Chapter 2: The Vartabedian Conundrum
October 14th, 1984
10:23 AM
As soon as the duo left Hisoka asked, "Was he here the entire time." Still inwardly shocked at how such a large and imposing figure could go unnoticed.
To the boy's dismay Moritonio nodded. "The entire time. Dont worry, Bozinoi nor the girl on his lap noticed him either."
The 'nen' word floated around in his head as he formed his next question. "How?"
———
One thing Menchi noticed about her master was his walk. He walked with purpose, as if every step was measured and scoped out to see any oncoming danger.
"Assume the position." He told her, snapping her out of her thoughts brutally. She resigned to a horse-stance. When she first started she couldn't even go a full minute before her legs burnt up, now she could do it for a whole 30 minutes. Of course this was nothing to the 14 days straight her master did, and he only stopped because of his duties. "Good. Now, Ten!"
Her aura bubbled just over her skin.
———
Jogo POV
When I woke from what I though was a nightmare, I simply…..wasn't. Just wasn't.
I couldn't say I was ready to meet my maker, I definitely wasn't ready to not meet my maker and instead find myself in a deep freeze, unable to move as warbled cries escaped my throat.
I had been made a baby, deserted on a mountain, found by monks. The same monks who taught Netero how to pray. I know this because he had his own mural up on the monastery walls. Him with golden light encircling his hands.
I first thought they worshipped Netero because of his cool nen abilities and thought nothing of it. Not until a senior monk broke a tree with a single punch. My thoughts then were, 'Holy shit…I think I might be in Hunter x Hunter!'
I trained my ass off. Trained the hair off my body, except the eyebrows. Trained the weakness out of my body.
Why? You might ask me.
Well…
The pain of that day…it stayed with me. I didn't wake up in cold sweats or freak out when I got a little warm but that sensation, I could recall it to perfection. That type of feeling, it changed me. Fundamentally. One thing I couldn't stand was incompetence, incompetence like my former professor or anybody to be honest. I could find myself flaring at the thought of getting my hands on that bag of milk built bitch.
Atleast my hatsu came easy. I was a transmuter, able to give my aura properties of other things. What better 'thing' than the very thing that killed me? Magma/Lava.
———
"Your Ten is wavering, Menchi." I noticed instantly.
"Master. Everyone's worried. They think that kid might be involved in something. I even heard the Ten Dons might be involved." She spoke of nonsense. I almost scoffed but that would be unsightly of me. "Why else would he be lying on the side of the road, beaten black and blue? What if he's on the bad side of the Zoldyc's? What if-"
"What if's will get you nowhere. This is a problem you have, correct?"
She looked a little confused but answered nonetheless. "Yes?"
"Can you do something about it? Can you alleviate your worries somehow?"
"Uhhh….-" she contemplated still in horse-stance. "-Maybe I can spy on him?" She shrugged.
"Spying on him will alleviate your worries? Ok, If you have a solution to the problem, why worry?"
"…What if it's the wrong solution?"
"Then you can do nothing about it. So why worry?"
"I can't but….but you can-" she looked unsure of herself as she started but I could see the relief flood in as she came to her point. "I mean…thats why you're here. You're contracted to protect the caravan until after the royal glam." She beamed at her words. "Aha! You're my solution!"
I almost let out a chuckle. "Hmmm. Now you have your solution…you have no need to worry." She smiled. A couple minutes passed and her ten smoothed out. "Good."
What I didn't tell her was I was not contracted to protect her caravan. I was here to kill Hundred-Face John Doe. A serial killer thats been terrorizing the continent. When I heard Hisoka was found on the side of the road I almost killed him, damn near convinced he was the killer but…..
The victims were all crushed to death, by something made of nen. And little Hisoka hasn't opened his nodes yet.
———
3rd Person
8 hours later
6:47 PM
"I get what Hundred-face mean but what is John doe?" The master and apprentice duo had finished their and had moved on to the city markets.
"In a certain part of the world, John Doe is a fictional name. Given to the nameless. A girl would Jane Doe." Jogo explained as he followed her around. She nodded in understanding before Jogo went further. "The condition of the victims bodies would lead one to believe that all the crimes are being committed by one person. Yet…everytime, surveillance footage seems to indicate a different culprit is involved."
She nodded before her eyes went wide, "I-Is Hisoka-"
"No." He interrupted before she got going. "Doe is clearly a master of disguise. Hisoka, no matter how talented he may be, he could never, at his current age, reach the level of mastery of evasion and disguise. Plus the serial killer's been active for 10 years, Hisoka is 13 at most."
She calmed down at his words before commenting again. "And yet they keep putting up the same wanted posters."
"Hmmm…Doe loves attention. Alot of serial killers do." He turned her around with one hand before forcing her to stare into his mask. "What have I told you?"
"No dark alleys, no strangers, yell fire instead of help."
"Good."
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