Miracles in a Lifetime

XIX • TRAINING ☓ NEN

     "So, York New in six months, huh?" Killua asks with a grin. Everyone nods as the wind blows our hair and makes my hood flutter.

     "Where is Tenshi-san going to go?" Gon asks with large, curious eyes.

     "She will be training during these next few months," Ren answers for me. The four of them nod.

     We say our final goodbyes and go our separate ways, minus Gon and Killua. They decided to train together.

     "Are we going to Chairman Netero?" Ren asks me as I finally start walking. I waited until everyone else was out of sight before walking.

     I give a curt nod of my head and take off into a jog. Everything passes by in a blur as the wind slaps my face. The armor under my cloak restrains me from reaching the apex of my speed, but that's alright with me. As I run, Ren has a difficult time keeping a grip on my shoulder as he nearly slips off a few times.

     "Never... do... that again," Ren pleas with heavy pants after we stop in front of the place the Chairman wanted to meet. I shrug with nonchalance of his concerns.

     After a few scrutinies, I conclude that Chairman had wanted to meet at a temple. It's a huge, white building with elegant architectural design.

     I walk around leisurely for a few minutes before finally spotting the old man. He's facing a luscious garden with his eyes closed.

     "So, you finally made it," he says without a glance.

     "Yes. I apologize for the delay," I say with a bow. He turns to me with a smile.

     "Do not apologize; 'tis unnecessary." I nod in response and straighten up.

     "What will you teach me in this training session?" I ask, getting right to the point.

     I'm genuinely curious as to what will happen, for I have no idea what he has to train me in. All I know is that this is a chance I shouldn't take for granted: the Chairman is going to train me himself, and that fact in and of itself is a huge opportunity.

     "I will be teaching you Nen," he smiles with a hoarse chuckle. An eyebrow cocks up subconsciously.

     "Nen?" I question. "You mean that weird aura-like mirage that some of my opponents have? Now that I think about it, those people were much stronger..."

     Netero nods and walks behind me. He gently places his hand on my shoulder and leans in to whisper in my ear.

     "To get started, I'll need you to take off all your armor, and preferably your clothes. The less layers you have, the better," he instructs. "The Initiation will not work if you have all that on."

     I nod in understanding and shrug off my cloak, revealing large pieces of armor on my chest, arms, and legs. I unclasp the armor and slip them off one by one, gently placing them on the floor. However, despite me proceeding meticulously, the contact of my armor onto the flooring causes craters to crack on it.

     Chairman's eyes widen with surprise. He slowly bends over to the armor and brushes his fingers along their engravings and details.

     As he inspects them, I pat dirt off of my plain white dress. It has long, lacy sleeves with a few black ribbons that match the ones in my hair.

     "I apologize for the damage that my armor has caused," I say humbly with a bow, after making sure that I look presentable enough.

     Instead of replying with words, all I hear from the old man's mouth are grunts and wheezes. I lift my head slightly to see that he's trying to carry my armor. Veins bulge from his neck as he tries to lift the seemingly glued-to-the-floor armor. He tries to lift it in different positions and I wait as he fails each time.

     "How can such a little girl like you carry this for a whole–! Ahem," he screams before clearing his throat. I chuckle in amusement. Something so simple to me is such a struggle to the Chairman...

     "Enough of that, now. Let's get started with Initiation." I nod in agreement.

The Chairman went behind me and I felt a slight tingle. I suddenly felt a wave so I shut my eyes.

When I opened them, I finally noticed the steam like source that surrounded me.

"H-how?!" I heard so I turn my head to see the Chairman with a face filled with mixed emotions. I could make out the shock, fear, and surprise in his expression.

"This a-amount of aura....this is not possible!" He said. This made me panic and the aura grew bigger and it touched the Chairman.

Right when he made contact with this weird aura, he was sent flying into the wall but he didn't stop there. He kept going through several walls till he was finally out of this whole building. He landed on the outside of the building where all the grass was.

I heard his groan of pain from where I was even though he was probably 2 or 3 miles away from me.

Staying in my position in fear and panic, I can still make out the sounds that surrounded me. I was afraid to turn my head to look to see if the Chairman was okay or not because I was scared that if I moved just a little, something bad will happen.

I heard steps coming closer to me and I finally heard the Chairman's voice.

"Calm down. Just calm down, Tenshi. Think of something good that can calm you down." I nod and close my eyes.

I try looking for something good to think about but there was nothing. A sudden thought of Ryoko made me flinch and I felt my aura spread.

"Tenshi, you need to calm down before you use all your aura. You will exhaust yourself and even die from using all your aura!" The Chairman warned.

I try to concentrate again but I again went to nothingness. It felt like I was falling into an endless black hole.

Suddenly an image of Gon came into my head. My breathing calmed down as I continue to watch what will happen next.

Another image of Killua came in. Both boys smile at me with such warmth. Then Leorio came in and gave me a thumbs up with a wide grin. I chuckled at that.

Finally, I saw Kurapika. He gave me the kindest smile ever. It gave me the comfort I was searching for. He reached out his hand to me and I immediately grabbed onto it.

That was when everything stopped.

I opened my eyes and quickly noticed the weird feeling and different form of the aura.

It felt like mucus all over my body. A warm substance around my whole being.

"Alright. Now that is done, let's go to the next step of learning Nen." The Chairman instructed.