Chapter 14

POV GON:

Several hours later, in the late afternoon. After leaving the Lone Pine tree cabin, our three-person group arrived in the city and at the restaurant where the elevator for the hunter exam was located.

We said our goodbyes to the Kirikos, our personal and often secluded navigators. They provided us with all the secret passwords and code words we needed to board the elevator that would transport us down to the tunnels for the first real phase of the exams.

Because we were almost a day ahead of schedule and had time to rest before the exam, we came to an agreement with them and the hunter staff at that restaurant.

Some of us yearned for a restful night's sleep. Especially Leorio...

When we parted ways with the blending-in-and-human-impersonating-changing beasts, he was only marginally disappointed. After the hunter exam, he was supposed to go on a date with that young Kiriko lady. They had both happily agreed upon that point. Even though initially, I wasn't certain the girl understood what Leorio meant when he used the word "date,"

This was because this girl, the Kiriko daughter Leorio had agreed to meet, according to Kurapika, had a Sumi tribe tattoo on her arm. Kurapika informed us that in Sumi tribe traditions, certain tattoos on the arms and hands are made up of ancient symbols representing a Sumi woman's betrothal to god and her vow of chastity.

However, when Leorio inquired, it was revealed that the tattoo was only part of the test, which was designed to assess our perception, knowledge, and scouting abilities. The daughter and her brother were acting as a loving couple when she was abducted. They wanted us to decipher Sumi's ancient knowledge and determine that they couldn't be a couple. We didn't have to, though, because we passed the test in a different but equally valid manner.

It goes without saying how relieved Leorio was when he discovered that the girl he had a date with wasn't married to her religion and that he could still date her…

He seemed to have a thing for furries or Maju in general.

But just because that was the case, I wasn't about to let him go after Cheadle ahead of me. I don't have this kind of furry interest right now, but that doesn't mean I didn't have it in a previous life… My current body was simply too young… I was anticipating all possibilities and planning for the future. I wanted to avoid looking back and being dissatisfied with some dating decisions I made, or didn't make, as I grew older and my tastes evolved to a more open-minded limit.

First come, first served, just like they always said. Before I felt any remorse, I was going to take who and what I wanted.

Not that I couldn't, given my increasing power, steal other people's lovers, which would "most likely" keep me ahead of Leorio's. Particularly given my seemingly limitless potential, which was giving me the upper hand over Leorio in a variety of life areas…; however, he was a friend. I wanted to avoid doing anything that would later make me appear "unprofessional" in his eyes.

Unprofessional friends were a different story. Something different from who I was.

Leorio and I were friends, but not the kind of friends to turn on one another when necessary. We had no plans to do this. And speaking of which, he had come to me specifically to talk about this right now.

Kurapika had left to use the bathroom. Leorio had seized the chance to talk to me about these "serious love and friendship matters."

I replied in the restaurant where we had dinner after hearing what he had to say, not intending to use the elevator at the time. "I would rather not be that friend to you, Leorio. You can be sure of that. Yes, but only if you promise not to treat me badly yourself and not to sour my goodwill toward you. You need to be more assured around women, though, while we're talking about it. I think that Kiriko lady likes you… If the date goes well and the two of you get along well on a personal level, will you take this potential relationship seriously?"

I replied with a sincere smile and a suppressed chuckle. I was chuckling to myself because I wanted to know if Maju and humans could have children. I intended to ask some hunters this question after passing the test, but if I couldn't learn anything from them, I intended to use Leorio as my test pig.

I don't believe that he wouldn't have made this "love sacrifice" for me. ...if you can even call it that.

I was thinking obscene things. My attention was focused on Leorio pulling the dirty love act. With the massive furry beast that has changed and metamorphosed in a bedroom…

Humming, He too was deep in thought. He took a moment to reply. He was taken aback by my question, and he didn't seem to have given his entire date arrangement with the Kiriko girl much thought. The guy obviously wasn't the type to think long-term about these things. Which I found strange.

I was concerned for my new friend before he finally spoke. He informed me. "I'm a gentleman, so I didn't give it much thought… Naturally, I will respect and cherish a girl if she has feelings for me, and I have feelings for her."

I sighed and shook my head as I spoke. "But I do mean exactly that. What happens if you don't like her? Are you simply going to enjoy yourself and then turn her down when the time comes to leave and pack?"

Leorio abruptly got up, screaming and pummeling the table. "Definitely not! Please don't underestimate me! I'd be ashamed of myself for being such a jerk!"

"Man, calm down." As I pondered the likelihood that my plan would be successful, I grinned. Then I spoke again. "That brings our discussion to a close. Let's make a small agreement between men later, Leorio... If you go on another date with her, you should think about getting married to her. In reality, you should get married regardless. If not, do you make promises that you don't keep? Right? Do I need to keep an eye on you for this? Hahaha."

"Of course! I am, despite appearances, a man of honor! I never go back on my word. It's something I've never done! Actually, I'm here to take this exam because..." Leorio responded, his innocent expression returning. He didn't realize that reaching agreements and making deals with me wasn't always so simple... It wasn't just a case of saying things at random without thinking about the implications... He'd have to consider it later. Leorio appeared to be a senile old man, but I had lived twice and knew more than he did.

Kurapika taught me how to make deals in my second life, deals with Nen... Maybe my current abilities were the result of her karma influencing mine.

Hunter X Hunter's world had several heroes, though Leorio was not the main character. It was far too easy to play pranks on anime heroes when anime logic was working against them. I didn't do this to cause Leorio any harm. As a result, I didn't feel bad about it. Finding a nice girl was not painful or unpleasant for him. Having a waifu cook for him and sleep with him wasn't the worst thing in the world. Even if it was a Kiriko, beasts needed love as well...

Leorio and I were joking around and discussing money and his doctoral and medical studies when Kurapika returned.

Leorio was a tall, strong-looking young man with a spiked crew cut, small brown eyes, and dark hair. I hadn't seen him in anything other than a dark blue business suit, black dress shoes, and tea-colored sunglasses. He hadn't changed out of his dapper attire in days, and I was beginning to wonder what was in his businesslike briefcase. That was because I couldn't remember if he told or showed his friends in the episodes.

"What are you two talking about so happily?" Kurapika asked, her eyes suspicious. She appeared to be concerned that we were discussing her going to the restroom or something.

"Nothing." I told her about it. "You should take a seat and place your order... I wholeheartedly recommend this dish..."

"Nothing, huh? Really... Nothing at all?" She asked me again as I was demonstrating a dish from the menu; she was still uneasy. She smiled and frowned doubtfully in rapid succession.

"Yes. We don't have as much time as you believe, by the way... If we want to catch some sleep later, at least… Let's eat first, then take a stroll around town to digest. We still need to locate a hotel where we can drop Leorio off." I said.

Kurapika nodded, a flush on her cheeks.

Leorio wrinkled his brow in nausea. "Stop acting so romantically, you two. I think it's odd and a little early, but not because I know more than you do... If you keep at it, both Severus and I will throw up I feel..."

"My snake does not barf as much as you think. Isn't that right, Sev?" My gaze shifted to the long snake wrapped on the ground next to me as I remarked. My fishing pole was right next to him.

Severus replied with a hiss. [Yeah… However, this girl is furious for a reason... If I hadn't heard your tempting offer to this girl and felt her repressed rage, I might have puked.]

I chuckled to myself quietly. Severus was on point. My sweet child... Sorry, my dearest friend.

Severus was far too intelligent, and his ideas were far more sophisticated than mine.

… Kurapika gave me a non-traditional acting performance. Her actions, however, were tinged with emotion. Although the flirting we were doing between us skipped a few steps and happened too quickly. A lot of things felt off and out of place among us two.

Her desire for increased strength was unusual. She was probably delusory enough to believe she already loved me... That the feelings she was having in her head and heart were for a greater good... some greater good called vengeance. For the sake of the tribe.

Those phony emotions were a bad idea on her part... But I wasn't complaining about being "loved"...

We needed to communicate and honestly clear out anything hidden or fabricated between us in order to move forward.