phase two ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

page two

"mama!" killua ran to you the second he saw you, hoping that you'll be with gon but you're alone. you're also hoping that he's with gon.

you tried tracking them, but the only one you managed to track was killua. you couldn't sense gon's presence anywhere. did he hide it?

"where's gon?" you asked first. killua shrugged and explained that they got lost due to the thick fog and gon suddenly ran away. killua didn't follow him and went to the finish line instead. you nod, his decision is right.

"don't worry, mama. i think he's gonna be alright." you looked back at the swamp, and just in time, you saw gon and kurapika running towards you and killua.

"mom, stay here for a bit. i'll just look for leorio!" he exclaimed. before you could answer, he and kurapika ran off, searching the crowd for leorio.

"we've come through the swamp. well done, all of you. this is the visca forest preserve, where we will conduct the second phase," satotz announced, and everyone looked at the building ahead.

"this is where we part. i wish you all good luck." he turned his back and started walking away but thought to himself that he should watch to see how many would pass this phase out of the one hundred takers.

"mama, i saw you lift your hand back when we were facing the imposter of satotz. what were you trying to do?" you hummed and lifted your hand to your chin, pretending to think.

"i wished to end his life immediately, but someone did it faster," you answered, remembering how close you were to sending electro daggers if it weren't for hisoka interfering.

"the second phase will start at noon. we'll have to wait." you and killua decided to look for gon and the others. while walking, you overheard some random chatter.

"if it isn't the beautiful examinee."

"man, she looks divine up close."

"her body is to die for..."

while you failed to hear all of those, killua did, and he certainly didn't like it. he looked at you first, checking if you were paying attention. when he saw you busy trying to locate gon, he sent a death glare to the guys talking about you.

he lifted his hand and made a slicing neck gesture. his death glare was enough to make those men back off.

"hmm?" you suddenly felt a murderous intent, not directed at you but close by. you looked down at killua, but he was smiling widely at you.

"ah, mama, there they are!" killua pointed to gon and kurapika. you didn't see leorio at first because he was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree. his face was beaten up.

you frowned, quickly checking gon for any bruises or wounds. gon gulped, trying to cover his neck. hisoka had choked him hard, and he wasn't sure if it had left a bruise.

"mom, i'm fine, but leorio is not," he said, pointing at leorio to redirect your attention. the aspiring doctor pretended to look weak, though you could all see his nose bleeding.

"what? his nose wasn't bleeding earlier," kurapika said, deadpanning. you let go of gon and crossed your arms over your chest.

"he looks fine, certainly," leorio's shoulders slumped when he heard that. gon and killua snickered, while kurapika just smirked at their friend's defeat.

"what happened to you, anyway?" you asked. he was beaten up and weakened-did he fight the creatures in the swamp? it didn't look like it. and why was gon looking for him earlier?

as you looked at leorio, gon shook his head subtly, signaling him to lie and not mention their encounter with hisoka. leorio gulped and began to sweat.

"i-i had to fight the big toads! i ran toward one but slipped and fell on my face," leorio explained. gon, killua, and kurapika stared at him, deadpan, clearly unimpressed by the excuse.

"usually, i'd let lightning strike a liar. never mind that, you're my children's friend." you turned your back against them. they just gawked at you, confused and lost by what you said.

gon was about to ask about it, but the gate suddenly opened, accompanied by a weird sound-like an empty stomach.

inside, there was a giant man sitting on the ground. in front of him was a woman with a weird hairstyle, sitting on the couch and smiling.

"i wonder what phase two will be like," gon whispered as he walked and stopped beside you. killua did the same, standing on your other side.

"anything, just not a marathon again!" leorio called out from the background.

"applicants, listen up! the second phase is... cooking! we're gourmet hunters, so you'll be whipping up viands to satisfy our discriminating palates!" the woman examiner announced, causing an uproar among the takers.

"you'll pass the second phase when you satisfy both of us! once we've eaten our fill, the testing period will be over," she explained further.

most of the takers weren't taking them seriously, finding cooking to be lame for a hunter exam.

"my dish of choice is... whole roast pig!" buhara announced excitedly, his eyes twinkling and saliva dripping at the idea of roasted pig.

"any pig in this preserve will do," he added. everyone was just waiting for their signal to start hunting for the main dish.

"mama, let's go. if you're not accustomed to hunting animals, we'll do it for you," killua said but froze in shock when he looked at you.

"m-mama?! are you okay?!" gon, kurapika, and leorio's attention was caught by killua's frantic voice. they, too, were shocked when they saw you-pale as a ghost.

"mom?!" you looked down at gon and killua. the four of them were confused and worried about why you were suddenly motionless and pale.

"gon, killua... i'm done for..." even your voice was unusual. they gulped and began sweating. alerted, they wait for you to continue.

"i... i can't cook."

┌ ╌ ╌ ╌ ╌ ㅤ °ㅤㅤ 𝒪𝒪. .ㅤ ╭◜

* ㅤ ㅤ ╎
ㅤ ㅤ to be continuedㅤ ❀