Foreign Lands (BC X HxH)

18 Sushi and children

Killua had changed into his undercover clothes and was currently waiting in the common room. It was 6:30 and only a few bulls members were awake. Asta was stuffing his face, and Charmy was as well. Suddenly Charmy's eyes darted over to him and she summoned her sheep cooks. Luck and Vanessa came down the stairs, chatting as they did so. He couldn't help but notice how Vanessa definitely had a headache from that drinking bet last night. He kept on his monotone expression, which came easier now that Nero had sealed his emotions away. They weren't 100% sealed off, but they were for the most part. "Oh Hey!" Luck ran over, beaming. "Can we-" He spoke over Luck, knowing full well what he was going to ask. "No" His face fell a little, but that smile was still plastered on his face. "Please? I really want to fight you!" He said, before zapping Killua with some electricity.

Killua didn't even flinch, then locked eyes with him. "Have to be kidnapped today, maybe later" Luck laughed quietly. "That sounds so weird out of context-" He was suddenly summoned by a very excited Charmy. "Killua! Come look what I made for you!" she said, standing on the table and waving her arms in the air to get his attention. He blinked, then decided to walk over. His eyes lit up a little as he saw  5 different types of sushi on plates. I wonder if she can make chocolate robots. He sat down with his legs crossed like he usually did when he was eating, then picked up the fork. "yaknow the way you sit, one might think your some kind of royal" Asta pointed out, before shoving a large lamp chop in his face. Killua blinked. Really? He brushed off the comment, then tried the first kind of sushi he saw. It was rolled up into a cylinder shape and wrapped with what he thought was seaweed. He chewed for a few seconds, then moved that plate closer. I like that one.

He tried the next, it looked like a whole cut up fish stuffed with rice. Killua was skeptical at first, but it was better than the last. "That one's called Sugatazushi. I recently started including many seafood dishes in with my lexicon since we visited the underwater temple." Charmy said, drooling a little as she took a bite out of what looked like a seafood salad. There was another plate of a blueish looking fish atop some rice with a little seasoning over it. Killua tried some of that and he blinked in surprise at the rich flavor. "That one's Saba sushi!" Charmy supplied, at this point Asta was just watching while this was happening. He moved the first plate further away and replaced the Saba plate with it. It deserved a higher status. He was enjoying this. Killua hadn't had this type of cuisine since he'd been at his mansion, and even then he didn't get to decide what type of food he got. She's got more talent than a gourmet hunter that's for sure.

"that plate to the right is called Ebi sushi" Killua looked down at said plate and poked curiously at it when he realized it was actually made with shrimp. It was positioned much like the traditional pressed sushi, but with shrimp instead of fish. When he bit into it he felt a tang of spice as well, which was delicious. Hmm... this deserves the number 2 spot. He had started to rank them at this point. His eyes fell on the last plate, but he paused before eating it so Charmy could give her explanation. It was a verity of the rolled up style, bright orange and with an exotic texture on the outside. "That last one's called Masago sushi, it was the most complicated one by the way" He placed it in his mouth, then his eyes widened slightly. Damn. The salt, the spice, it's fucking perfect. He quickly arranged the plates in the order of rank. Masago was first hands down, the second was Ebi for him. Third was Saba and fourth was the one with the whole fish. It wasn't that the sushi rolls were bad, the others just were so much better.

Killua put the Masago plate about an inch away from the others, then reached into his pocket. Charmy watched curiously as he pulled out 8 Yule. He dropped them in front of her and her eyes lit up. "Is this a tip la?" He blinked. Did she just say 'la'? He nodded, then tapped the edge of the Masago plate. "Ranked from best to adequate" Charmy took note of his rankings and wrote them down, before turning back to her own food. He had nearly finished his plate of Masago when Noelle came down the stairs. "You two are already up? It's only 6:45" She said, yawning. Killua ignored her, eating his sushi in a contented silence. "What the heck is that?" Noelle yelled, pointing to one of his plates. Of course it was the one with the whole fish, he'd been skeptical at first too. "Sushi" he replied simply, before moving on to the remainder of his Ebi. "I didn't know there were so many different types of sushi. I thought it was just that one" Asta said, pointing to the sushi rolls. He shook his head. "There's hundreds of applications"

He blinked. "Isn't it just raw fish and rice?" Killua stiffened slightly. "It's not just raw fish and rice. The rice has to be pressed just right, the fish cut correctly. The seasonings and the sauce that sometimes go with have to be made delicately. Sushi is one of the most difficult things to make perfectly. It takes the perfect blend of both texture and flavor to be worth eating" There was dead silence for a few seconds. "You know I think that's the most words I've ever heard you say in a single sentence" Asta said, and he blinked. Oh. Killua fell silent again, and worked on his Saba as he had finished the Ebi. "So, how exactly is this 'using yourself as bait' plan actually going to work?" Noelle asked. He shrugged. "Get kidnapped, save a few kids, contact you" His eyes flashed a little. Kill a bitch. "But if he is kidnapping children, how do you know it's safe? What if he's brainwashing them and we can't contact you?" Killua paused and chewed for a moment before answering.

"He won't" Asta looked kind of skeptical. "How can you be so sure?" He huffed. "He's an amateur" Vanessa frowned slightly. "How could you possibly know that?" Killua thought about his answer for a moment. Hmm... "Friend gets kidnapped all the time, once a month at least" The five who were surrounding him were alarmed to say the least. "The hell? That many times?" Noelle exclaimed. "Why? Do they have a price on their head? Or something?" Vanessa chipped in. He shook his head, taking another bite of his Saba. "He attracts the worst kind of people" nobody spoke for quite a while, until Finral came down the stairs with a yawn. "Oh he-" Killua shot him a look. "It's 7:20, your late" He growled. "I'm your superior! You can't just-" He snapped his fingers, then pointed to the ground in front of him. "Come" He let out a deep sigh, then walked over. "Alright, fine" He said, then opened his grimoire. Killua stood, then placed a hand on his face and took a deep breath. Noku, 11 years old, clueless child.

When he removed his hand and opened his eyes he had fallen into his role. Killua bounced to his feet and grabbed his bag, then slipped it on his back as the portal opened. "Holy crap that's flawless-" Vanessa muttered. He giggled slightly, then waved as he hopped through the portal. "Bye bye Mr. Magic knight sir!" He landed in the town square again, actually he landed next to the old lady's stall. She said nothing as he glanced around with a mildly cheerful expression, then smiled and walked through the streets. His ears caught the fluttering of wings and he glanced up to see Nero soaring above him off to the left slightly. Killua's eyes lit up a little, and he smiled up at the bird. "Hello there birdy" why'd she come? Who cares, she knows my background and probably won't sell me out if I snap.

She soared down and he held a finger out, then peered curiously at the note attached to her leg. Killua opened it, then blinked in slight surprise. 'I've been tasked to join you on this mission. Whatever your plan is I'll follow' He smiled a little, then crushed the paper and zapped it to a charred black. He stroked Nero. "I think I'm gonna keep you little birdy. Ooh, maybe you can meet my new friends!" He said excitedly, before starting to run a little. Nero soared back into the air and followed him as he ran out of the town and to the Bukuni river. He bounced over to the edge and glanced around with a half confused expression. "Aw man, I'm early" He hummed a little, looking thoughtfully at Nero. "I think I'm gonna name you Nabi" He said, then squinted a little. "I thinks you're a boy? How do you tell a bird's gender?" In reality he knew that, but he wanted Nero to understand that he was giving her a new alias and what to expect.

'Nabi' Chirped and looked in the direction of the tree line, before fluttering over to land on his finger again. Killua caught on and activated En, only to brighten slightly. There's 7 people. Must be 2 adults and the 5 kids. I can sense that one of them's the kidnapper because of my Nen compass. He discreetly pressed his communication device twice, which meant 'There all here, explore the town' Killua beamed and waved with his other hand. "Hi Mr!" The kids looked up, and most of them had hopeful expressions. He kept the smile plastered on his face as he went over, giggling. "I've never had this many friends before! Thanks you Mr!" He said, giving the man who was trying to kidnap him a hug. Nero fluttered over to land on a branch, and he couldn't help but notice how the hopeful look faded from the children's eyes. Don't worry, I will save you.

1745 words

To be continued...