"This time, I'll finally open my sweet shop!", Killua exclaimed pointing towards a rather rundown building. It was located at the far end of the city's high street but still accessible enough for children on their way home from school. Buying the property had nearly costs him all of his savings, but surely the pocket money of sugar-addicted kids would make up for this investment.

Gon watched his friend emotionlessly. "I'm barely able to contain my excitement", he replied. The black-haired boy sighed. Another Hiatus Season had started and, as usual, nobody remembered their past holidays. At least, out of all his experiences, the 'Killua's sweet shop' themed Hiatus Seasons were one of the more interesting ones.

"By the way, I saw this hot guy early", Kurapika told her friends as the group entered the old building. The inside did not look much better than the outside, but there was everything a shop would need. "Killua, I need to borrow some money so I can buy new clothes. Blue doesn't suit me at all! And what if he sees me like this? In the manga I'm always dressed like a guy—he must think I'm a male with poor fashion sense!"

Killua was too preoccupied with drawing up a plan and didn't listen to the girl but Gon looked up. "He knows, everyone knows. Even the manga readers are suspicious, look at all these fanfictions portraying you as a girl." Kurapika's excitement likely meant that the Phantom Troupe was in the city as well, or at least Feitan with Chrollo unlikely to be far away. Maybe they could finally end the cycle of Hiatus Seasons this time.

His thoughts were interrupted by Killua, now with a to-do list in his hands. "Leorio, put those kunais away and start cooking the candy; Kurapika, you make this building look like a shop; Gon, you go shopping." It was impressive how quick the ex-assassin had adapted to his new role as candy entrepreneur, leaving little room to complain.

"Tsk, next Hiatus Season we'll search for the Village Hidden in the Leaves, you better promise." Leorio grunted but headed to the kitchen, located in the basement of the small building.

"Yes, sure", Killua answered, focused on the sheet of paper in front of him. "You can be the manager of our branch in Shrub Ville or whatever."

Gon was glad that going shopping would give him an opportunity to search for his fellow members of the Holiday Troupe, an alliance sworn to end the cycle of Hiatus Seasons. During Manga Season, their group had run into the Phantom Troupe numerous times by coincidence; hence Gon trusted in his instinct which led him through the streets with the precision of a magnet. The fact that it was still early and few people were out on the high street made his quest even easier. Thus, not far away from Killua's future sweet shop he found himself standing in front of an unassuming building. However, when Gon realised his feet had let him to a maid café, he started to doubt his instincts. But perhaps he was mistaken and the Phantom Troupe had started their own business venture?

"You better not laugh at me." Chrollo who had been preparing the Café's front garden had noted the black-haired boy. The Café must have only just opened. "You know, it's not easy if you don't have any manga appearances. Money needs to come from somewhere."

Gon didn't laugh. Chrollo looked far better than one would assume wearing a plain black dress and the typical white apron which was long enough to hide his legs. The black-haired boy briefly wondered whether Killua would hire the former leader of the Phantom Troupe. Perhaps it would make it easier to attract female customers. "Do you remember?", Gon asked focusing on his mission.

Chrollo nodded and pointed to a table not far away. Feitan was sitting there, being the only customer, and enjoying a slice of strawberry cake. "I told you being cheap earns more money", he explained simply. "Chrollo, bring a slice of cake for Gon as well."

The former leader of the Phantom Troupe smiled, his left eye visibly twitching. "Of course, Master." He vanished into the building mumbling curses.

"How's Kurapika?", Feitan asked after Gon had sat down opposite him.

The addressed boy looked at the notpad lying on the table. "Doing well", he replied. "Probably cleaning Killua's shop."

"This is our plan", Feitan pointed out after noting Gon's gazes. Written on the paper were numbers and equations that the boy could not make sense of. "We need an army of 5,944 to break the space-time continuum. We will use their life energy to build a nen-based cannon and destroy this dimension."

The black-haired boy wondered how Feitan had managed to come up with a plan during the relatively short Manga Season. Yet whether it was trustworthy, was a different question. Due to his role as carefree 10-year-old manga protagonist, Gon had never managed to attend school and Feitan's equations might as well be the scribbles of a maniac. It didn't help that the other had used long and difficult words to explain the plan. "I might have the army we'll need", Gon replied finally. It's not that the situation could get any worse by following Feitan's obscure plan. Worst case, everyone would forget what had happened like usual. "Get Chrollo, and I'll show you."

Upon arrival at their destination, Gon couldn't help but be surprised, a rare occurrence given that he had lived through everything countless times already. The run-down building Killua had bought had been painted in bright pink with little hearts and stars decorating it.

"Kurapika painted it", Killua explained as he greeted Gon and his allies outside the shop. The ex-assassin had changed into a suit and was wearing glasses in an attempt to look like a business man. His hair, however, was messy as usual and didn't quite fit. "Doesn't quite look like the headquarter of an evil candy empire, but it'll do for now. By the way, did you get the shopping done?"

Ignoring the question and knowing that his friend was already aware of their presence, Gon waved towards Chrollo and Feitan. "Chrollo here said he'd work for free if you give him food and a place to sleep. By the way, how many customers do you have?"

Killua noted that the other had ignored the question, but led the group into the building nonetheless. The inside had been painted fully in black, including the furniture. "Couldn't trust Kurapika with this", the ex-assassin explained briefly. At least, the black interior made the brightly coloured candy stand out more and drew attention to Kurapika who was standing behind the counter in a pink uniform. However, to Gon's disappointment, there were only about five customers on the shop floor.

"We have only just opened, once word gets around we'll get more customers", Killua promised noticing Gon's gaze. "Why don't you try my candy in the meantime?" He picked up a tray with samples and held it out to Gon and his Holiday Troupe.

"Why are they shaped like shuriken?", Gon asked inspecting the pieces.

Killua shrugged. "Mr ninja freak is in charge of cooking. Ah Chrollo, since you want to work here, can you go and buy more sugar? Seeing that Gon hasn't bought any."

While Killua turned to explain his plan to increase the shop's revenue, Kurapika nervously came forward. "Ehm, I made some candy too, would you like to try?", she asked Feitan in an unusually shy manner.

Feitan nodded and picked up a piece of Kurapika's heart-shaped candies. "Not bad", he commented despite not being a fan of sweets. "But this is not only sugar. There is something else."

Upon hearing the compliment, the girl blushed. "Killua said I can't tell anyone, but if you really want to know… It's caffeine." As if she hadn't just given away her friend's business secret, Kurapika continued with her usual carefree attitude. "By the way, we close at sunset, if you'd like we could… ."

"5,944 candy-addicted kids shouldn't be a problem", Killua concluded. "Chrollo will have to buy more sugar and we'll continue our candy production during the night. I'll use Leorio's money to hire more staff; I locked him in anyway so he can focus on cooking instead of finding the path of the shinobi or whatever."

"Thanks, Killua." Gon was surprised that the ex-assassin was willing to help without knowing the objective of the plan. He had always assumed that Killua only pretended to be his friend to increase his manga appearance and therefore his salary. Either way, it was time to move on to the next step of the plan: finding others who had retained their memories to help building the cannon.

"Do you remember that old guy?", Gon asked as he and Feitan walked down the high street. "You know the maniac who blew himself up? He was the Chairman of the Hunter association and I heard he had taken on a job in customer service. If nothing else, Killua can hire him. Should be cheap personnel, now that he has no manga income."

"Netero", Feitan replied. "It's reasonable to assume that he remembers. I've seen him work in the restaurant opposite the maid café that Chrollo worked in."

Somehow Gon was not surprised to find the former Chairman working at WcDonalds serving customers at the till. Money issues were widespread amongst the actors in the manga and having been declared dead by the mangaka, Netero probably didn't receive any pension.

As it was now near lunchtime, the shop was filled with hungry customers, some of them already shouting impatiently. "Do you remember the last Hiatus Season?", Gon asked after they had managed to get to the till—an endeavour that had taken them over two hours.

"Oh yes, I remember when I had still money. I threw parties and had all the girls I wanted", Netero replied slowly and prepared as he prepared a tray for Gon's order, even slower than he spoke. No wonder the queue had been long. "That's 800 Jenny please."

"We haven't ordered yet", Feitan objected. "We came to ask for your help, not to buy rubbish."

"Oh, my bad." The former chairman put away the tray and prepared another. "By the way, who are you if I may ask?"

"I'm Gon and that's Feitan. I'm not sure you two have met before." The countless Hiatus Seasons made it hard for Gon to remember what had actually happened in the manga.

"Oh I see", the former Chairman nodded. "That's 800 Jenny please."

As Netero was evidently having a different kind of memory problem, Gon and Feitan decided to give up. Upon their return to the candy shop, it was the second time Gon was surprised. Outside the shop a large queue had formed. Killua greeted him, smiling. "5,944 candy-addicted kids, doing whatever I tell them should be ready in less than a week."

However, as Gon was thinking how he could ever make this up to his friend, he felt his body fading away. Hiatus Season had come to an end. And thus, the cycle continued.