Lu Ou took out the three-colored fruits he had picked along the way. He selected the one with the best appearance, wiped it clean with the hem of his clothes, and only after he was satisfied did he place it onto a plate.
The plate was then set quietly on the dining table.
Zetsu.
Face Fruit Ability No. 2 — The Rights of the Face Fruit's Owner:
When formally inviting someone to a meal, the invitation cannot be refused.
Lu Ou's one real strength was analysis.
Reading the explanation, he felt the word "formal" was crucial.
What counted as formal?
In his judgment: a table, chairs, and food. Only then could it be considered a proper invitation.
So, to prevent the ability from failing, he even made sure to place the fruit neatly on a plate.
"Aunt Mito, hello. My name is Ou. My luggage was swept away by the waves, and Gon just saved me, so I may have to trouble you for a few days. These are some fresh fruits I saw along the road—please have some."
Lu Ou took a few steps forward, looked up at her with an earnest expression, and spoke sincerely.
"Huh? Oh—okay, okay. Thank you."
Mito looked at the refined-looking boy in front of her. Her angry expression froze for a moment. Seeing the wild fruit on the table, she unconsciously sat down and began eating.
In an instant, a rich fruity aroma filled her mouth.
Gon was a little stunned. He looked at Aunt Mito, then at Lu Ou.
"Aunt Mito, please give me some face—and don't be angry at Gon anymore."
After speaking, Lu Ou looked at Mito nervously.
Face Fruit Ability No. 1 — Equal Face:
Using food as the exchange standard, once food is accepted, the recipient must give face equal in value to the food received.
Accepting food—and eating the fruit—should count as receiving food.
In the original story, Gon failed to catch the King Fish for the first six days. It was today that he argued with Aunt Mito, and on the second day, she gave him the fishing rod Ging had left behind, allowing Gon to finally succeed on the last day.
So in truth, Mito already knew that Whale Island couldn't hold Gon forever. Her anger and arguments came from worry, not real resentment.
On top of that, the wild fruit Lu Ou brought was rather rare.
Given all these factors, Lu Ou judged that the "face" of calming her anger was worth just a single rare fruit.
Of course, this was all based on his own analysis—both of his Nen ability and Mito's personality from the original plot.
If even one link in the chain was wrong, the ability would fail.
For example—if Mito were truly furious, then a single fruit wouldn't be enough. It would require a full meal to balance the exchange.
That was why Lu Ou felt tense.
But after hearing his words, the anger in Mito's mind suddenly felt like a balloon—
Pop.
It vanished completely.
She sighed.
"Ou, hello. I'm really sorry you had to see that. Come inside."
She shot Gon a glare, then quickly pulled Lu Ou toward the inn's main hall.
Seeing that Lu Ou had calmed Aunt Mito down with just one fruit felt unbelievable to Gon. He began wondering if he should go pick a few of those fruits himself.
"Aunt Mito, I already caught the Lord of the Swamp—the King Fish. According to our agreement, I can take the Hunter Exam now."
Seeing that she was no longer angry, Gon tried to press his advantage.
"…Mm. I know."
Mito froze briefly, then nodded. She motioned for Lu Ou to sit and headed into the kitchen.
"Here, Gon—have a fruit."
Lu Ou grinned mischievously and beckoned to Gon, waving his hand like he was calling a cat.
Gon didn't particularly like fruit, but since it was from a new friend, he took it and ate it anyway.
The moment Gon finished, Lu Ou immediately asked:
"Gon, give me some face—how old were you when you stopped wetting the bed?"
"Huh? How could I not tell you something like that? I'll tell you—actually, I was still wetting the bed at three."
Gon hadn't intended to answer such an embarrassing question at all—but he felt inexplicably unable to refuse. The words came pouring out without hesitation.
Only after he realized what he had just said did his golden eyes widen in shock. He had no idea why he'd blurted it out so easily.
He scratched his head, thinking maybe it was because this new friend seemed like a good person, so he didn't mind sharing.
From this bit of gossip, Lu Ou obtained an important piece of data:
His Face Fruit Nen ability did not require continuous activation.
If the other party directly ate the food, then the second ability wasn't needed. Just like earlier—Gon had eaten the fruit directly, and Equal Face still activated.
"The Rights of the Face Fruit's Owner," Lu Ou reasoned, "should only be needed when the other party wouldn't normally eat your food."
"Like Aunt Mito earlier—she was arguing with Gon, but because of my second ability, she still couldn't refuse and ended up eating."
"So then… does this ability have a lower limit? Do you absolutely need a table and more formal arrangements for it to count as a 'formal invitation'?"
"And what about the upper limit? For example—if someone wants to kill me, and I properly set the table and formally invite them to a meal, would they be forced to eat first before continuing?"
There wasn't enough data yet to answer these questions.
But with Gon around, there would be plenty of chances to experiment.
"Cough—"
Gon, who was eating, suddenly felt his hair stand on end. He choked, struggled to swallow, and glanced around—but found nothing unusual, so he lowered his head and continued eating.
"Ah… as expected of a single-celled organism," Lu Ou thought. "Animal instincts really are sharp."
Some things didn't need to be rushed. They required time.
Lu Ou quietly suppressed his thoughts.
There was plenty of time ahead.
After eating the dinner Mito had carefully prepared, Lu Ou stayed the night at her insistence, sharing a room with Gon.
The sun rose and set, recording the endless cycles of the human world. When golden sunlight poured down once more, a new day began.
"Gon, I heard from Aunt Mito that you have a Foxbear friend, right?"
Thinking about his plan, Lu Ou pulled Gon out of the inn after breakfast.
"Yes! Foxbear is great! He always brings me lots of food. I'll introduce you!"
At the mention of his Foxbear friend, Gon beamed with joy and eagerly recommended him.
"Don't worry—it won't hurt anyone. Especially not my friends!"
Seeing that Lu Ou didn't answer immediately, Gon patted his chest in reassurance.
"I know. I trust you completely," Lu Ou said. "Let's go meet your friend."
"Shhh—"
Gon took out a whistle from around his neck and blew it a few times, then carried the King Fish toward the forest. He planned to release it first.
"I wonder how it tastes…"
Lu Ou rubbed his chin, staring at the King Fish with sparkling eyes.
He'd eaten things that flew, swam, and ran on land—
But he'd never tried something amphibious.
Just thinking about it made him drool.
Unfortunately, Gon had solemnly declared that the King Fish could not be eaten.
Watching but not eating—what a tragedy.
But suddenly, Lu Ou realized something important.
If his Nen ability exchanged food for face, then logically, the stronger the target, the better—and more valuable—the food would need to be.
No matter how delicious food was, there was always a limit.
But in the world of Hunter × Hunter…
That wasn't a concern at all.
After all, how many rare, priceless ingredients existed here—things that didn't exist on Earth at all?
The rarer the ingredient—
The greater the face it could buy.