When they stepped out of the classroom, the air in Headquarters somehow felt fresher.
Not because it actually was.
Just because Beans had finally stopped talking.
Yuzuki slipped his new Hunter License into his pocket and exhaled softly through his nose. For the first time since waking up in Hunter Association Headquarters, it really sank in.
He was officially a Hunter now.
Chairman Netero walked beside him with his hands behind his back, the old man's pace relaxed, almost leisurely. The halls of Headquarters seemed to bend around him in an odd way. Staff greeted him with visible respect, but Netero acknowledged all of it with the casual ease of someone who had lived at the center of this world for so long that its formality had stopped touching him years ago.
For a while, the two simply walked.
Then Netero spoke.
"A Hunter License is a dangerous thing."
Yuzuki glanced at him. "Because of the access it gives?"
Netero nodded. "That too. But more than that, because it gives a person freedom."
They turned into a quieter corridor. Tall windows lined one side, pouring pale daylight over polished floors.
"A lot of people believe power is the dangerous part," Netero continued. "It isn't. Power is only a tool. Freedom is what makes people reveal themselves."
Yuzuki listened carefully.
Netero's tone wasn't heavy. He wasn't trying to sound profound. That made it hit more cleanly somehow.
"You'll be able to go where others can't," the Chairman said. "Ask questions others aren't allowed to ask. Put your hands on things most people will never even hear about. That sort of freedom can elevate a person." He smiled faintly. "Or destroy them."
Yuzuki nodded once. "So I shouldn't be stupid with it."
Netero laughed softly. "That's one way to put it."
Yuzuki shoved his hands into his pockets. "It's the best way to put it."
Netero seemed amused by that.
"Another thing," the old man continued. "A Hunter's reputation grows faster than his strength if he isn't careful."
Yuzuki frowned slightly. "How is that a problem?"
"Because then people start expecting a monster while you're still only becoming one."
That made Yuzuki go quiet for a second.
Netero glanced at him sideways. "You survived a very public exam. You fought Hisoka and lived. You were made the sole success of the year. Stories are already forming around you whether you like it or not."
Yuzuki clicked his tongue. "That sounds irritating."
"It will be."
They rounded another corner.
And that was when they saw her.
Menchi.
The Gourmet Hunter paced near a wide observation window, arms folded tightly, foot tapping in visible agitation. Her expression was tense and deeply annoyed, like someone who had spent the last hour wrestling with a problem too stubborn to die.
She looked up the moment she sensed movement.
Her posture straightened immediately when she saw Netero.
"Chairman," she said, giving a respectful nod.
Then her eyes slid right past Yuzuki.
Just like that.
Dismissed.
Yuzuki's brows rose.
Then, before he could stop himself, he said, "That was rude."
Menchi looked back at him now, more irritated than apologetic. "I don't care."
Yuzuki stared.
"Wow," he said flatly. "You're not even pretending to have manners."
Menchi scoffed. "And you're not even pretending to look important."
Netero's eyes crinkled faintly.
Yuzuki pointed at her. "See? That. That right there. That's why I called you rude."
Menchi placed a hand on her hip. "If I wanted the opinion of a child in sunglasses, I would've asked."
Yuzuki smiled without warmth. "And if I wanted to hear ego with legs talk back to me, I would've gone looking for Hisoka."
Menchi's eye twitched.
The argument might have gone somewhere deeply stupid if Netero hadn't chuckled and casually stepped between the currents before they could properly spark.
"Heh heh heh," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Now then, Menchi. Why do you look so stressed?"
Menchi exhaled sharply and crossed her arms tighter.
For a second, she looked like she wanted to keep being annoyed instead of answering. But Netero was Netero, and that only got you so far.
"I found a lead," she said.
Netero's interest sharpened slightly. "A lead?"
Menchi nodded. "On a legendary ingredient."
That got Yuzuki's attention too.
Menchi continued, "If I successfully acquire it and prepare it, I'll qualify to become a 1-Star Gourmet Hunter."
Yuzuki's eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses.
'So she's not a 1-Star yet. That matches the timeline before.'
Netero folded his hands behind his back. "And the problem?"
Menchi let out a deeply irritated breath.
"The ingredient is located in a restricted, near-unmapped zone. Multiple Hunters have already failed to retrieve it." Her face darkened. "And Buhara refuses to go with me."
Yuzuki blinked. "Buhara?"
Menchi threw one hand up. "Yes, Buhara! I asked him, and he basically said, 'No thanks, I enjoy living.'"
That got a chuckle out of Netero.
Menchi looked even more irritated by that and continued, "I've asked around. Other Hunters are either busy, or they hear where the lead is and immediately become cowards. Some won't even let me finish the explanation."
Netero's smile widened faintly. "That serious, hm?"
Menchi nodded once. "That serious."
The Chairman tilted his head. "Then tell me. What exactly is this ingredient?"
That changed something in Menchi immediately.
Even while stressed, even while annoyed, talking about food lit a different fire in her.
"The ingredient is called the Abyssal Glass Fruit," she said.
Even the name sounded ridiculous.
And beautiful.
Menchi's eyes gained a strange intensity as she explained.
"It grows deep within a massive vertical cavern system. No one knows how many layers down it actually forms, only that it appears in an environment where light shouldn't exist and life shouldn't survive."
She held her hands apart as if shaping the image in front of them.
"It looks like a glowing glass orb. Completely translucent. Veins of light flowing inside it. It even pulses slightly, like it's alive."
Yuzuki listened despite himself.
Netero too.
Menchi's voice lowered a little, becoming almost reverent.
"When cut open, it releases a fragrance so intense it can cause hallucinations. And the taste…" She smiled despite her frustration. "The taste is described as every flavor you've ever loved, layered perfectly... followed by something you've never tasted before."
The corridor fell quiet for a moment after that.
Then Netero nodded slowly. "Hm. I see the appeal."
"I need that fruit," Menchi said, back to sounding irritated with reality itself. "And I need someone competent enough not to die before I get near it."
Netero looked at Yuzuki.
Then smiled.
"Take him."
Menchi stared.
Then looked at Yuzuki.
Then back at Netero.
Then back at Yuzuki again, as if hoping the old man was joking and the punchline just hadn't landed yet.
"There is no way," she said.
Netero chuckled. "Oh?"
"He just got his license!" Menchi said, pointing at Yuzuki like he was evidence in a trial. "There's no way I'm taking a brand-new Hunter with me into some death hole. He probably shouldn't even know Nen yet."
Yuzuki frowned. "For your information, I'm a proficient user of Nen."
Menchi looked at him blankly. "No, you're not."
"I am."
"No."
Yuzuki's eye twitched. "Besides, I have no intention of going anywhere with you."
Menchi folded her arms. "Good. We agree."
"Hohohoho!"
Both Yuzuki and Menchi looked at him.
Netero raised one hand placatingly. "Menchi, don't take Yuzuki lightly. He's quite strong."
Menchi snorted. "Chairman, with respect, no."
Netero smiled.
"Maybe even stronger than you."
That did it.
Menchi's expression flattened into offended disbelief. "Absolutely not."
Yuzuki looked equally unimpressed, though for a different reason.
Netero, apparently satisfied by both reactions, didn't press the point. He simply turned to Yuzuki.
"You shouldn't let your feelings control you here."
Yuzuki frowned slightly. "What feelings?"
"The ones making you say no before thinking."
Yuzuki opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Netero continued, "If you truly manage to find this fruit, it will help you in your dream of becoming Chairman."
That landed.
Because as annoying as Menchi was, Netero wasn't wrong.
A newly licensed Hunter participating in the retrieval of a legendary ingredient from a near-unmapped restricted zone was exactly the sort of thing that built reputation.
And reputation built influence.
And influence…
Well.
That was one of the roads leading upward.
Menchi, of course, immediately ruined the moment by scoffing.
"You want to become Chairman?" she asked, looking Yuzuki up and down. "That's adorable."
Yuzuki turned to her with a perfectly blank face.
"And you're hunting a fruit that sounds made up."
Menchi's eye twitched again.
"It exists."
"Sure it does."
"It does."
"Mhmm."
Menchi stepped forward. "Do you want me to fillet you?"
Yuzuki shrugged. "Do you want me to laugh when the fruit turns out to be fake?"
Netero watched this exchange with open delight.
For a few seconds it looked like they might start arguing in circles forever.
Then Menchi exhaled sharply and pointed a finger at Yuzuki.
"Fine. If, and only if you don't slow me down, and if you follow my lead when it comes to the ingredient itself, then I'll allow it."
Yuzuki stared. "You're phrasing this like I'm the one begging to come."
"You should be grateful."
"You're so insufferable."
"And yet you're still considering it."
Yuzuki clicked his tongue.
Because she was right.
Because Netero was right.
And because, despite everything, he was curious.
Finally, he said, "Fine."
Menchi raised a brow. "Fine?"
"Fine," Yuzuki repeated. "We work together."
Menchi looked suspiciously victorious about that.
Yuzuki immediately disliked that expression.
Netero laughed again, clearly approving.
"Hohohoho! Good."
The Chairman looked between them both with the satisfaction of a man who had just arranged exactly the kind of trouble he wanted to watch from a safe distance.
"Well then," he said, "I look forward to hearing how badly this goes."
---
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