The Reason We Fight

Chapter 27. The Training, Part I

Over two years have passed, and Kakume was still going along with whatever Tam was doing. Most of her emotional state had come back to normal, but still no Nen. She got a feeling that her father had stopped caring some time ago. Father? When did I start thinking of him as my father? she wondered.

He was a grifter, had an abysmal sense of morality, and was the most self-centered sociopath she had ever met. He was a real asshole, yes, but in truth she had grown rather fond of him.

Currently, they were engaged in a confidence game called the Mimbo Prisoner. A few months ago, Tam had scouted an exclusive high society charity gala, and had found a nice gull to bait, a timid man named Otabek who had made his fortune in technology. Their meeting was innocuous enough, and Tam used his charms to befriend the guy. He was very good at that.

"You notice something about your mark, say, an accent. You'll mention something like... the name of the baseball team or a musical group from that area, gauge their reaction. Suddenly, you're bonding with them. When you try to sell something to them, it's suddenly from the point of view of a friend. They're thinking: someone who has so much in common with me wouldn't try to scam me, right?", he once taught her.

Kakume observed Tam, as he was on the phone with him. They had met a few times and were fast friends.

"Listen, Otabek, my friend. I have a small request to ask of you. I need your advice on a new computer to buy. I'm afraid too many salesmen are trying to scam me of my hard-earned money!" He laughed heartily.

Kakume rolled her eyes. Tam winked at her.

It was clear to her what he was doing. It's called the foot-in-the-door technique. You start by making a small request, something that requires really no effort at all from the target. Later, if you request something bigger, because the person had helped you before, they are much more likely to help you again now. Why? Because humans like being consistent. More specifically, they enjoy thinking of themselves as being good people, and good people do not ignore pleas for help.

Furthermore, he was appealing to Otabek's animosity against scam artists, because he had admitted to having been the victim of a con once before. When Kakume heard that, she couldn't believe her ears. It seemed to her that someone who had already been scammed before would be especially wary of it.

Tam had chuckled then. "See, that's where you're wrong. The second-best mark is the mark who's already been taken. When people get conned, they don't want to admit it to themselves. They go through this process of motivated reasoning, rationalizing away the con as a matter of bad luck. When it comes around a second time, instead of being wary of it, they think, this time, my luck has shifted. Nobody wants to think of themselves as suckers. Which they are, of course."

Unfortunately, this time around, it didn't go as Tam had planned.

Otabek had been receptive... at first. The game went as such: The hustler tells his victim that he is in correspondence with a wealthy second-cousin of his who has been imprisoned in the Mimbo Republic under a false identity. The prisoner cannot reveal his identity without serious repercussions, and is relying on him to raise money to secure his release. However, he doesn't have that kind of money on hand. He requests that the mark help him raise the funds, with the promise of greater rewards once his wealthy cousin is released.

It went well initially, and Otabek turned over the funds. But Tam wanted to see how far he could take it, and told him that some difficulties have arisen, and more money was needed. That was when the industrialist began being suspicious of him, and hired a private investigator.

Kakume raised some concerns to Tam, but he wouldn't hear anything of it. "The man has all the wits of a goose, Kakume. You fret for nothing."

A week later, a police force barged into their apartment, guns blazing. Kakume should have left Tam to take care of it, but in the heat of the moment, her Nen reactivated and she hurled blood spikes at them to protect him, killing them all.

Tam was not happy about that. They had to relocate, and he was confident he could have convinced the police that they were innocent. Nevertheless, once the dust had settled, he took her aside to teach her about Nen, as he had promised.

-

They found themselves Yorkshin, where Tam apparently had another residence. Kakume wondered how many he owned. "What I still don't understand, is how you could have mastered Hatsu without even knowing any of the fundamentals of Nen." She shrugged. He continued. "Well, when did you first use it?"

"In Meteor City. I was about 6, I think. A man attacked my mom, and when I came to her defense, he punched me so hard that some of my baby teeth fell off my mouth. Afterwards, I felt like I was surrounded by some unknown force, like a warm fluid all around me. Then... I don't know, it happened."

Tam shook his head in disbelief. "Idiot child. It's a miracle you survived such a forceful opening of your aura nodes with your body intact. Can't say the same about your brain, though." Kakume pretended she didn't hear that last part.

"Let's get started, then. Show me your Hatsu." Kakume clawed her skin and made a spike out of blood.

"Is a spike all you can make? Can you change its shape?", he asked. She's never really tried, but she knew it was possible in theory. Her Handlers in Kakin changed it into various weapons, but she didn't know how to do that. She tried at least to smooth the lines. The spikes now looked like blobs, rendering them even more useless.

Tam was pensive. "Can you use your aura to protect yourself? Or project it outwards, without using blood? Can you shut your nodes off to conceal your presence?" Kakume tilted her head, puzzled.

He groaned. "Those are the four Major Principles of Nen: Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu. So, we really have to start in the beginning, eh? Well... we'll get to that later. For now, let's try Water Divination to figure out your Nen type. I suspect you are a Manipulator, but there's only one way we can know for sure."

He produced a glass of water with a leaf floating on top. "Now try to focus on the water. Don't use your blood, just focus on the energy that allows that blood to move when you will it to". She did as he instructed. Suddenly, the leaf started moving around.

"Yes, it's as I thought. If you are able to detach the blood you create and still move it at will, it's possible you gained some level of mastery in Emission, too. Emitters are right next to Manipulators on the compatibility chart, so it would be the easiest type for you to use, besides your own."

Kakume pondered on that. "What about you?", she asked, curious. "What's your Hatsu like? You've never shown me."

"And I won't, if I can help it. But watch." He released his Nen unto the glass, and the glass started shaking. The water boiled and turned into vapor, and the leaf caught fire. Her eyes widened, mouth agape. "What does that mean?"

"I'm a Specialist. The exception to the rule, so to speak. No level of specialization can be gained from other types, though it is technically possible for a person to become a Specialist later in life, especially if you are a Conjurer or a Manipulator."

He approached her and smiled broadly. "Now let's get you started on Ten."