Chapter 10: The Weight of a Name
The storm broke as suddenly as it had arrived. The dawn brought a sky scrubbed clean, a pale, pristine, eggshell-blue. The Seagull's Nest, battered but whole, sailed on a sea of calm, deep azure.
The deck was a quiet place of recovery. The other hopefuls—those who had spent the storm moaning in their bunks—glared at the four survivors with open hostility. They had been "disqualified," and they were furious.
Yuta, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were in the captain's quarters, drying off. The room was warm and smelled of tobacco and old maps.
"You four did well," Captain Haku said, pouring four mugs of hot, steaming tea. "You understand? The Hunter Exam... it's not about strength. Not just. It's about teamwork in the face of death. It's about making the right choice when the wrong one is easier. Most of those fools on deck would have let that sailor drown."
Gon was vibrating, seemingly unfazed by his near-death experience. "Wow! That was so cool! Did you see that wave, Yuta? It was as big as a house!"
Yuta just nodded, his hands wrapped gratefully around the hot mug. He was still trembling. He had been terrified. He had never felt so close to... the end. And yet, he had never felt so alive.
"Though I must say," Haku said, fixing his sharp eyes on Leorio and Kurapika. "That was the stupidest reason for a fight I've ever seen."
Leorio had the grace to look ashamed, his face red. "He... he started it! He insulted me!"
"You insulted the Hunter profession with your greed," Kurapika said, his voice quiet, his composure completely restored. He was a different person in the calm light of day.
"Oh yeah?!" Leorio shot back. "And what about you, Mr. High-and-Mighty? Why are you here, huh? Bet it's something just as low!"
"My motives are my own," Kurapika said, his voice dropping, his eyes, which Yuta noted were a calm gray-blue, becoming distant. "But they are not for money."
"I see," Captain Haku said, leaning forward, his face suddenly serious. "You all know why Gon is here—to find his father. And you, Leorio, you say you want money. But that story... it's thin. Why? Why the money? What's underneath?"
Leorio was silent. He stared into his tea. The bluster, the anger, it all drained away, leaving behind something... sad.
"I had a friend," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "Pietro. He... he got sick. A simple, curable illness. But his family was poor." Leorio's hand clenched into a white-knuckled fist. "They couldn't afford the surgery. He... he died. Just like that. I was so angry."
He looked up, and Yuta was shocked to see his eyes were wet, his face twisted in a mask of old, raw pain. "I want to be a doctor! I want to cure people like him. But do you know how much it costs to even go to medical school?! It's a joke! You can't be a doctor without being rich! So fine! I'll get the money! I'll pass this stupid exam, get my license, and I'll... I'll get enough money to... to..."
His voice cracked. "I'll become a doctor who works for free."
The cabin was silent. Yuta stared at him. This wasn't a greedy, shallow man. This was a man burning with a furious, grieving, righteous idealism.
"And you, Kurapika?" Haku asked, his voice gentle now. "Why do you seek this? What's your drive?"
Kurapika's face went from calm to cold. It was a terrifying, instant transformation. His hand, Yuta saw, was trembling slightly.
"I have no goal, in the way he does," Kurapika said, his voice a flat, toneless thing. "I have... a purpose."
He set his mug down. "I am the last survivor of the Kurta Clan. Four years ago, an organization known as the Phantom Troupe... they came to our village. They slaughtered us. My mother. My father. My friends. All of them."
Yuta felt the blood drain from his face. This was a darkness he couldn't comprehend.
"They did it..." Kurapika continued, his voice so quiet it was almost consumed by the creak of the ship, "for our eyes. When a member of my clan feels high emotion, our eyes turn a beautiful, brilliant scarlet. The Troupe... they murdered us, and they carved our eyes from our heads. To sell as collector's items on the black market."
He looked up. His face was a mask of such profound, cold, bottomless rage that Yuta recoiled.
"I am here to become a Hunter. To gain the power, the access, the resources... to hunt them. The Spiders. I will retrieve every last pair of my brethren's eyes. And I will exterminate the Phantom Troupe. That is my 'why'."
An abyss had opened in the room. Gon was staring, his bright face pale and confused. Leorio was speechless.
Yuta felt... cold. He looked at Kurapika and saw a path as sharp and dark as his own blade. It was a path that led only to death.
"And you, Yuta Vance?" Captain Haku asked, turning to him.
The question broke the spell. Yuta looked at his own reflection in his tea. He saw his yellow hair, his blue eyes. He looked so... normal. So young compared to the men beside him.
"My 'why' isn't... like that," Yuta said quietly. He touched the hilt of the Blade of Reflection, which he'd strapped back on. "My father was a Hunter, too. Kael Vance. He... he died. Like Kurapika's family. Like Leorio's friend. He died on a mission, and I never got to know him."
He took a breath. "My mother... she hates Hunters. She hates that world. She lied to me about him. I'm here because..." He looked at Gon, then Leorio, then Kurapika. "I need to know. I need to know what kind of world he chose over us. I need to know if he was a good man, or just... selfish."
He looked up, his light-blue eyes clear and honest. "And he left me this." He tapped the blade. "He told me to protect my mother. But I don't know how. I'm not strong enough. I came here to find the strength to keep the one person I have left, safe."
The captain nodded slowly, a deep understanding in his eyes. He knew the name Kael Vance. He knew the legend of the blade.
"I see," Haku said. "A doctor... a bounty hunter... and a protector." He looked at Gon. "And a seeker."
"LAND HO!" a voice cried from the mast above.
Gon was the first one out the door, Yuta right behind him. They ran to the railing.
In the distance, veiled by a hazy, brownish-yellow smog, a city rose from the sea. It was enormous, a sprawling, industrial behemoth of smokestacks, towering, mismatched buildings, and crowded, dirty docks. It was the absolute opposite of the clean sea air. It was Zaban City.
"We're here!" Gon cheered.
"This is it," Haku said, standing behind them. "The gateway to the exam. My job is done. A guide will meet you in the city."
He gave them a grim smile. "Welcome to the front lines, kids. Try not to die."
Yuta, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika stood together at the railing. Four boys, four radically different pasts, staring at the one, terrifying, shared future.
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