The Darkness Within - Hunter X Hunter Fanfiction

I x Like x Food x But x I x Can't x Cook

I'M SO SORRY I'M SUCH A TERRIBLE PERSON FOR DISAPPEARING FOR MONTHS PLEASE DON'T HATE ME

Soon enough, people start arriving at the gate. Only half of the people that made it though the running part were here, which didn't come as a surprise to me. 

"Excellent work, everyone," Satotz congratulates. "Phase two of the exam will occur here, in the Biska Forest Park. So, I shall take my leave. Best of luck to all of you." With that, he walks away, and I turn to look at the gate expectantly.

Within moments, it opens, and everyone turns to face it. There's rows of... desks? Is that what those are? A building is at the end of the desk thingies. I can't really tell from here (well, my eyes are half closed because I was sleeping... shh... don't tell anyone) but it looks like there's two people sitting in front of it - A fat man and a small girl.

"Will all applicants who passed the First Phase please enter?" One of the them yells. I was right – she is a girl. Or maybe an extremely feminine boy who likes skimpy clothes and happens to have boobs. I'm going to stick with girl.

"Welcome." The girl says. Now that I can see her up close, I immediately don't like her, and I can tell that she won't like me (or, rather, who I'm pretending to be. I like to think that I'm nice). "I'm Menchi, the Second Phase examiner."

The other guy speaks up. "And I'm Buhara, the other examiner."

Everyone is silent, though the quiet is soon broken by Buhara's stomach growling. I force myself to give a slightly deranged giggle, already having guessed the challenge. I know I'm going to do. I need to get this stupid license so I can truly be free.

I know I said I was going to pretend to be crazy so people would stay away, but I'm already sensing how difficult this will be. It reminds me too much of the scientists, but it's better being seen as a foe than a target. So I shall be nice and powerful and a lil cray.

"Phase Two will involve..." Menchi says, drawing the moment out, "...cooking!"

Everyone starts to sputter indignantly, and I groan. I had a feeling.

People keep talking, but I'm too caught up in my own thoughts to pay attention. I hear a few crashes and yells, but don't bother to look up. Buhara and Menchi keep talking, and I hope it's not important...

"You're free to meat from any species of Biska Forest Pigs." Buhara says. "You must use the cooking facilities here to prepare the pork. And you only pass if we both find it delicious." With that, Buhara hits his belly (you read that right) and the phase begins.

Everybody except me immediately bolts for the exit. I stay back, pretending to be lost in my thoughts.

I've never cooked before, so I'll have to smarm my way out of this.

"Hey, you," Menchi yells at me. "Everyone has left. It just started."

"Oh?" I say, making sure that I looked bored. "I didn't notice. I was too caught up in the thought of how utterly stupid this phase is. I mean, cooking? When is that going to help us? We'll stand in front of out enemies ready to fight to the death in a long glorious battle and wait, stay there for a second, I made some delicious pork that I would really like you to try, and they will magically listen and stop and we'll eat and laugh and decide to be best friends and live under the rainbows together." I stop and take a big breath as Menchi's face turns red.

"Y-you, y-y-you," She splutters. I turn with a sigh, wave carelessly, and saunter away. I don't once look back. Once I get past the gates, I let loose a grin. Plan was a success.

Ten minutes later, I'm wandering around the forest. I figured out that the only pigs were the giant crazy things that have been chasing all of the contestants, so I decided to wander until one finds me. Not moments later, one stumbles out from behind a bush.

I was watching Gon when he figured out their weakness (I know, that makes me sound like a stalker) but being mediocre will cause me to blend in with the crowd. At least for now. Keeping up this whole mysterious act and popping out something new at the last minute is key. I need to stand out, and since I don't have obvious bloodlust like Hisoka, I need to act insane.

I quickly grab hold of one of the pigs' minds. I make it squeal loudly enough to be heard by everyone, then take it's pain away as I begin to tear into it with my dagger.

I ignore the looks of horror on people's faces as I drag in my prize, throwing it to the ground.

"What did you do?" I hear the guy behind me whisper, probably not meaning for me to hear.

"Oh," I reply, and I immediately feel his fear intensify. "I couldn't figure out the weakness. So I just kept injuring it until it died of blood loss." The effect is pretty gruesome. You can barely tell it's a pig anymore - just a mangled mess of flesh and blood, with half of the tell-tale snout. I internally smile. It's working.

Unsure of what to do next, but knowing that it wouldn't matter, I throw random bits of the pig into a pot that I filled with water. Stew... am I supposed to boil the water before or after the ingredients?

I went with half way, just turning up the heat whenever I felt the urge to. I had never been around something like this before, and there was a lot of buttons and levers for me to play with. I also throw in a pinch of this grey stuff and a little bit of this red powder, and guessed that it was good enough. I try it, fully expecting to vomit, but surprisingly enough, it wasn't the worst thing I've had. It is actually pretty... good. Which completely ruins the point.

"Gah!" I yell, making people look at me strangely. I shrug and decide to go with it anyways. It'll add to my act.

Buhara and Menchi have been calling people up periodically. Buhara likes all of them, and Menchi turns every single one down, failing people just like that. I smile. I totally called it.

Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika go up. Their attempts were actually pretty decent, but they all get failed anyways. My smile gets bigger, and I purposely don't try to hide it.

I am the last to be called. I've put my stew in a small bowl, and to be honest, it looks dang good. I'm proud of myself. Menchi eyes me distastefully as I walk up. Buhara tries it and likes it, to no one's surprise. She hesitantly gets out a spoon and takes a bite... I can see her eyes light up, and it's obvious that she doesn't absolutely hate it, but she fails me anyway.

In short, everyone fails, and everyone gets mad at failing. People are fighting and one person flies somewhere... but a huge airship descends upon us. You can't hear me, but I'm cheering in my head.

"That said, it would be excessive to fail every single applicant," a voice from the airship says. A man jumps down in a very dramatic fashion, creating dust to get into people's eyes. When it clears, we see an old man; he has long eyebrows and a mustache and beard masking his mouth. His sandals make a distinctive clink sound on the ground.

Menchi steps forward. "The Chairman of the Selection Committee," she says. "He's in charge of the Hunter Exam... Chairman Netero."

Yeah so I've been w/o internet access for like a month (I almost died) and school's about to start (I ONLY HAVE A WEEK AND I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED MY AP HOMEWORK)

But hey school means more updates because I'll be procrastinating