Hello everyone, Gon Freecss here, back home for the first time in about six months. The animals on the island are all in an uproar, probably because Gin dove into the forest the second we arrived.
The group arrived at Whale Island by ship and headed straight for Mito's house, with Gon explaining things about the island along the way. It was a small island with few residents, so it didn't take them long to arrive, aside from Leorio lamenting the lack of proper hospitals and trying to build a small clinic on the spot.
"Mito! I'm home!"
"Gon! Welcome back!"
Mito hugged Gon tightly as he ran up, then looked over at Killua and the others with a gentle smile.
"Are you Gon's friends? I'm so happy he's brought home human friends, unlike Gin. It's a small house, but please make yourselves at home and stay as long as you like."
Her calm, enveloping presence was impossible for Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio to resist. Like chicks following their mother, they filed into the house in a single line.
"It's been a while, Gin! I've got the Frog-Catfish heads you love, so eat up!"
"N'gumah!"
By the time Gon and the others had taken a bath to wash off the grime from the ship and it was time for dinner, Gin had emerged from the forest and was greedily devouring the fish scraps Mito gave him. Killua and the others, unaccustomed to such fresh seafood, were completely engrossed in the meal. Gon and Mito watched them, looking pleased.
"Huh, so this is a Hunter License. It just looks like a normal card."
Mito inspected the license Gon showed her from every angle, smiling wryly at the strange feeling of having three people who had passed the supposedly hyper-difficult exam right in front of her.
"Killua has more than enough skill, he just failed because of the exam's content," Gon explained. "If he took it again, he'd pass for sure."
"I have to ask," Mito said, "Gin didn't become a Hunter, too, did he?"
"Gin didn't apply," Gon said. "I wonder if he would have gotten one if he did?"
"Gaff! Gaff! ...Koo?" Gin, who was devouring a portion of food far larger than his own small body, noticed them looking and paused, but quickly started eating again when Mito's great-grandmother put more on his plate.
"Aah, I'm stuffed. Thank you for the meal! Man, Mito, you're a great cook. That was super satisfying."
"Yes," Kurapika agreed. "Is this what they call a fisherman's meal? It was unfamiliar, but truly delicious. Thank you."
"Thanks for the food!" Killua said. "I'm looking forward to eating this for a while."
Mito and her great-grandmother smiled happily at the group, who had polished off at least three times the normal amount of food, and began to clear the table. Kurapika and Leorio offered to help, but Mito declined and instead handed Gon a small box.
"That's the only thing Ging left for you, Gon. I tried my best to open it once, but I couldn't. So maybe you're the only one who can? Let me know what's inside later."
Mito went back to cleaning up, and Gon and the others gathered around the mysterious box in the guest room.
"If a normal person can't open it, ten to one it's imbued with Nen," Kurapika reasoned. "What do you want to do? Open it right away?"
"No, let's look at it as a good teaching tool," Leorio suggested. "Why don't we see if we can get it open ourselves, as we are now?"
Leorio's idea was adopted. Assuming that an aggressive approach wouldn't work, they each tried to open it.
In the end, aside from Leorio determining there was another box inside it, they made no headway. Even a serious Gon only managed to dent it slightly.
"So Nen can even do stuff like this," Leorio marveled. "I can't believe even Gon couldn't break it."
"He probably used those Glyphs Mr. Wing mentioned," Kurapika mused. "Ging's primary Nen type might be Emitter-adjacent."
Considering the possibility of it being keyed to a specific person's aura, Gon channeled his aura into it just like in a Water Divination test. The box, which had been so unyielding, fell apart as if its strength had been a lie.
"Whoa, that's impressive. Oh, are these the Glyphs? Can't make heads or tails of it just by looking."
"Hmm. I'd like to study these when I have the time."
While Leorio and Kurapika showed interest in the simple iron rods inscribed with what looked like Glyphs, Gon and Killua, the younger pair, had already inserted the Hunter License into the new box that had appeared and were checking its contents.
"What's this? A cassette tape, a JoyStick memory card, and... a ring?"
"I'll go get a cassette player," Gon said.
Leorio and Kurapika, noticing Gon had left, also came over to inspect the contents. They determined that all three items were faintly clad in aura.
When Gon returned, they confirmed with him one more time if it was okay for them to listen to a message addressed to him, and then they all listened to the tape.
"Tch. I mean, I get some of it, but basically, he's just an annoying old man," Killua grumbled.
"I agree," Kurapika said. "It's true he might attract danger, but to use that as an excuse for being so completely uninvolved is too much. There must have been more he could have done, or should have done."
"My family relationships aren't exactly something to brag about, but this is just wrong," Leorio added. "Gon, how did you not end up all twisted?"
"Because I had Mito, my grandma, and Gin," Gon said. "Everyone on the island is really nice, too. I was never lonely or anything."
The tape's content was Ging bragging about a game he and his friends made called Greed Island, and a message that was hard to believe came from a father: "If you want to see me, come find me."
While Killua and the others fumed, Gon, who seemed more resigned, just smiled wryly. The tape continued to play, and Ging's voice was heard again.
'Aah, if you're still listening, I'll ask just in case. Do you want to hear about your mother? I don't really want to talk about it, so I'll wait one minute. If you want to hear about your mother, just leave this as is.'
The others looked at Gon, who didn't move, just staring silently at the cassette player.
"...That's a little surprising," Killua said. "I thought for sure you'd stop it and say Mito is your mother."
"Yeah, Mito is my mom," Gon said. "But... if my birth mother is alive, and my dad caused her trouble, then I'd like to meet her at least once. That's my honest feeling. So I thought I'd at least listen."
"I see," Kurapika said. "It's possible she had circumstances, unlike Ging. If she wants to see you, Gon, it wouldn't be a bad thing to show her your face."
Hearing Gon's perfectly reasonable thoughts, Killua and the others fell silent. They waited quietly for Ging's words, and finally, the audio resumed.
'Huh? You're kidding me. This is the part where you're supposed to say "Mito is my mother" and stop the tape. What, you got no sense of loyalty or humanity?'
Killua and the others' eyes widened in disbelief. A vein throbbed on Gon's forehead.
'In the first place, I question your decision to listen to something this important from a simple recording instead of hearing it in person. As a Hunter, you should have more of a mindset to uncover the unknown for yourself. Seriously.'
Cold sweat ran down the backs of Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio as they felt the angry aura beginning to leak from Gon. Don't say anything else! they silently begged the ten-years-ago Ging.
'Are you even cut out to be a Hunter? If you'd just opened your heart more to Mito and the others, you wouldn't have needed to listen to this. Aah... I really thought you wouldn't listen...'
The room was now so full of aura that Mito would surely notice. Killua and the others adopted expressions of total resignation, as if to say, Whatever happens, happens.
'Alright, I still don't like this, so I'm not telling you about your mother. If you want to know, come ask me directly. Well, with an attitude like yours, I doubt you'll ever be able to. See ya.'
The tape ended, and silence filled the room. But suddenly, the cassette player was enveloped in aura and began to rewind the tape on its own.
"What the-!?"
"Is this... Nen imbued in the cassette tape!?"
"It's rewinding... It's starting to record! It's going to erase itself!"
Killua and the others scrambled to stop the cassette player, but they couldn't turn it off or break it.
"Tch! Even my electricity won't short it out!"
"I can't even drain its aura with my Assassin Chain! Is this really Nen that was cast ten years ago!?"
"It's no good! We can't stop it!"
Just as they gave up, Gon, who had been sitting silently, stood up. He returned to his true form and lifted the cassette player.
"...I was originally planning on hitting you, but I wasn't going to hit you that hard."
He held the cassette player between his two hands and slowly began to squeeze.
"I've changed my mind. When I hit you, I'm going to hit you for real."
The cassette player, supposedly reinforced by Ging's aura, let out a sickening crunching sound. It was visibly caving in.
"Uh, Gon? I think the player's stopped... Any more than that is probably..."
Gon ignored Leorio, who had spoken up timidly. Completely snapped, Gon deliberately overpowered the Nen Ging had cast.
"This is my declaration. You'd better be ready!!"
"AAAAAH! THE CASSETTE PLAYEEEER!!"
Ging's aura, unable to withstand Gon's strength, was pulverized, taking the cassette player with it.
***
Despite the incident on the first day where Gon completely lost it, the group spent their days peacefully on the island, focusing on the teamwork they had originally planned.
They continued their sparring and Nen training, of course, but also played games intended to practice tailing and infiltration, like hide-and-seek and tag.
They had set aside a generous amount of time for rest and freedom, and everyone spent it in a way that reflected their personality.
The younger pair, Gon and Killua, ran around the forest with Gin, moving so much it was hard to tell if they were playing or training. They came home covered in mud every day, earning a scolding from Mito before being thrown into the bath.
Leorio built the small clinic he had planned since their arrival. He began examining not only the islanders but also visiting fishermen, and here, too, he started being called "Doctor."
Kurapika spent most of his time helping Leorio. Otherwise, he tagged along with Gon and the others or read books from Mito's collection, taking the most "rest-like" rest of the group.
Everyone fully enjoyed the lively island life. Gon and Killua found a hidden treasure, Leorio was nearly carried off by the all-female crew of a fishing boat, and the beautiful Kurapika was mobbed by the island's legion of madams, led by Mito.
And so, as August began to draw to a close, Gon's group departed from Whale Island, seen off by the reluctant residents.
They set off for the site of their decisive battle with the Phantom Troupe: Yorknew City.
***
"...Hm? That feeling... Did the tape I left with Mito activate? No, 'destroyed' is more accurate, isn't it?"
Deep, deep within an uncharted region untrodden by humankind, the Double Hunter and one of the strongest people in the world, Ging Freecss, was staying alone.
"Hmm... It was activated with the correct procedure, but then it was destroyed. Does that mean Gon broke it, or he has strong allies with him?"
Ging lounged as if he were in his own living room, despite being in an ultra-hazardous zone where even most pro-Hunters wouldn't survive for more than a few days. He pondered the broken Nen. Even if it was cast ten years ago, it shouldn't have been so fragile as to be easily destroyed.
"Interesting. Is he already that strong? Or did he make allies that strong? Maybe he'll find me sooner than I thought."
His senses, which had detected the activation and destruction of Nen he'd cast a decade prior, were terrifyingly sharp. But Ging could not have possibly predicted Gon's true strength.
"Come and find me, Gon. The world is despairingly huge... but it's filled with even more fun."
Ging, smiling fearlessly, did not know. He didn't know that the "muscle" that reminded even Netero of death had already locked onto him.
Ging, who no longer remembered what he had recorded on that tape ten years ago, would not realize he had angered the one person he shouldn't have until they finally met face-to-face.
***
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