Note: This is a sequel to Hunter x Hime. If you haven't read that yet, this story would unfortunately not make much sense so go ahead and read that first (shameless self-plug). If you like to remain in the dark about things and live life on the edge, feel free to skip the prequel and start here. Whatever works for you.

Most characters in this story aren't owned by me, but all OCs were made up using my tiny little brain. Also, since Togashi hasn't written much after the Chimera ant arc, this will not follow the original plot and I will begin to diverge from the original story.

Thank you for your support. I hope you'll enjoy this brand new journey I'll be taking you on.

Chapter One: Aimless

...

On the outskirts of the city Kioto stands a lonely mountain separating two forests. Deep inside one of them is the side clan of the Inoues; nobles who have been shunned from the main clan. The other forest is closed to the general public, and since the mountain casts a shadow on it, it's known to inhabit some ferocious beasts who can only be tamed by Hunters. This forest is also home to Goddess Shinatsuhiko's shrine, which is known to some as Shinatobe's memorial. The serene mountain is often admired from afar by both locals and tourists alike, yet not many dare to step too close due to the awful rumours that surround both forests. Therefore, hardly anyone is aware of the lone dojo that exists near this mountain. This is where our story begins.

Pulling along her cabin trolly, our young heroine trekked the long journey from the city to the said dojo. As she rolled the trolly along the uneven and rocky path it staggered, threatening to fall over here and there. As it was early morning, the birds chirped and sung their little songs only to be loudly interrupted by the sound made by the wheels of her bag. However, she couldn't hear it as her ears were distracted by the music playing through her earphones. After what seemed like an endless journey, she finally arrived at the set of stairs that led her up to the worn out dojo. She began to carry her bag up.

By the gates outside the dojo, there was a boy in his late teens sweeping the entrance in a very unenthusiastic manner. The boy with freshly-cut strawberry blonde hair yawned occasionally and tried harder at finding opportunities to slack his morning cleaning duties instead of actually doing them. But as boring and uneventful as he thought that morning would be, he finally straightened his crouched back when he saw the girl arrive at the gate through his hazel eyes.

"Koucchi!" He called out to her, who now removed both earphones and wrapped the white wire around her phone before looking up ahead at him. "Welcome back! How was your trip?" If only he was as enthusiastic to clean as he was to greet the youngest member of the dojo.

"Morning Natsu!" Himeko greeted him back, before coming to a halt beside him to continue their conversation. "Looks like you're on morning duty. Again."

"How do you guys always manage to wake up before me?" It almost sounded like a complaint as he was trying to get her so-called secret out of her.

"There is something called an alarm," she responded bluntly, having told him the same answer an infinite number of times now. But then again, back when he shared a room with Toshiro and Haruko he was capable of sleeping through both of their alarms and could only be woken up by Sensei's shouting. She thought back to when she first joined the dojo and ended up being in charge of all the morning duties. Although it helped her build more strength, it certainly was annoying. But at some point she just got used to waking up earlier than the boys and according to the rules, the last person to wake up usually took care of the cleaning unless someone pitied them and decided to help out. As for the pitying and helping out part, that never actually happened. Therefore Natsume always ended up stuck with cleaning.

After their little chit-chat, she left him to clean and continued making her way to her room. On the way she was able to smell the fresh miso soup being made in the kitchen. The stock of the soup was definitely made from scratch, and unlike those days where someone would use an instant mix, she could really smell a difference. Based on the pleasant scent it must have been Haruko who was cooking and Toshiro just helping him out here and there. The boy nearing his late twenties was pretty much the only one who paid attention to details when cooking. Although their healthy diet is strictly regulated by Sensei who considered it part of an overall healthy lifestyle, Haruko was the one who cooked most of the healthy dishes.

In the distance, she could spot a short, elderly man meditating underneath the rising sun. Their bald Sensei was sat in the yard, probably aware of her arrival, Natsume's slacking, and the nice breakfast that awaited him. Not wanting to disturb him, she decided to greet him during breakfast and continued down the creaking hallway, eventually ending up in front of her own room. Taking a deep breath, she opened the sliding door only to see the room in a state she did not remember leaving it in.

Compared to when she first moved into the dojo there was more furniture. Back then she thought of the dojo as just a temporary place to stay, but now it a place she could call home. In addition to a bookshelf, study table and dressing table, the boys somehow convinced the technology hating Sensei to buy a TV. It was the only TV he let them buy, so it was in fact the only TV in the whole dojo. Although it was in her room, she allowed them to come over and watch movies if they wanted to. She wasn't sure why Sensei allowed for them to buy one, but for some reason Himeko was convinced that it was because he felt at least a little sorry for her. Experiencing trauma after trauma, her life wasn't comparable to that of a normal teens. Sensei had no children or grandchildren, but he thought of them as his own.

Being allowed to use the TV meant that they were able to access her room while she was away on her trip. Her study table and bookshelf were cleaned. Unlike the rest of her room, she would usually cause a mess on her table with pieces of scrap paper, half-empty mugs and empty water bottles and wouldn't bother to clean up after herself. After all, her motto was 'Clean the mess but not your desk'. She naturally assumed that it was probably Haruko who cleared her table for her while she was gone. In contrast, Natsume and Toshiro left food wrappers scattered around the rest of the room. But seeing as most of them were Natsume's favourite snacks, she knew that he was the main culprit.

"At least clean up after yourselves..." she huffed in annoyance, before picking the wrappers up from the pale green tatami mats and throwing them in the trash can beside her study desk. Once her room was clean enough, she set down her cabin trolly and zipped it open. There were a couple change of clothes along with a few extra shoes she took with her, so she began to sort out the clothes she had to wash. Casual clothes aside, her work uniform was more important in case she needed them again.

Most of her days went by quite fast with her job. She never expected to land such a good paying job, so she was quite pleased with how it turned out. Besides, she also got to travel to quite a lot of places for free. Being a tour guide, and working for a popular agency she was expected to show tourists around selected spots in not just Kioto, but also in other cities around the world. Surprisingly, with her job her infamous cluelessness when it came to directions also improved.

The white shirt, blue cardigan and skirt she took to the washing machine to throw in before she could take a shower. However, someone's clothes were already inside although the machine must have stopped spinning a good while ago. Sensei washed his clothes by hand, and Haruko wasn't this irresponsible. There were only two left to blame.

"Natsu! Toshi!" She shouted at the top of her lungs from the room, hoping to get their attention. "Come and take your clothes out of the washing machine before I burn them!"

Not surprisingly, Toshiro was the first out of the two to reply to her. He shouted back from his room in the same loud voice as her. "It's not mine, I did my laundry yesterday!"

"It's mine!" She could then hear Natsume's voice coming from the front yard. Apparently he was still cleaning. "Put them in the dryer for me."

"Yeah, right! As if I'm gonna touch your contaminated underwear!"

This time, she heard a voice coming from another end of the dojo; the kitchen. "Natsu, I'm not letting Kou dirty her pretty hands with your filthy underwear. Do it yourself!" Haruko yelled.

"How rude, you guys wound me!" Natsume replied in a pouty voice. "I just washed them, so why would they be filthy?"

Himeko didn't need to think to answer his question. "Because they're yours."

"That's your reason?!"

"That's a good enough reason."

"Just shut the hell up already!" This time the voice came from Toshiro, who was growing more and more frustrated by the minute while looking for a pack of aspirin in his room. "Why do you guys have to give me a headache so early in the morning?!"

"I'm going to count down from three and if no one picks it up I'll burn it." Ignoring Toshiro's sudden outburst, she yelled back in the same loud voice as she did before. As she began to mercilessly count down, somehow Natsume was able to teleport himself from one end up the dojo to the other to save his clothes from her vicious hands. Hearing footsteps trampling their way towards her, she stopped counting, and the boy skid across the dojo floor to stop himself from running. Himeko just gave him her fakest smile, before continuing to congratulate him in a sarcastic manner. "Good, you finally made it. Well done, I expected nothing less from you."

"You're evil..." he moaned and groaned in response to her sadistic streak, which she obviously got from him. He picked out his clothes from the washing machine and stuffed them into the dryer next to it. While he was doing so, Himeko decided to place her clothes inside the washer before turning it on. Leaving the boy behind to sort out his own clothes, she stretched in satisfaction and left to go to the bathroom in order to wash off all the sweat form her long journey.

After having soaked in the bathtub for nearly an hour, she noticed her shriveled up fingers. Nothing beat a long bath after an even longer trip out of the country, but sitting in the hot tub any longer may get her in trouble with Sensei. She slowly stepped out of the tub onto the little dark green mat to prevent the floor tiles to get wet. Once again, that was another one of Sensei's pet peeves. Picking up the towel hanging from the wall, she patted her body dry. After she was done, she moisturised her skin with some body butter and dressed herself in the red hakama. She turned around to check whether the bathroom was spotless. The tub was now emptied and cleaned, the spilled water on the floor was wiped away and her towel was neatly hung on the wall to dry. Satisfied with the spotless bathroom, she picked up her little plastic basket filled with toiletries and exited the room into the hallway.

The days were still quite warm, but summer was slowly coming to an end. But then again, summer wasn't really something she would have to look forward to anyway. After all, even though two years have passed since they've returned from the final battle with the Chimera ants, she chose not to do much with her life. Haruko suggested that she should try and enroll at a local high school, and although not everyone at the dojo was content with his suggestion, they couldn't find a reason to complain. It took her a little more than six months to get back up on her feet properly. During those six months, Himeko was forced to spend her days indoors wondering what to do next. After the massive stir the Chimera ant event caused among the Hunter society, she wasn't short on job offers when she was back up on her feet. But unlike Toshiro and Natsume who were happy with the sudden increase in demand, she chose to decline all those offers. Maybe it was caused by the aftermath of the mission and her being unable to do anything without the help of others for half a year, but whatever the reason, she came to the conclusion that she wasn't the right person to go on any long-term missions. Despite the boys constantly trying to change her mind, she turned them away too. Even if she were to be dragged along by one of them, she would've had very little motivation to help out.

Her refusal to take up any missions as a contract Hunter tied in perfectly with Haruko's suggestion to join school and try to live a more peaceful, normal life. It was one of the very few ideas Haruko could come up with to try and get her to leave the dojo, and it was the only idea that she actually contemplated. But someone like her would only waste her own time by going to school. High school subjects were pretty basic for her, and she could easily learn it at home by herself. It would save her the long commute and the hindrance of others. In those wasted hours, she knew she could do something more useful.

The bright sky looked identical to the time she last saw Gon and the others. The warm summer breeze cooled off her still slightly damp nape, before giving her bitter-sweet memories of the past. Looking up, at the little clouds, the birds flying past, the luscious green leaves of the trees, nothing has actually changed. It made her wonder if anything had changed during these two years. Was she really any different from how she was back then, and were her friends still as they were back then? But that feeling only lasted until she decided to look back down. The old floor boards were starting to creak now, letting her know that it had been quite a long time since she started living there. The white sleeves of her hakama looked a bit too short on her, and she obviously grew out of them. Was this the fourth time this had happened since then? She herself hadn't noticed much difference herself, but little things like that confirmed that things have changed.

Two years ago, she told Killua that she would stop slacking off and work much harder to reach her goals, although she doubted that he'd remember something trivial like that. They haven't been in much contact since they all went separate ways after all. As far as she knew, Killua was travelling around the world with his sister over the past months and kept them updated through pictures he took on his trips as well as short messages. Other than that, he kept fairy quiet about himself. The pictures he sent were never of himself either. They were either of the scenery, or Alluka. Alluka had noticeably gotten taller, so she could naturally assume that Killua would have had a growth spurt as well. Most of the messages were hardly about himself either, and neither did he let them know about his well being. Of course, if he was asked a question like 'how are you?', he would reply with something vague and then turn the question back on her and say, 'I hope you are doing okay'. She never considered him as a mature individual when they first met, but little actions like these showed her that he had the maturity of adults. He avoided most of her personal question, and it was pretty evident that he just needed some time to himself. The sad look on his face back then was still etched at the back of her mind. She just hoped that time would heal as people said it would. Alluka's presence evidently eased his mind a lot, and she knew he'd contact her once he was ready. Until then, she was happy enough to get those little life updates from him.

Thinking of Killua, she then remembered the other participant of their three-way group chat they created before the Chimera ant incident. As Gon predicted before leaving, he ended up being buried alive in a heaps and heaps of books upon return. Himeko never met Mito, but she was sure that her strict upbringing played a big role in how he turned out. Their group chat was mainly inactive, and Himeko would sometimes send a meme or two to get a reaction out of the two boys. They would respond by sending a few emojis, and then quietly end the conversation. Therefore, she wasn't sure how much Gon and Killua talked over the two years, but Gon had been a lot more active than Killua in their private chats. His life updates were more detailed and frequent. From Mito's tough study sessions, to him sneaking out of the house late at night to train. Gon told her that he'd learn from his mistakes, and he used his time on Whale island as a fresh start. Even with Gon it was much harder for her to sense what he truly felt through just a couple of text messages. But after hearing how hard he worked to better himself, she knew that incident was still weighing down his guilty conscience. She soon realised that he too wanted some time to himself, and once he was ready Gon, was definitely the type of person to come and find her himself.

After finally arriving at her room, she opened the door and let herself in. She sat down at her little dressing table, before placing the toiletry basket on her top of it. Since she just came out of the shower, she decided to begin with her usual skin care routine. Travelling around a lot made her skin quite dry, and although her skin rarely got spots she still took good care of it. It took her some time to patiently work her way through her routine, but in the end she finished up by moisturising her skin before opening her jet black hair out of her bun.

Facing the mirror, she took a glance of how long her hair had gotten. All these years it became a habit for her to cut her hair to shoulder length and keep it that way, but she liked the way it looked when it was longer. For some reason, her hair that was just a few inches past her chest made her look more mature. Along with that, she decided to grow out her front fringe, so she didn't have that anymore either. It didn't make her look a whole lot different, after all it was just hair. But deep inside she felt like a physical change would help her feel at least an ounce of difference. Not only that, but looking at her longer hair only reminded her of the time she grew her hair out, hoping Kurapika would notice it. But of course, he was the only person to not notice anything.

She snorted derisively as if to mock herself. In the end, Kurapika had seen all the messages she left during Gon's stay in the hospital, but he never chose to reply. It could've just been because she sent him a message once Gon was out of the coma, but she knew she was just making excuses for him. Gon was in a critical state, Leorio was doing his best trying to convince Ging to visit his son, she was recovering from her own injuries and Killua was holding both Gon and Alluka's lives in his hands. Everyone was doing something to help, everyone but Kurapika. The same support Gon gave him back in Yorkshin, he didn't return. If anyone else did this, she would straight up call them an asshole. But Kurapika was different. As disappointed as she was with him, she just couldn't swear at him. If only she could direct her anger out on him, it might have eased her heart at least a little. But because she chose to stay quiet all this time, the burden within her began to grow.

Kurapika kept a low profile during their mission with the Chimera ants. There were no clues to tell her just what he might have been doing all that time, therefore she never had an opportunity to understand either. He was the one she thought she understood the best when they first met, yet now he felt just like any other stranger. He opened up to everyone during the Hunter exam, but the closer he got to the Phantom Troupe, the more he closed himself up. He was intoxicated with rage, waiting impatiently for signs of their return. But it was quiet; all these years were too quiet. One thing he knew for sure, Chrollo was going through all lengths to find a way to remove the Nen blade around his heart and return to the group. In that aspect, serving the Nostrade family was still the way to go. The loss of Neon's ability was a serious downfall for their business relationship within the community. But Light gave him one new mission; to find Neon's powers and return them to his daughter. Both him and his employer were after the same criminal, so he chose to remain in the underworld. Until then, the only thing that could set his heart at peace was his mission to retrieve all the Kurta eyes and properly send off all his clan members to the other side.

And Leorio? Somehow the oldest member in their group became the backbone that kept them together all this time. His stubbornness caused him to be adamant about getting a reply back from her. If not, Leorio would just bombard her phone with texts until she messaged him back. She was sure he was just as persistent with her as with everyone else in their circle. Knowing that at least he was looking out for everyone set her mind at peace. Although he stepped out of the elections, he was still successful and became a member of the Zodiacs, replacing Gon's father's position as the Boar. Since Pariston also stepped down from his position as the Rat, he decided to invite Kurapika to take the opportunity. It took him some convincing to do, but hey, that was one of Leorio's strong points. With him around, Kurapika was in safe hands.

Just when she finished brushing her hair and set down her hair brush, Toshiro walked past her room. The tall boy with raven hair turned his brown eyes towards her door and decided to call out to her. "Hey Kou, we're going to have breakfast. Hurry up!"

"Okay, just give me a minute!"

After an eventful and bustling breakfast that morning, Sensei already left the table while the other four decided to remain after clearing up. Before going separate ways to do their morning training, Haruko looked through the pile of mail Himeko picked up from the local post office as their dojo is too far for mail to be delivered to. The brown haired young man usually received the most letters, the others found their own piles starting to rise with phone bills, bank statement; everything too boring to look through. Natsume was too scared to even look at his bank statement knowing too well that he spent too much money on online shopping the previous month.

Eventually, the large pile was gone and everyone looked through their separate mail. But at one point, Himeko, Natsume and Toshiro noticed a little surprise hidden among their mountains of letters.

"Cheadle Yorkshire." After reading through the letter, she read out the name of the sender. "She's the new Chairman is she not?"

"Not necessarily new," Toshiro corrected her. "It's been over two years since the last election."

"But does the Hunter Association even send out missions? We usually get e-mails even if someone requests us, and it's usually an employer and not the Hunter Association. I've never received a letter in the post either, it seems careless." Natsume contributed his own thoughts to the conversation, before picking up the envelope. He turned it around, hoping to find a return address but it was blank. "A scam maybe?"

"It was signed by the new Chairman on the behalf of the Hunter Association," Himeko added after reading through the letter again.

Toshiro pretty much had the same thought as her. "So, her signature is basically nothing more than a seal of approval."

"Exactly."

"In that case someone else working in the Association is hiring us," Natsume concluded, after putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. "If they're specifically requesting us, the pay must be good. It's been too long since I've been on any good missions. Maybe I'll go to the briefing to check it out."

Feeling left out of their conversation, Haruko scanned through his large pile only to discover that he didn't receive the same letter as them. "Why didn't I get one and you three did?" He then leaned over to read Himeko's letter, who was sitting beside him.

None of the letters went into much detail, in fact the letter was pretty vague which was why they thought of it as a scam at first. It mentioned that they were chosen to participate in a special mission alongside other professionals, and that all the Hunters they've picked were between thirteen and twenty-five years of age. It also requested them to log into their accounts on the Hunter website to confirm that they'll be taking part in the briefing of the mission, and then obtain the meeting place and date of the meeting.

"It sounds a little fishy..." Haruko pointed out after reading through the letter. "Especially the part about recruiting thirteen to twenty-five year old. It sounds like a cult recruitment."

However, Natsume was quick to reject that speculation. He turned his Hunter tablet towards the others so that they could see his profile he logged into. There were a couple of other requests in the list, but there was also one from the Hunter Association which stood out to them. When he clicked on it, he was asked to confirm or turn down his attendance for the briefing although it didn't actually tell him the place of the meeting on the page. The other three watched Natsume think, waiting for him to come to a decision.

Eventually, Natsume tapped confirm and sent off his decision. "I mean, it's rare to get requested by some big shot. If I do well, it will boost my profile and there'll be more demand for me in the future."

Toshiro spent a minute to think about his argument, before accepting the mission as well. "It's just a briefing. We still have a chance to turn down the mission after hearing the details." Although the raven-haired boy didn't sound as sure as his younger peer, he still wanted to give it a go. "But that just leaves..."

But when the boys looked at Himeko to hear her decision, they could tell how disinterested she really was. She put the letter back in the envelope and began to look through a subscription package with make-up samples, testing out various sample products they sent her. Stubborn as a rock; if she said she never wanted to go on another mission again, she would surely stick to her word.

"Look guys, doesn't this shade look good on me?" She showed them a pinkish-peach coloured lipstick swatch on her wrist. But as she looked up, she was met with faces that weren't willing to answer her question. She was trying to change the subject, and they all knew her well enough to tell that. Seeing as they were waiting for her answer, she just heaved a sigh. "I already told you guys how I feel about missions. Besides, this is something the Association sent us, so it's not going to be easy. Sure, the pay's good but I have a source of income now. I have a normal job, so I don't have to go on missions anymore."

"It's just a briefing, Kou." Natsume was adamant about changing her mind. Whenever she received requests, he was one of the people at the dojo to try and change her mind. Toshiro was another, whereas Haruko and Sensei would just try and stay out of it. "If you think it's too difficult, then turn them down there. You still have the right to turn down the mission after getting specifics, so just come along with us."

"That's a waste of time."

"You've been saying that for two years now. Personally, I think you were doing nothing more than waste two years of your life trying to avoid the Hunter Association."

"A Hunter doesn't need to go on mission. There are people who do the exam just to receive the benefits of the license. Having a license doesn't mean you're obligated to serve the Chairman and the Association."

As the the youngest pair were going back and forth trying to prove themselves right, Toshiro and Haruko could only watch without making a sound. But eventually, Haruko felt the need to interrupt, stating his own opinion in the matter. "If she doesn't want to go, don't force her. If you take her along against her own will she's just going to hate going on missions even more. It will just have the opposite effect."

"I get that she has a reason to not want to go." Toshiro agreed with, before continuing his own argument. "Last time she went on a big mission she wasn't able to do anything for six months following the mission. It must have been frustrating seeing everyone up on their feet again while being bed-bound. But that was two years ago, and we've trained a lot since then."

"Toshiro is right." Before anyone else could continue the argument, they heard the voice of the elderly Sensei coming from the entrance of the dining room. He was leaning against the frame, watching their back and forth debate. "All of you did your best to improve since the Chimera ant mission, of course that includes Himeko as well. In fact, despite being the youngest she trains harder than you boys although she goes to work. When she doesn't train, she studies in her room."

He was right, Himeko tried not to waste a minute of her life. She didn't go on any assignments, but she still trained. She didn't have any plans on going school or college, but she still kept up with her studies.

"But there has to be a point to everything you do, a reason. If you don't want to fight or go on assignments, then there's no real need for you to continue learning Nen. Learning Nen with no motivation behind it will make you weak, you may as well quit."

"Sensei, are you threatening to kick her out of here?" Toshiro questioned after being taken aback by his sudden bluntness. His silence was a good enough answer for his pupils. Though he never got involved in any of their affairs, he didn't hesitate to make a harsh critique when necessary. After all, Himeko didn't even train with any of the boys anymore as none of them felt the need to. They would occasionally ask her to be their sparring partner, but other than that she trained on her own now.

They then heard a defeated sigh coming from Himeko's corner, before she asked to use Toshiro's tablet. Seeing her type something, they all assumed that she was logging into her own account on the Hunter website. After confirming her attendance to the briefing, she decided to open her mouth again. "I accepted, but if I'm not interested then I won't come along."

"At least you're giving it a go," Haruko commented in a comforting tone. "That's what counts!"

After around five minutes, the trio were sent the location and details about the meeting place.

Location: Harbour Family Inn, Whale Island
Date and Time: 13th August, 11:45 AM

...

Two weeks later, it was finally time to depart for the mission. A long flight, followed by a couple of hours on a ship to an island in the middle of no where. The weather wasn't bad, and it stayed quite pleasant throughout their journey. But Natsume and Toshiro couldn't help but wonder why the meeting was held on Whale island out of all other places available on earth. The day long journey was exhausting and borderline annoying for the two. Although Himeko complained during the plane ride, she silently stared into the distance while on the ship.

It was a known fact to the two boys that Whale island held at least some kind of significance to her. For her, this tiny little island was where everything begun. She was returning there for the first time in over four years after getting her license. Although she tried not to, she couldn't stop herself from remembering everything that happened since crossing this starting line. She found it pretty hilarious, the boys she befriended during the storm on the ship she was still friends with. As cold as it may sound, she never planned to stay in contact with them after the Hunter exam, but it had been years since then. There was some cooking, some fighting, and a whole lot of running involved during the exam, and although she found it difficult back then, thinking back all those challenge sounded like child's play now.

Getting the guts to go to the Zoldyck estate, meeting her side clan, training in the dojo, fighting the Phantom Troupe in Yorkshin, experiencing the war in Yeddo five-hundred years ago, fighting B-class beasts from the Dark continent, for two years since the exams she was constantly on the move. She never planned to do any of it on the way to the exam site, but part of her was glad she learnt so much during that time. The journey to Whale island was filled with memories as she reminisced just how much her younger self has evolved over the years.

Whale island was where it all began, and Whale island could be the starting line for a brand new journey.

Upon arrival, the very few passengers prepared to leave the ship. Himeko too pulled along her bag and followed the two older boys out. When she looked back however she saw a very familiar old man. He was slightly on the heavier side, with white hair and a scruffy beard. The captain watched the passengers leave his ship while puffing out smoke from his smoke pipe. When his eyes met hers, he seemed to instantly recognise her too although it had been a good few years already.

During his occasional journeys to Whale island, he did see Gon once or twice at the market by the port area. With the boy it made quite a lot of sense since he lived on the island. But he always wondered what happened to the other three during the exam, and whether they all passed together. He remembered the little girl with the short black hair who sat alone in a corner of the ship reading a book quite well as she was from Gon's batch of candidates. Looking at her now, she looked more mature. Himeko looked happier and not as lonely as she was when he first saw her four years ago. Seeing how she was now, he couldn't help but feel content, remembering that storm that led all four passing candidates together that night.

Himeko bowed her head slightly, thanking him for safely leading them to the island, and possibly to thank him for safely escorting them through the storm four years ago. The captain smiled back at her and nodded in acknowledgement, before watching her exit the ship along with the rest.

It was only 10:30 AM, and since there was still some time left until the briefing, Himeko and the two boys split up to look around the area. She never really had the opportunity to do so the last time she came, so she decided she at least wanted to see what kind of place Gon grew up in. The air was crisp and clean, and the salty sea breeze by the harbour felt pleasant. It was as peaceful as Gon described, and the locals were friendly and welcoming. It was a safe country, and Killua described the place as lacking any kind of excitement they would get at other tourist places. Despite this, she thoroughly began to enjoy her walk through the neighbouring market.

"Good morning, miss!" It was one of the many greetings she got when walking past the stalls, and she turned to smile back at the elderly man.

"Good morning."

"Not from around here, are ya? Would you like to try some fresh apples? How about it, I'll let you try a piece on the house." Despite his generous invitation, she looked rather hesitant as this was a common trick used to guilt trip customers into buying something because they tried some of it for free. "Don't worry, we are a small community of mostly older folks like me. We hardly get any of you city folks visiting us, let alone lovely young girls like you. You can try a piece, but you won't need to feel the need to buy anything from me. I simply want you to enjoy your stay here."

He ushered her over to his stand, before he selected an apple from his stack and cut out a generous piece out of it. Afterwards he handed it to her he watched her try the apple. Fresh was an understatement, she could tell that the man picked the apple that very morning. It was sweet and juicy, but still had that satisfying crunch to it.

"It's good," she muttered quietly, before she was handed another piece.

"My wife will be happy to hear that. It's from one of her prized apple trees after all!" The elder smiled proudly while talking about his wife's trees, and how the apples she grew with love and affection were one of a kind. Though it may sound like an exaggeration, Himeko couldn't deny the fact that they were some of the best apples she tried.

"Could you give me six?"

"Alright, six of our apples!" He carefully selected six good apples from his pile, and threw in two oranges from the next pile. "I threw in two oranges on the house. Enjoy your stay on our island."

"Thank you. Please tell your wife that her apples are indeed one of a kind."

After interacting with some of the locals, Himeko understood why Gon turned out the way he did. Most of them were quite old, and she had yet to meet someone her age. But the locals all meant good and had pride in their small, close-knit community. As she continued to walk down the market place, she eventually heard some troubled voices coming from up ahead. She looked up at the path leading to the fish market, trying to listen to the conversation between the troubled stall vendors.

"One of the fish from the stall next to us went missing again."

"Whale island was such a peaceful place, we never had to deal with something like this in the past. It's going to take a toll on our business if this continues."

Hearing their conversation from afar, Himeko could only think one thing. "A fish thief out of all things... Sounds rather fitting for this place!"

Even if she did want to help out, there was very little she could actually do without having any leads. Therefore, she decided to just ignore the conversation and continue walking, hoping to find anything else that may catch her attention. But as she walked past a dark alleyway, she heard a sound coming from there. It was a very quiet meow, but her ears managed to pick the sound up.

"Meow?" Although it felt a little anti-climactic, she was certain that her hunch about the identity of the fish thief was right. It wasn't any of her business to get involved, but she was curious if her hunch was right. Leaving her bag behind, she stepped into the abandoned alley and made her way to the source of the sound. Her footsteps were so quiet, not even an animal could hear them. Eventually, she was met with the back of a white-furred alley cat that was feasting on a large fish. "Good kitty-kitty. Stay still just like that!"

Perhaps it could sense someone behind it, but before it could turn around it was swept up into her arms. The white cat began to struggle in her arms, trying to get away from her whom it considered a threat. Himeko then proceeded to pick up the half-eaten fish, instantly regretting her decision due to the strong stench coming from it. But then again, she smelt much worse in the past. As the cat continued to struggle, she carried both out of the alley towards the complaining stall owners.

"Excuse me, but I overheard you complaining about a fish thief," the couple owning the stall looked up, surprised at how their quiet little conversation was overheard by a potential customer. They then looked down at the cat she was holding, and figured out the solution to the mystery themselves.

"It wasn't our fish this time, but the stall over there." The elderly woman explained, before pointing over at a nearby fish vendor. "See that young woman with the short red hair? She comes and helps out sometimes. You should go and inform her too." The couple thanked her, before they watch her carry the stray and roll her blue luggage behind her towards the next vendor. The vendor was in her early thirties, and she looked quite young compared to most of the people there who she assumed were at least in their forties. Himeko hesitated a little seeing how busy the woman was setting up her stall, but she decided to approach her nonetheless.

"Excuse me, I heard one of your fish was stolen today." It sounded a little weird saying it out loud. To the locals, an incident like this sounded like the most excitement they had in years, whereas the busier cities she visited often had problems with pickpocketing. "I caught the perpetrator."

The woman, surprised by those words looked up at the unfamiliar girl holding a half-eaten fish in one hand, and tightly holding a stray cat against her chest with the other. For some reason, although this girl was obviously a tourist, she was sure she was her before. She then looked down at the white cat, flailing it's arms and legs around.

"A cat?" The woman continued to look at the cat in silence, watching it struggle wildly in the girl's arms. "It's rather cute, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Himeko agreed half-heartedly, but then struggled to find the right word to describe the cat. "He's... charming..." Hearing this, the cat meow-ed, as if to retort to her sarcastic comment. "He certainly reminds me of someone." And she wasn't just talking about the colour of the cat's fur.

The red-haired woman smiled at her gently, "Thank you, but you didn't need to go through the trouble. I'm sure my nephew would've caught the little rascal sooner or later."

"It's fine, I just happened to walk past this little one." It wasn't exactly the truth since she found the cat in an alleyway, but since she walked passed the alley it wasn't a lie either.

"You're not from around here, are you?" It wasn't just the travel bag that made it obvious. Himeko's clothes, the make-up she wore, her hair, little things like that just screamed 'tourist' to the locals. "A tourist? Whale island is quite a unique location to choose for a holiday."

"I'm actually just here for work, not on a vacation."

"That's a real shame! Many people don't know this, but our island quite a good choice to relax and unwind for those who come from the city. I'm sorry, it may sound like I'm bragging but if you do have time, please do look around." She then pointed in the direction of some woods in the distance. "It might be far from here, but I do own a little diner over there. I'll treat you to dinner to make up for catching our little culprit. Just ask for Green Tree Diner and people will give you the directions."

"It's fine, I didn't particularly do it to get something in return. I was just curious, that's all." Himeko then set the struggling cat back down on the floor, along with the fish. Instead of running away, the stray remained behind to continue feasting on the fish. She stretched out her hand, and possibly due to the fishy scent lingering on her hand the cat proceeded to lick the tips of her fingers. "Good boy. But you can't go around stealing fish anymore, got it?" As if to agree, the cat meowed obediently in response. The young woman was left to wonder where she might have seen this young girl before.

After saying her goodbyes, Himeko then left the stall to head back to meet up with Toshiro and Natsume. The young woman continued to watch until the teen was out of sight. "Where have I seen that face before?" A voice then snapped her out of it, and she looked back to see a crate full of fish being set down onto the ground.

"Aunt Mito, this is the last crate from the fishermen." The sun-tanned boy wiped the sweat off his forehead away using the back of his hand, before standing up straight. He was slightly taller than Mito and had spiky black hair. After hearing meowing, the boy looked to the front of the stall to see a white cat sat obediently next to some fish bones. As if to thank Mito for the food, it continued to sing it's meows. "Did you feed him? He looks attached to you."

"He's the serial fish thief. A young girl found him in one of the nearby alleys." The cat strolled towards him to rub it's body against the boy's legs while purring. He crouched down and began to pet it gently.

"A young girl?" He tried to think of any young girls who lived around the area, only to come to a dead end. There was one girl a little younger than her on the island, but Mito knew her by name.

"Yeah, she was from the city. She was around your age, I invited her over to eat dinner with us later."

"So she was my age?"

"Yes, and quite pretty to say the least." The boy hummed disinterestedly at Mito's second comment while continuing to play with the cat. "Gon, you may only be sixteen but I think it's about time for you to find a nice girl and settle down on Whale island."

"Aunt Mito, you're just trying to stop me from leaving the island again. Besides, you already promised to let me go on the new mission if I helped you out."

"I only see four crates," Mito pointed out, purposely ignoring the fifth crate Gon brought over with him. "Look! One, two, three and four!"

"Five," Gon finished counting, pointing at the fifth one. "Aunt Mito, you pinky promised! I'll promise to be careful, so please!" Her nephew looked up at him with his big, brown puppy-eyes. Though she should've been used to it already, she couldn't refuse his request.

"Fine!" She huffed, disappointed that she couldn't say no to him. "But you have to come back home before you leave the island. And make sure to write regularly and visit us, and please be careful." Mito looked away to hide her tears from her nephew. After remembering the reason behind Gon's loss of Nen, she couldn't help but worry over the stubborn boy. As she wiped her tears away using a handkerchief, she felt the young boy hug her from behind.

"Thanks, Aunt Mito." His words were comforting.

"Just go already!"

"I'll promise to come back for lunch." As Gon ran off to the Harbour Family Inn, Mito watched anxiously. The onlookers around her stall smiled, watching their usual interaction that was no less than that of a mother and son.

A/n- Surprise, surprise, you didn't think I'd be back so soon, huh? But I had most of this chapter written out so why not. Rather than an actual chapter, I wrote this as a sort of prologue to set the scene. But since it's too long to be a prologue, I called it a chapter.