The Nen Contract

Chapter 11

Killua watched as Ivan plunged the octopus into the waiting saucepan and splashed some vinegar over the top. They were on the Extension, in the small galley to the rear of the craft.

"Have you two ever prepared octopus before?" Ivan asked.

"I haven't." replied Killua, who turned to see Gon shaking his head.

"Aha! You're in for a treat then, my friends, for I shall teach you. First, you must clean your catch. Usually this involves removing the beak, stomach, eyes, and ink sac. However, I caught this fellow at the market, so no need today! It is best fresh, just after catching, but I have been preoccupied with my work of late. To start with, you boil it. Octopi are quite saturated in water to begin with, so you needn't add much extra – just a little wine or vinegar will do. This takes about forty minutes- "

"Forty minutes!" Killua interrupted, "When you said 'No business on an empty stomach' I assumed that we'd at least get down to eating right away. Why are you..." He trailed off as both Ivan and Gon looked at him, taken aback that he'd spoken over the lecture.

Looking a little sheepish, Killua mumbled something about not having much time.

"We do have a time limit" Gon said, "and this is a very important task. Can we talk about it while it cooks?"

Killua looked up and smiled at Gon in thanks, who just stood there with an odd look on his face and unfocused eyes. What's up with... OH. I've got to stop doing that. Killua concentrated for a moment and shut off his nen stream to Gon. Easier than controlling my emotions all the time, I'll just make up the difference later. It should even out-. Killua jolted in surprise as he felt a large surge of aura pulled, no, ripped from his store. Gon jumped a moment later and looked over at Killua with a panicked look in his eyes.

"Killua! I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I didn't mean-" Gon started.

Killua waved him down, shooting him a look that he hoped Gon would read as 'not in front of Ivan' and not as 'I want to kill you'. He knew it might be hard to guess, so consolidated it with a glance in Ivan's direction.

Ivan was watching intently. When it was clear they weren't going to do anything else weird, he spoke.

"Now you've almost got me wanting to skip lunch altogether. But no, I'll play host rather than hunter for the moment."

He went to the refrigerator in the corner.

"While my grilled octopus sandwiches are certainly worth the wait, I tend to freeze the octopus after boiling for convenience and defrost some most days in here overnight. I am going to grill these, so lunch will only be moments away. The octopus in the pot is for next week."

He proceeded to season and oil the tentacles he pulled from the fridge, before putting them on the grill. Soon they were spitting. Just before he put them in their respective buns, he garnished them with sheets of cheese which began to melt immediately.

"To the deck!" Ivan ordered, trays in hand.

*************

Gon wiped his face on the napkin Ivan had given him. The octopus sandwich had been fairly good, but Gon was still distracted by the incident earlier to notice properly. Killua's never going to trust me if I keep on doing things like that. But when it stopped so suddenly... Gon thought a few moments more. I'll apologise later properly. He turned his attention back to the others. Killua was in the midst of explaining the situation to Ivan, albeit an abridged version where Alluka had instead wound up on Beyond Netero's voyage, so they needed to catch up with them. Killua seemed to have no problems "spinning a good tale", as the Bondsmith had put it, something Gon admired. It was an amazing skill, after all.

Ivan was nodding, "And so you recruited Gon here? He won't be much help though, considering he lost his nen."

Gon looked puzzled, "When did you tell him about that?" he asked Killua.

"I didn't."

Ivan looked at them both with a twinkle in his eye. "Gon here was quite famous during the Hunter elections. And everyone felt the moment he was healed. Being a curious fellow, I did some digging to find out more. I never did uncover much, just that he had lost the use of his nen. Intricacies of nen happens to be one of my favourite subjects."

Gon looked surprised at first, but slowly a grin started to form on his face. He turned to Killua.

"I suppose that sort of information would be hard to come by." Gon said, "Only, say, three? People know how I got my nen back. I wonder if Ivan here will ever find out the truth."

Killua matched Gon's smile, and replied "It seems unlikely to me, Gon. Unless there's a way for him to spend some time with the case study himself..."

They both looked at Ivan.

He let out his hearty, booming laugh.

"You've got me." he said after it subsided. "The Extension is at your service. I have some things to finish up today, but we can leave first thing tomorrow."

"Perfect." Said Killua with a nod.

*************

Alluka opened one eye, then the other. It was so dark that she wondered if she had.

"That seemed like a long nap." She mumbled to herself. "How long has it been?"

"That long? And they've not come yet?"

"What do you mean it might take years! Nanika! Why didn't you say so!"

"Well yes, I can see we didn't think this through very well."

"Oh, you can? How hard shall we make it for them this time?"

Alluka giggled, then said "Seems like fun, let's do it."

With that, she started to glow...