The Wilted Flower ⁀ 𝐤. 𝐳𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐲𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐨𝐜

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 • 𝓵𝓲𝓵𝔂

I WAS COMING TO TYPE THIS BUT FOR A SOLID 6 MINUTES I COULDN'T FIND EITHER OF MY NOTEBOOKS FOR THIS BOOK AND I WAS SO SCARED SOMEONE TOOK IT—

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"I am Menchi."  A girl with turquoise hair spoke, sitting casually on a couch.

"And I am Buhara." bellowed the large man sitting behind her. Their voices rang out across the clearing, authority in their voices.

"The task for the Second Phase will. . . Cooking!"  Obviously, she expected a grander reaction from the applicants, but instead, she received boos and insulting slurs, which eventually turned into a full-blown argument. Two was extremely uncomfortable with the situation and started to unconsciously bite her lower lip. Why were they arguing with her, as if she's the one being tested, and not them? She was clearly above them all. Why don't they know their place?

Two tuned them out as best as she could and eventually, the ordeal died down and they were given their task. Make a roast pig, using any pig in the forest. Their dish will determine whether they pass or fail the Phase. Both examiners must pass the dish for you to pass. All of the examines managed to get a pig, however, while they were cooking it, every one of them messed something up to make them fail.

One person's was undercooked. One's was lacking in flavor. Another's had too much fat on it. Killua's was too dry. Both Gon's and Leorio's were disqualified for their appearance. Kurapika's straight-up didn't taste good, at least to Menchi. 

Two cut hers into strips and added some lemon and other stuff she thought would taste good. It looked good enough, nicer than most of the applicants' dishes. She placed the two dishes in front of the judges, and Buhara instantly devoured his helping. Menchi poked the pork a couple of times before anything,

"Failed! You put in too much lemon juice! It won't taste good with the small amount of garlic you put in." Menchi looked up from the dish, and she was met with Two's eyes. She could've sworn the colored specks were moving. Two's face was stricken with horror, her mouth agape. Her usually soft features screamed 'panicked', and her body was numb, as if she was paralyzed.

Menchi felt a twang of both sympathy and regret. She's one of the only ones who didn't scowl or argue or make a rude remark, she was just horrified that her effort didn't account for anything. "Try again next year. . ." Menchi muttered, attempting to be a bit nicer. But, Two just slowly turned around and walked down the stairs. As she turned, Menchi thought that she saw the girls' hues flash a different color, but it happened so quickly, she pinned it down to her imagination.

"Two, are you okay? You look paler." Gon asked once Two returned to her station. She gulped and nodded slowly, trying to look a little happier. 

"I'm okay." she murmured. 

"If you say so. . ." Gon replied.

Several complaints arose from the applicants, all of them being directed at Menchi. Buhara had passed every single one of the dishes, but Menchi passed none of them, meaning that none of the applicants passed. Menchi was perfectly fine holding her own until a large airship appeared, and an old man with a short white ponytail jumped out of it and landed perfectly on the ground. Everybody stared in shock as the old man started a conversation with her.

"What are they saying?" Gon asked Kurapika, who looked just as baffled.

"I don't know, I can't hear what they're saying," Kurapika responded. 

"All right, everyone! There's a change of plans!"  Menchi yelled to everyone as she turned to them. A few minutes after the announcement, everyone was boarding the airship and flown to the new, improvised Second Phase.

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phew it was hidden in the mess that is my desk (lol it rhymes) thank God no-one took it 

Word Count: 666