Chapter 42: A Change of Events
"Now, swapping over to our main objective," said Killua with a serious look, "what exactly are we going to make, Mary?"
In that moment the previous conversation died down as all eyes were on Mary.
"W-well how about we make something simple? Something all of us can make."
"Like what?" Asked Gon.
"How about some pork chops?" Suggested Mary.
"Isn't that too simple? That and I doubt Buhara would be satisfied with just pork chops." Asked Leorio.
Still seated, Buhara seemed to hear something before dismissing it.
"M-maybe you shouldn't say that out loud Leorio," whispered Mary, before continuing, "also the test they gave us was just to cook. They never said anything about feeding them until they're completely full."
"So how exactly are we going to make these pork chops Mary?" Asked Gon as he looked at the large pigs besides him.
"F-first we'll need to prepare them by draining the blood out and breaking them down."
Moving the pigs over to their respective workstations, the began to cut apart the animals in question as Buhara and Menchi looked on curiously.
Trying to keep her knife still as Bloody Mary's bloodlust kept trying to take over forcefully she called out to the other four, "R-remember not to cut the loin down too much!"
"Alright!" Answered Gon with a smile.
Upon breaking down their pigs, Mary looked over the group's pork chops with a disheartened expression. Other than her's and Kurapika's the pork chops were too thick, too thin, or just all around sloppy. Leorio's, especially, seemed to be falling apart.
"We may need to rethink our plan Mary." Said Kurapika.
Sighing to herself, she picked up Killua's pork chops and handed him one of hers before placing it down at her workstation. "N-no we'll be fine, I'll just make something different from you all." Picking up her other pork chop she handed it to Gon before telling Kurapika to pass over one of his over to Leorio.
[Now what exactly am I going to make?]
[Maybe you'll make another mistake, maybe you'll make a travesty so awful the Hunter Exam will be postponed, or maybe just maybe you'll 'accidentally' injure another one of your 'friends.']
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Seated on her comfortable chair, Menchi looked on in anger, "Nobody has tried anything different yet, everything has been the same bland whole-roasted pig. Nothing made here would ever be fit for anyone to pay for to eat. In the end, only those five applicants who've broken down their pigs have any real chance of meeting my expectations."
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After being given their instructions on how to properly cook their pork chops, Gon and Leorio were the first to finish.
Going up with light steps over to Buhara and Menchi, Gon unveiled his dish, A perfectly shaped pork chop served on top of a large palm leaf.
Cutting it in half Menchi took a bite before giving the rest of it over to Buhara. Sinking her teeth into the tender meat she could taste the juices flooding her mouth.
"Horrible! Its over salted by an absurd amount, it feels like my mouth is drying up despite the juices from the pork chop." Menchi shouted while raising up an X, Buhara in the other hand raised up an O, signifying that he was satisfied with his portion.
Leaving with his head hanging down Gon passed by Leorio, "Next time I'll pass!" He told Leorio while returning to his cheerful smile.
"I'll be waiting for when you get your Hunter's license too." Leorio told him.
"Yeah!"
With a proud smile Leorio walked up the steps to Menchi. "Here have a taste of my dish." He said with a smile brimming with confidence.
Lifting up the lid to Leorio's dish Menchi immediately showed him an X, "I don't even need to taste it to know it'd be awful, the edges are charred black, there's still bright red juices flowing out from underneath the pork chop, and the peppers you served it with still have a bit of wax on them. That's just the beginning too, there's far more things I could point out!" Throwing the dish up, Buhara caught it, devouring the dish in one bite, flashing an O up after finishing it.
Also disheartened, Leorio walked down to Gon, "This whole situation is ridiculous." He angrily muttered while grinding the nearby grass underneath his shoe.
Up next was Killua, who also placed his dish down confidently in front of Menchi. Opening up the lid, Menchi looked on as the perfect pork chop greeted her eyes, "Oh? It seems like someone is finally going to pass." She said to herself. Cutting into it, her knife found no resistance to it, yet the pork chop still kept its vibrant hue all the way through. Stabbing a portion of it with her fork, she lifted up the sizzling meat and with a hearty bite ate it all. Continuously chewing, her eyes turned from satisfied, into disappointment.
"While you did cook it properly, you under seasoned your meat, despite your temperature control if you can't do this one simple thing you are not fit to be a hunter." She said while raising an X.
Killua then left, heading over to Gon and Leorio with a disappointed expression on his face.
"Is that everyone?" Asked Menchi bored.
"Not quite," said Kurapika as he brought his dish over, "have a look, and I'm certain you'll pass me."
"Quite confident, now are we?" Menchi asked with a smile, "I'm sure you've seen all the failed applicants over there right?" She said while pointing over to the angry applicants.
"Of course I have, but seeing your reaction to Killua's dish has only made me certain of it, I'll be passing the exam."
Shaking her head she lifted up the dish, before her eyes was not the simple pork chop she was expecting, but one covered with a simple green sauce. It seemed to shine with the sunlight as the diced and dried vegetables near it wafted their aroma over to her. It seemed to be asking to be eaten as the smell whet their appetites. Cutting into it, Menchi slowly began to chew a portion of it. The spicy flavor and pleasant texture made her want more as she reached for a second bite, then a third as she had a small amount of the plates vegetables. With a snap they broke apart in her mouth, changing the flavor from a spicy one over to a more mild one. Before she could reach for another bite, Buhara coughed. Coming to her senses she passed the plate over to him as he too ate it slowly, rather than devouring it in a bite like before.
Seconds turned to minutes as still no answer was given from either examiner.
[There's only really a few minor flaws with the dish, but this, this is something I would be willing to pay for wholeheartedly.] taking a moment to think, Menchi sighed, [really wanted to teach them a lesson, but...]
Begrudgingly, Menchi raised up an O as Buhara followed soon after.
With a smile, Kurapika walked over to Mary who was busy making the final touches on her dish, "Thank you for giving me the harder recipe."
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Chapter took a bit longer than anticipated due to me getting a bit sick. Thankfully, it wasn't anything too serious and after a few days I was feeling much better. Chapters releases will actually be constant from now on with either the occasional 3 day release or the 1 week release rate. Chapter quality will also improve in the following chapters, as I wasn't really sure how I wanted to write this one. As always let me know about any errors or mistakes I might need to fix and thank you for continuing to read.
-Another side note I am a terrible cook.
(Extra author's note {explanation}) If any of you are confused to my decision making with having Kurapika pass with a different recipe, and him overall being a better cook. I chose this since it made the most sense to me with Kurapika's background.
As for Killua, with his background in Assassination he seemed more likely to provide a better meal. Mainly due to him likely being trained to survive in the wild for a long period of time, and without any skill in cooking it'd likely be a horrendous experience.
To me it wouldn't make much sense for Leorio to be good at cooking meat, specifically due to it likely being really difficult to get during his childhood and it seeming even less likely for him to practice it due to him saving up his money to become a doctor. As for Gon, since Gon has Aunt Mito it seemed more likely to me that he'd be doing the more tedious chores like laundry or simple cleaning, rather than cooking. That and he also spent most of his life on Whale Island exploring.
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