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"You little perv, what the hell are you even saying?"
Shuya immediately reached out and pinched Shizuka's soft, squishy cheek. "Do I seriously look that thirsty to you?"
"Uuu~"
Shizuka let out a pitiful whine from her throat and gave him a look of pure contempt.
So who's the thirsty one here, exactly?
The guy who ate her up just days after she brought him home?
Or the guy who claimed Rika on the very first night she walked through the door?
Hard to say, huh?
Shuya completely ignored her glare and thought back over what he'd just said. Yeah… it did sound like he was hinting at something else. But he really hadn't meant it that way.
What he was actually thinking about was another unconventional way to awaken Nen from the Hunter world—before the Yorknew City arc.
Back when Gon and Killua were trying to earn money to buy the Greed Island console, Gon accidentally used Gyo at a flea market and spotted a knife infused with aura. That led to the realization that top-tier experts in any field—when they poured their entire soul into their craft—could unconsciously channel aura and imbue objects with it. Those items often sold for crazy prices.
So Gon and Killua started hunting for aura-infused bargains at flea markets.
That was exactly the method Shuya wanted to explain to Rika.
Of course, even people who awakened this way still needed a proper Nen user to guide them afterward.
The reason was simple.
Take the blind girl Komugi from the Chimera Ant arc—she awakened her Nen ability while playing chess against the King under extreme pressure. But if no one had ever explained Nen to her afterward, she probably would've just thought she'd had a sudden burst of genius under the threat of death.
First, to unconsciously use aura you have to be completely focused. If you're that focused, how would you even notice you were using it?
Second, without another Nen user watching with Gyo, no one would spot the aura flow.
Bottom line: if Rika wanted to awaken Nen, this might actually be the path that fit her best.
Have her hyper-focus on something she could lose herself in.
Have Shizuka watch with Gyo the entire time and note every moment when aura started moving on its own.
Record those exact moments.
Then have Rika replay them in her head—remember exactly what she was thinking and feeling.
Finally, train her to enter that same mental state on command.
It could work.
But damn… this method was the heretic path among heretic paths. Compared to it, even the normal pore-opening technique felt like orthodox training.
It was insanely time-consuming, and the success rate wasn't high.
Plus it only worked if the person even had the potential to awaken Nen naturally in the first place.
Still, Shuya had all the time in the world right now, so he was fine letting Rika experiment. Worst case, it just meant Shizuka would have to work a little harder.
As Rika's best friend, she'd probably be thrilled to help, right?
He laid the whole idea out for Rika.
Rika's face flushed with embarrassment the second she realized she'd misunderstood earlier, but she quickly shoved it down. After thinking for a moment she said, "If we're talking about something I can lose myself in completely…"
"Guns, probably?"
"Exactly!"
Shizuka broke free from Shuya's pinching fingers and nodded enthusiastically. "Rika-chan is a total gun master~ One of the top five shooters in the whole country!"
She even struck a finger-gun pose at Shuya, went "Pew!", then blew on her fingertip like she'd just fired.
"You think I didn't already know that?" Shuya rolled his eyes at the childish blonde before turning back to Rika. "When it comes to guns, do you prefer assembling them or actually shooting?"
"Shooting!" Rika answered without hesitation. "I love that moment when the bullet leaves the barrel—that split second of uncertainty where you don't know if you hit until the very end."
Shuya rubbed his chin, thought it over, then gave her a clear suggestion. "In that case, I've got a mission for you."
"A mission?"
"Yeah."
Shuya continued, "You've got that huge private gun collection at home, right? So here's the plan—you take your guns and head out with Shizuka-nee—"
"Shizuka-nee, where do you think you're going?"
He caught her trying to sneak away mid-sentence.
"Caught me…"
Shizuka flinched, spun around, and rubbed her stomach with an innocent face. "I suddenly got a craving for snacks. Thought I'd go grab some~"
"Oh really?"
Shuya stared at her, his expression screaming I don't believe you for a second.
"Zzz…"
Shizuka dropped her head, refusing to meet his eyes. For some reason, whenever he looked at her like that she completely lost the ability to argue.
After a long pause she finally mumbled, "I worked really hard… Can't I take a break?"
"You salary thief. What exactly did you work hard at? You've been slacking the whole time," Shuya deadpanned.
"I… I…"
Shizuka had no comeback.
Then, like a lightbulb went off, she planted her hands on her hips and declared triumphantly, "I raised such an amazing Nen user like you, little Shuya!"
Shuya broke out in cold sweat.
Why does this feel so familiar?
Wait… is that you, Shizuka Gon?
I raised a god?!
He gave her a light chop on the head and stopped playing around. "Majority rules. You're staying with Rika, Shizuka-nee. No arguments."
With that, he ignored her sulking and turned back to Rika to explain the actual plan.
Simple, really. Take Shizuka with her, go find some zombies to use as live shooting targets.
Shizuka would keep her safe and use Gyo the entire time to watch for any unconscious aura movement.
Shizuka sat on the edge of the bed looking completely wilted. Just listening to the plan already sounded exhausting.
And she had to do it?
She thought for a second, then—completely out of character—raised her hand.
Shuya noticed immediately. "Classmate Shizuka, you have something to add?"
Shizuka, still looking unusually serious, said, "I don't object to little Shuya's plan… but I have one tiny condition."
"Go ahead."
"I'll help Rika-chan, but during this whole time you have to satisfy my needs, little Shuya."
She said it with a completely straight face.
"Satisfy you?"
Shuya blinked, then immediately understood.
He looked at the big-breasted, airheaded blonde in front of him and thought, Holy shit.
So the real thirsty one is you, Shizuka?
Wait… you want in tonight too?
Isn't that going to crash straight into Yuriko's visit?
Shuya gave her a slightly stunned look.
This woman really is Yuriko's natural counter, isn't she?!