while blushing.
"I'll...just take that as a compliment. Thanks Hanzo." I just looked at him.
Was that a compliment? Or should I be creeped out? Although its a bit flattering. I guess.
"Well Menchi did give us all these materials. The only ingredient we're missing are fish. Where can we get one?" I asked Hanzo.
"Well, judging from the location we're at. If I remember clearly, when we were catching the pigs, I noticed a lake deep in the forest. So maybe there's fish." Hanzo answered.
"Oh! I didn't know there was a lake around here" I said.
"Yeah. If we want to get fish, we should go there now."
Hanzo quietly left his counter and tried to sneak his way out of the building.
I followed along and looked at my friends to motion them to follow. Kurapika, Killua and Gon seemed to have seen my signal but Leorio, being the idiot that he is, was completely not paying attention to me. I shrugged and continued to sneak my way out until Leorio finally noticed and decided to scream across the hall.
"Hey! Where are you guys going!?"
All eyes were set on us and I looked at Hanzo. I guess we can't do this in secret anymore.
"What now Hanzo?" I asked him.
Hanzo stood there for a second to think.
"Run to the lake!" With that, Hanzo sped off as all the other participants followed.
"That guy said lake!" Said one guy
"I think he's trying to catch some fish! Fish is one of the ingredients everyone! Lets go get some!" Shouted another person.
With that, all the other examiners came running towards the lake. I ran towards Leorio and knocked him on his head.
"Leorio you idiot!" I yelled
"What!? What did I do?" He asked back
"Kurapika, Gon and Killua saw me motioning them to sneak away and I tried getting your attention but you were in your own little world and you just blew our cover! We were planning to go to the lake in secret to prevent everyone else from knowing but you screaming across the hall made it worse" I said while sighing.
"Well sorry! How am I supposed to know you guys were keeping it a secret" Leorio said
"Honestly Leorio, Aoi is right, You are stupid" Kurapika said as he joined us in running.
"You take that back blondie!" Leorio said while holding up a fist
"Well let's just hope we get some fish" I whispered while pouting.
We all reached the lake and took time catching the fish.
They are a lot harder to catch than I thought. But I did caught one eventually.
I looked at Gon and he seemed to be catching fishes with ease using his fishing rod.
"Hey Aoi!" Gon was waving at me as I waved back and walked towards him.
"Hey Gon. I guess that fishing rod of yours is very useful now." I said with a laugh.
"Yeah I do it a lot back at Whale Island" Gon said with a cheesy smile.
"Do you know what sushi is?" I asked
"Nope. I have no clue. Judging from what you were doing before, I got the hint that this dish involves fish. But I still don't know what to do" Gon said with a puzzled look.
"It seems Aoi knows what sushi is" Kurapika said as he walked toward us with a fish in his hand.
"Oh yeah. I do" I answered quietly, making sure that other people don't hear me.
"Oohh. How do you know?" Gon asked in amusement.
"Well I use to cook for my family and this was one of the dishes I made" I said the Spiders.
I do miss them.
"I see. I would like to try some of your cooking one day Aoi" Kurapika said with a smile.
I couldn't help but to blush and look away.
"I-I see. You will someday..." I said quietly.
He makes me feel nervous whenever he's being charming.
"Me too Aoi! We all should try your cooking when we're free" Gon picked up his fish and started to walk away with Kurapika and I following him.
What Kurapika said before, just the thought of him trying out my cooking feels embarrassing.
I don't know why, but it made my heart beat faster when he said it.
Could I really be falling for him?
After a couple of minutes, we all got back to the building and we went our separate ways.
I grabbed a cutting board and a knife and started dicing the fish.
"Woah. That's a nice fish you caught" Hanzo said just as he got to his counter.
"Yeah. It was the only one I managed to catch." I said with a grin.
"Well we shouldn't take our time, that lady looks like she's getting irritated" Hanzo said pointing towards a hungry Menchi.
Hanzo was right.
I looked at Menchi and she looked like she was getting really impatient.
She was using Buhara's arm as a punching bag and kept screaming that she's starving.
"Come on! I'm starving! What's taking you guys so long!?" She screamed.
"I guess I better hurry then" I said as I sliced the fish rapidly.
I prepped up the ingredients needed and looked at Menchi again.
People were already approaching her with dishes in their hand. Each one of them were wrong.
Menchi kept having a disappointing look on her face and threw the plates on the side, rejecting them.
I even saw Leorio, Gon and Kurapika gave their try on making sushi and yet Menchi still rejects them.
"THIS IS NOT SUSHI! DO IT AGAIN!" She shouted.
"She is so harsh on them." I said
"That's because no one knows how to make sushi" Hanzo replied, cocky.
"But still, she should at least give them credit for trying" I sighed.
What if she doesn't like my dish?
"Hey look at that guy" Hanzo was pointing towards Killua.
"Oh. Its Killua" I said
"What is it he has on his hand?" He asked.
Killua approached Menchi with a really fancy dish.
It was technically a 'sushi' dish but this style was not the Japanese sushi style Menchi wanted. It was more of a Western style I think.
Menchi's eyes did spark for a bit but then she went back to her impatient self and rejected the dish.
"Nope. Not the sushi I want. NEXT!" She said as she tossed Killua's dish to the side.
"Well, I tried." Killua shrugged and headed back to his counter.
"For a second I thought she was going to accept his dish. Oh well" I sighed once again.
"Well now it's my turn" Hanzo said as he picked up his dish.
He just finished his roll and walked off. It is exactly what Menchi wanted in terms of 'sushi' and it had nice quality too.
Sushi is supposed to be rice shaped like a cylinder with a small thin slice of fish on top wrapped with a thin sheet of seaweed.
"Watch this Aoi, She'll love my dish and I'm going to pass" Hanzo said with determination.
He walked up to Menchi with a big smile as all the participants stopped what their doing and looked at Hanzo.
"Finally!" Menchi shouted in excitement. "This is what sushi is supposed to be people! At least someone here knows how to make it!"
She took out her chopsticks, picked up the sushi and dipped it in soy sauce. She ate her sushi and was happy for a second until she frowned.
"This sushi taste bad. MAKE ME ANOTHER ONE!" She screamed as she tossed the dish to the side.
"What!? It's sushi! How can you not like it!?" Hanzo screamed.
"Make it taste better and than you'll pass!" She yelled back.
Hanzo sulked his way back to his counter and everyone else now understood what Sushi is.
"Don't worry Hanzo. Maybe her expectations are higher than normal sushi. She is an Epicure Hunter after all" I said as I tried to comfort him.
"Yeah you're probably right." Hanzo said as he sulked again.
"Well, usually when I cook, I always thought that cooking comes from the heart. Like there's a purpose for cooking. You want to cook for the people you love and care about. That's how I cooked for my family. A heartwarming dish can satisfy a person no matter the quality." I gave a heartwarming smile to cheer up Hanzo.
Hanzo was a little dazed and I waved my hand in front of him. His face was a bit flushed too.
"Are you okay Hanzo?" I looked at him confused.
"Y-Yes! I'm okay!" Hanzo said as he looked away and started cooking again.
"ANYONE ELSE HAVE FOOD FOR ME!? I'M STARVING HERE AND THESE FOOD I'VE BEEN EATING ARE TERRIBLE!" Menchi was starting to throw chairs around as she got crankier.
Everybody around the room were swarming around Menchi with their sushi pieces but she kept rejecting them one by one.
Lucky for her, my sushi dish was actually complete. I made a roll, that consist of six sushi pieces, and some fish sashimi on the side.
I even added a little bit of salt on the sushi so that it had a better salty taste.
"Alright. Let's do this" I nodded my head with a smile
As I was approaching towards Menchi, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at me this time.
I can feel the pressure of everyone's eyes on me. I can even somehow sense Hisoka's creepy stare towards me.
"Here is my dish Menchi. Sushi along with Sashimi." I said as I graciously placed the plate in front of her.
"My goodness! This dish is completely different from that ninja guy! You even rolled it up!" Menchi said with glittery eyes.
"Hey I heard that!" as I heard Hanzo faintly scream from the back.
"Time to eat!" Menchi said in excitement.
She picked up her chopsticks and ate my sushi. She was chewing for almost a minute and finally spoke.
"This is one of the best sushi I've ever had!" She said as she finished the dish within seconds.
"So Menchi" I started, "Does that mean I pass?"
"Hmm...Number 406, I say you passed this exam!" Menchi said as she burped.
"Oh nice Aoi!" Gon said with excitement
"Good job" Kurapika said as he placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Uh thanks..haha." I looked away while blushing.
"Sorry everyone, but bad news. I'm full. So this part of the exam is over" Menchi said while patting on her stomach.
"What!?" Everyone shouted.
Exam over?
Everybody else didn't even get a second chance yet.
What happens now?