Chapter 1

Byleth held the number plate that she was given to her by Bean-san

43

She groaned audibly as she knew that she was way too early. She should have spent a few more hours talking with that cute waitress at the diner earlier.

Was it too late to leave and come back?

She ignored a man trying to talk to her by asking if she was new and her thoughts were instead focused onto to the elevator where she felt a slight touch of nen coming down.

Soon, the elevator doors opened once again.

She stared at the red-haired man who was dressed in a clown(?) outfit walking out of the elevator confidently. She gave an unimpressed look at his overwhelming smile as he received his number plate from Bean-san as well.

"Is there something on my face, Miss?" The clown asked as he kept up his smile.

"Not really. Just admiring your face." She gave an insincere eye smile. "What's your name, handsome?"

"Call me Hisoka. And you are?"

"Byleth."

She heard whisperings going on behind the few people in the grim tunnel.

"Hisoka… that killer clown!?"

"… shit! What the hell is that woman doing trying to talk to that psycho?"

"You sound like you're popular." She said with an unimpressed expression, her eyebrow raised mockingly.

Hisoka smirked and started shuffling a few cards that he conjured out of thin air. "Popular, infamous, it doesn't matter if they're not strong enough." He threw a playing card at her, targeting her throat but Byleth caught it easily and she could feel a bit of Nen tinted on the card.

"Hmm… I like my men and women strong." She hummed and put her hand with the card still hanging loosely between her fingers against her chin in a tantalizing way.

Hisoka quirked his brow and looked at the woman with an amused expression.

"Interesting. Let's get along Byleth-chan," He returned her earlier eye smile.

.

She liked having Hisoka standing next to her. Well, he wasn't really focused on her, as he was just lazily shuffling his playing cards, but his presence made an invisible bug repellent for men trying to harass her.

She was flirty, but she didn't want so many men invading her personal space!

However, that didn't mean that they stopped sending leering glances to her. But it was something she experienced often enough, so it didn't bother her.

Moreover, Byleth was also busy trying to look around the candidates silently, but no one looked promising enough. She sighed inwardly as she felt that this may have been a waste of time.

"One in ten thousand make this place, but why are most of the men and women here so weak?" She grumbled to herself almost inaudibly, but Hisoka seemed to have caught it.

"Ten thousand people is not many people. I do think that they should limit it to be one in one hundred thousand at least." His eyes crinkled into a smile. "Do you want to make a bet on how many people become Hunters this exam?"

"I'll bet on eight."

"I'll bet on nine," The clown said.

Then someone carelessly bumped into his shoulder and continued to walk without saying any apologies.

The clown's eyes narrowed dangerously as he gave a menacing grin. Byleth saw that Hisoka's Nen was flaring and then the man who bumped into the clown started screaming as his arms disintegrated into flower petals.

"My, how strange. Seems this poor man's arms have turned into flower petals." The jester animated his arms as if he was giving a presentation. "Now you see them, now you don't. Do be careful. And do apologize if you bump into someone." He drawled in his deep voice.

People started muttering to themselves quietly in fear and Byleth turned to the clown with a smirk.

"A man with a flair for theatrics? I approve."

And Byleth tilted her head, signaling to the man that they should move somewhere else. The clown started walking away and she followed.

As she walked, her eyes swept around the people waiting in the tunnel. She saw 99 and narrowed her eyes at the familiar white hair color but continued walking. She turned her head toward the most recent candidates to enter—403, 404, and 405—looked promising.

They didn't know any Nen, seeing the lack of aura that Nen users instinctively put around their bodies.

But, it would be better if they didn't know Nen.

She looked at 301 and could tell that he was using Nen to change his facial features. She shook her head inwardly as he had fully developed his Nen already. She continued to search for more potential candidates but her thoughts were cut off by an alarm ringing and echoing in the tunnel.

Ah, finally the exam will start.

.

Running was such a pain.

It wasn't difficult, but it was annoying when a group of men stopped them mid-run to talk about past grievances.

Geez, was it so hard to get some peace while running?

"You're with the clown too, aren't you?" One of the attackers questioned.

Byleth quirked her brow. "I mean… technically? He's right next to me. We didn't come together but who knows… we might leave together after to grab a room after getting our License."

Hisoka turned to her with an amused expression.

The men narrowed their eyes. "We saw what you did last year and we don't think you deserve to become a Hunter. We'll spare your lives if you promise you'll never take the Hunter Exam again."

"Sure, why not." Hisoka said with a shrug.

The men gasped that the clown accepted so easily.

"I intend to pass, so there's no need to retake it," his lips turned into a smirk. And when the men lunged forward to attack them, Hisoka easily made them fall with a single card.

Byleth looked at the scene with an impassive glance and turned to face Numbers 403 and 404 who were watching.

"You there… Care to play Examiner?" Hisoka asked the duo as he stepped closer and closer. He took out a playing card from thin air and Byleth started to step in to stop him from killing his potential candidates.

"Now!" The blonde, number 404 yelled, and they split up to run in different directions.

Hmm… it was a wise decision, Byleth remarked. But soon she frowned as she saw the older, number 403 examinee walking back. Why were men so dumb? she facepalmed.

"I just couldn't do it. It isn't my fight, but running isn't my style. I can't run away!" and the stupid man rushed to Hisoka with a stick.

I sighed as I resigned that if his personality was this fiery and hot-tempered, he would be a terrible candidate and left him to his fate.

Hisoka easily dodged the man and sidestepped to ready his hand with a playing card to slash his neck. The clown brought it forward but was suddenly stopped.

By a fishing bauble hitting his face.

Byleth was taken aback and blinked as she saw Hisoka's face recoil from the attack. She noticed the new presence a moment earlier, but for someone without Nen to be able to hit Hisoka like so…

She looked at Hisoka's attacker. It was examinee number 405, the little body with a green jacket and shorts. She looked at the fishing rod and couldn't help but think that his attack on Hisoka was impressive. He may be a good candidate.

Hisoka, now interested in his new prey, started to stalk toward the boy, asking to see his fishing rod. Even though number 403 tried to stop him, the clown easily knocked him out with a single punch and played with his new toy that desperately tried to attack him with the fishing rod. Luckily, Hisoka didn't seem to want to kill the boy. But he held him up by his neck.

"It's so delightful. That's a nice expression!" Hisoka's grin turned into a strange smile filled with lust. But he released the boy and crouched down where the little body was panting for breath. "Don't worry, your friend didn't die. Because he passed." He smirked. "And you did too. Now go and be a good Hunter."

Then a beep turned his attention to his phone.

"Hisoka, you should get back here soon. We've almost reached the site of the Second Phase" A mechanical voice said through the phone.

"Okay," Hisoka responded simply and ended the message. His eyes turned to the boy who was still slightly recovering on the ground. "It's nice to have friends, right?" He lifted up the unconscious number 403. "Can you find your way back?"

After a hesitant nod from the boy, he gave a smile and walked toward the fog, to which Byleth followed.

It seemed like Hisoka also thought these two were good candidates. But her candidate didn't necessarily need to be a Hunter. But the people with the most potential were at the Hunter exams and she already found four. She started jogging after Hisoka as he picked up the pace. Her eyes glanced toward the unconscious man that Hisoka was carrying across his back.

Well, maybe just three. 403 was determined, but his temperament wouldn't make the best candidate.

She looked to Hisoka and said, "Transmuter, huh?"

He merely grinned.

.

Byleth considered herself a pretty good cook. But Ashe and Mercedes were always better cooks than her. But they died so long ago so she probably surpassed their abilities

No, that was doubtful. Anyways, it wasn't good to dwell too much on the past.

Byleth knew that if she cooked roasted pork, it would be good enough for the taste of these two Gourmet Hunters, yet it didn't seem like anyone could please Menchi. And Byleth already knew of Menchi's infamous way of failing everyone due to her high tastes. If she only passed while everyone else failed, she would have no time to truly see how well her potential candidates did. Byleth weighed her options. She could use her Nen to chase them if they were to separate, but she didn't really want to expend energy if she could easily see their potential at the Hunter exams. The Chairman wouldn't let everyone fail just because of Menchi's high tastes, so she kept quiet.

"Well, that said, it seems excessive to fail every single applicant."

Byleth, as well as all the other examinees, looked up to the sky to see a Hunter Association blimp and a person falling from it.

Ah, it was Chairmen Netero.

.

The Hunter Association Chairman hung up the call asking the captain to slow the blimp as he looked at the sleeping Gon who was exhausted from his ball game.

Netero ended the call and he immediately noticed that he wasn't alone with just Gon in the room anymore.

"Byleth-san! It's great to see you. It's been a while, yes?" He asked as he turned around. It was easy to know who the intruder was, as there were only a few people in the world that could slip in the room so silently.

"You too, Chairman. It's nice to see you." Although she smiled, it was strained and laced with worry. She glanced at the sleeping boy and Netero nodded and he led her to another empty room that was more secure.

"It's been fifteen years, hasn't it? And as always, you haven't aged a single day." He said with a smile and handed her a steaming cup of tea. They sat facing each other in comfortable sofas and inside a soundproof room. Even Nen users would not be able to hear through the walls.

"Naturally," She laughed softly at the joke.

"At first I didn't believe that you were actually partaking in a Hunter Exam. What changed?"

She furrowed her brows and clenched her hands together around the tea cup.

"I'm planning on going back…" Byleth looked uncomfortable as she searched for a word. "… Home… in a year or so. I felt that I should take care of my mistakes before I leave."

"Ah… and you're planning to do it yourself?"

"No, luckily I found potential candidates amongst the Hunter examinees."

The man hummed as he stroke his beard.

"The four youngest candidates?"

"Yes… I plan to teach whoever is the best candidate Nen and… hopefully, I will be able to make him strong enough to fix my mistakes."

"And after that? Will you actually be leaving? Did you…"

Netero paused.

"Did you see Gon?"

"Gon?"

"The black-haired boy who was sleeping in the room earlier."

"Oh, I haven't actually been able to talk to him." She then looked at him with a confused face. "Why do you ask?"

"Ah… Nothing much. I just think you should talk to him soon. All your candidates, actually. You barely know their names, Byleth!"

Byleth gave a hesitant laugh.

"You're right. I've been trying to scout people while keeping weaker people away with Hisoka next to me, so I haven't exactly talked to them. I plan to change that the next exam area.

"Hmm…" Netero hummed. "So you're using him as insect repellant? Or are you actually trying to court him"

The woman blinked and broke out in laughter.

"You know as well as I that I'm flirty but not very serious about many relationships."

.

Byleth landed gracefully even though the trap door underneath her opened up all of a sudden. She blinked in surprise at the four pairs of eyes looking at her.

Wow… was this fate, coincidence, or by Netero's manipulation? Anyways, it was good for her as all four men in the room were her candidates.

"Oh, it's you!" The black-haired boy, which Byleth remembered to be Gon, exclaimed. "The one next to Hisoka!" The other boys only looked with wide eyes, unsure what to think of this situation.

"Ah, hello boys!" She gave a smile. "Sorry, I actually don't know any of your names. But my name is Byleth."

"Killua."

"Kurapika."

"It's Leorio-san!"

"My name is Gon!"

At their responses, Byleth grinned, but she saw the tense and weary expression on all of their faces. However, after hearing the instructions, she easily pressed the correct answer choices until they came to the stone stage surrounded by empty space.

A fight between us and the prisoners? She thought. But it would be a disappointing fight because none of the prisoners could use Nen.

"Who's going to go first?" The four boys looked amongst themselves first but quickly looked to Byleth.

"I think she should go last. We can't have a girl fighting for us. We'll get three wins before she goes." Leorio said in a loud whisper.

Byleth's lips curled into a frown. Why is it that men underestimated women's abilities? Byleth supposed that she never fought or made herself stand out any more than just being in closer vicinity to Hisoka, but she was stronger than any of these boys here.

"I'm going first." She said blankly.

Leorio looked with wide eyes and tried to argue.

"No! We can't let you go first! You're a woman!"

The other boys tried to argue the same.

Byleth cocked her brow and gave an unimpressed look.

"Ladies first, boys." And she stepped to the stage even with much protest happening behind her. She looked at the prisoners. "And who's going first?"

A chuckle echoed in the stage as one of the prisoners stepped forward and took off his cloak. His eyes looked crazed and grinned lecherously

"If this girly wants to play, I'll gladly do so!" He walked all the way to the stage and stood with his arms crossed but he licked his lips. "You made a poor decision, girly. Now I'll play with you all I want! I was sentenced to 232 years for raping 20 different women and killing them afterward." He giggled as he scanned Byleth's body lustfully.

Byleth's eyes grew dark. "A fight. Either to death or surrender."

The prisoner giggled. "You should surrender if you don't want to get hurt, girly. But let's go."

As soon as he said the words, Byleth appeared in front of the prisoner in a blink of an eye and brought her foot down hard on the man's groin. There was an audible crunch and a sharp scream. The onlookers could only look in horror as the prisoner crumpled to the ground.

He continued screaming, but Byleth grabbed the prisoner by his jaw and closed his mouth forcefully as she brought him to the edge of the stage, dangling him over the empty ground.

"W-what are you doing?!" Kurapika yelled.

"He didn't resign yet, did he?" She answered back. But she paused and blinked. "Actually, I surrender." And she dropped the man, making him fall down the tower.

"What the hell?!" Killua exclaimed.

"Why did you do that?!" Leorio cried out. "And why did you surrender?"

The prisoners also started to cry out, "Is that even legal? She killed him after she resigned!"

"There was no rule stating that I couldn't, was there?" Byleth said as she quirked her brow. "Is there?"

"… No." The Hunter, Lippo, said after a bit of consideration. "There was no rule, but for the following fights, please do not kill your opponents after you resign."

Byleth walked back to the four boys who stared at her with a mix of horror and shock.

"Why did you surrender if you were going to kill him?" Gon asked.

"Well…" She drawled out. "I wanted to see how all of you fought. As long as you four get three wins, it's fine, right? I finished him in twenty seconds. He deserved what he got anyways, don't you agree?"

The quartet looked with differing levels of frustration.

"I do not like it, but it is already said and done. I believe the victims of his crimes would probably be glad that he is dead, rather than just imprisoned." Kurapika said after a bit of silence.

"Damn… I thought you were just hot, but you're hot and strong. I'm sorry for my condescending words earlier. Please don't kick my manhood." Leorio said as he quickly bowed his head.

Killua laughed. "I'm just annoyed that we have to spend more time trying to get another win, but that was a pretty impressive speed."

"Yeah! That was cool!" Gon said as he nodded his head. "And we'll get three wins, so there's not going to be a problem!"

.

And of course, there was a problem.

Why do people jinx themselves like so?

Byleth sat on the ground and turned another page in her book. Her back was slightly sore after spending 48 hours in the room already.

The youngest two boys had fun playing around, watching TV, and playing video games and finally started to just stare at the timer counting down in boredom. Meanwhile, the older two still looked at her with a bit of apprehension, but she couldn't blame them as she did the same. Well, more with eyes of appraisal.

She stared at the blond—Kurapika. She already had some suspicions due to his clothes. They were Lukso style clothes, but more accurately, it was traditional Kurta style clothing. And… the Nen she felt, along with his eyes—that was no doubt the Scarlet Eyes. Kurapika was a Kurta.

There was no doubt about it. That boy would be her student. He would have to be.

"Umm!" A voice brought Byleth out of her musing. She looked up to see Gon handing her a water bottle and bread. "Here you go Byleth-san!"

"Thank you, Gon." She smiled. The boy was sweet. Although she wasn't looking for candidates anymore, Gon was no doubt a formidable body capable of developing his Nen to great power.

"I have a question. Are you really friends with Hisoka?" Killua, who was still standing with hands in his pockets, asked with narrowed eyes.

Byleth chuckled softly.

"No, I met him because he just came in after me. I just use him as an insect repellent."

"Insect… repellent..?" Killua looked at her with a strange expression. "That's the only reason why you're hanging out with that killer psycho?!"

"I mean, he is handsome."

She saw the shocked and disgusted look that the four boys gave her and laughed.

"So why are you trying to become a Hunter, Byleth-san?" Gon asked innocently.

Byleth tilted her head, asking herself if she should say the truth.

"Ah… well I'm planning to go home, and need to finish some things before I go back. Having a license helps me accomplish a few things." She left it as vague as possible.

"Ohh I see! Where do you live?"

"I live far away…" She didn't say more and Gon seemed to understand that she didn't want to be questioned more on it.

"What about you, Gon? Why did you choose to become a Hunter at such a young age?" She asked.

"I'm trying to find my father! He is a Hunter and I wanted to see what being a Hunter meant. I wanted to know what drew him to this so much that he left me!" Even with his smiling face, the boy's words sounded a bit sad.

"I… see." She returned the boy's smile. "And where are you from Gon?"

"I'm from Whale Island!"

At those words, Byleth could only furrow her brows and look a bit apprehensive toward the boy.

A Hunter… from Whale Island? There was no way… But she looked at the boy and looked over his face once again. She bit her lip before opening it again.

"Umm.. Gon. What is your last name?"

"It's Freeces! Why do you ask?"

Hearing the name, she froze in place. Her eyes turned wide and fearful.

"… your father's name. Can you tell me what it is?"

"Ging! Ging Freeces!" The boy replied easily.

Byleth recoiled and jumped back, away from the boy. Her body quivered and she placed her back against the wall, far away from Gon.

Gon looked at her, confused. And maybe… a bit hurt?

.

It was laughingly easy to collect six points at Zevil Island. There were only two other Nen users at the Hunter Exam and Byleth's target wasn't one of them.

Within a day, she had six points from her badge and her target's badge. The rest of the four days was used to stay as far, far away from Gon as possible.

She bit her lip. She wished she was off this island. Should she resign? Should she leave as soon as possible? She had so many thoughts clouding her brain and making her anxious, but she still had to accomplish her goal before leaving.

Nothing will happen. Nothing will happen, she repeated to herself like a mantra.

But she didn't exactly believe herself.

.

Although her back was against the walls to try to be as far away from Gon as possible, she could help but almost release her bloodlust toward the ninja for harming the boy. Hisoka gave a quick glance at the Byleth, but all he could see on her expression was coldness. He supposed that the woman and the four youngest Hunter applicants did not get along inside Trick Tower. She avoided them at all costs.

.

"So, Byleth-chan… Are you still up for a little bit of fun? I have a room in Heaven's Arena." He gave an eye smile that Byleth returned with an amused smirk.

"My, Hisoka. I thought that you would never ask!" She giggled as if she was a young girl being proposed by a handsome lover.

She paused and gave a deadpan look.

"But another boy has caught my interest now. Sorry."

Hisoka's turned into a stiff rock and his jaw dropped slightly.

She turned and waved. "Bye for now! Maybe next time. Oh, wait." She turned her head. "Don't try anything perverted with Gon. I'm warning you." She didn't use any Nen to show bloodlust to threaten him further, but her cold glare sent enough of a warning.

Hisoka quirked a brow but didn't say anything as she walked away. He didn't think that the two were all that close, but maybe they did get close in the second part of the exam.

Women were so hard to deal with. He sighed as he went back alone toward Heaven's Arena.

.

"So you know who Gon's father is?" Netero asked.

Byleth gave an empty laugh.

"Much like his father, even just his presence itself is a beacon for strong presences. But…" She clenched her fists tighter. "But I'm so… scared. What if something happens? Who knows what will happen if we're together for a long period of time? I can always contact the Kurta later."

"Byleth, you know as well as I that if anything were to happen, it would have happened the moment Gon stepped into the Hunter Exam area and met you. You even spent 72 hours next to him in the Trick Tower and nothing happened."

"I know. I know but… I can't help but worry and stay as far as I can from him." She quirked her lips into a small, hesitant smirk. "Is it so strange for me to be worried?"

Netero gave a knowing smile. "It definitely isn't like you to be so worried, but I understand. But you were always infallible. With your charisma and power, everyone gravitated to you. Including me." He chuckled.

"Ah, yes your attempts to court me was very amusing." She laughed, almost pushing down the weariness she had before. "I still have to get close to the Kurta enough to get his contact information. I'll have to follow them and try to get close. I think my weariness after finding out about Gon made them more hesitant about me."

The Chairman nodded. "I hope that you will get closer to Gon. And his white-haired friend, too."

"Ugh," the Professor groaned. "He's Zeno's grandson, right? I think they're trying to go to Kukuroo Mountain to bring him out. I don't know if it'll be a good idea to go but I need to get Kurapika's contact info."

"But I thought you still had a good relationship with Zeno?"

Byleth laughed uncomfortably. "But I've never met his son who's the head of the household right now. Small mercies from the goddess."

The Chairman chuckled.

"Well, I doubt Silva would be comfortable with meeting their father's ex-lover."

.

"Ah! Byleth-san! It's nice to see you!"

Byleth looked a bit apprehensively at the excited 12-year-oldboy. "… You too Gon. And Kurapika and Leorio as well." She knew that the boys arrived about two days before she did.

"Likewise," Kurapika said but he looked at the woman wearily as they weren't all that close. Why was she at Kukuroo Mountain? It was a three day trip from the place they took the Hunter Exams and being at Kukuroo Mountain's servant headquarters could not just be a simple coincidence. Was she also a servant for the Zoldyck Family?

Leorio meanwhile frowned at her instead. "What are you here for?" He asked gruffly.

"Um… I… wanted to be friends with you?"

That didn't sound very convincing.

Why was she bad with kids? No, actually she was pretty good with kids. She was just really bad with this one in front of her.

Kurapika and Leorio stared suspiciously at the woman's hesitant response.

"Oh!" Gon had an elated expression. "Actually… I thought you didn't really like me… So it's really nice to see that you came to be friends!"

Byleth's eyes widened and she became flustered. "N-no! I never disliked you Gon! No one can ever dislike you!" She looked a bit panicked and worried. "I'm serious!"

The trio blinked at the woman's flustered look. They never saw her like this before.

"Okay! I believe you," Gon smiled widely. "We're here to save Killua right now, but we can't open the gates. And…" He looked down at his broken arm. "I guess I'm pretty useless right now."

Byleth frowned. "To tell you the truth, I can open the gates, but you want to help save Killua yourself, right?"

Gon nodded.

"I'll help train you and your friends to be able to open the gates. Even with one arm, I can help you become stronger.

Gon, Kurapika and Leorio tilted their heads in confusion and apprehension.

"But… we have Zebro-san helping us?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind." And she walked toward the cabin that Zebro was at.

"…."

The trio looked in confusion

.

"Zebro-san."

"Ah! Byleth-sensei! It's been so long since I've seen you! What has it been, twenty years?"

"Yes, the last time I saw you, you had no gray hair!"

"Sensei, stop teasing me! You can't blame me for the natural process of aging. But you really haven't aged a day."

"You know Zebro-san from twenty years ago?! How old are you?" Leorio pointed his finger at Byleth and demanded answers.

The woman cocked a brow.

"Don't you know that you should never ask a lady for their age?

.

Killua pointed a finger at her.

"Ahhh?! Why are you here, woman?"

Byleth crossed her arms together.

"I came here because I wanted to help Gon."

"Whatever. He could have done it without your help." The young assassin rolled his eyes.

The woman looked at the child annoyingly.

"She helped us a lot, Killua! She's super strong." Gon grinned brightly.

"Also super psycho if she actually likes Hisoka!"

"And this super psycho can hear every word, Killua-chan" Byleth hummed in a melodic, threatening voice.

Killua comically staggered back in fear.

"Miss Byleth." Gotoh's voice cut through the tension. "Master Zeno wishes to speak with you."

"Zeno?"

"Gramps does? Why this woman?"

Gotoh didn't say anything, as he didn't know either. He didn't exactly quite understand what Master Zeno wanted with a woman who didn't even move a muscle while the children tried so hard to take Killua-sama out of the Zoldyck Family Mansion.

Byleth shrugged and walked to where the butlers were waiting. But she paused and looked to Gon.

"Gon, do you mind waiting just a moment? Please don't leave without saying bye."

"Of course!"

"Ugh, let's leave this hag and go have some fun Gon." Killua said with a deadpan look.

Byleth gave a threatening glare at the boy and then walked away.

.

"Zeno!"

"Byleth-chan!" Zeno smiled widely as he saw the woman who came through the door.

"It has been a while, right?"

"It has. 20 years, if I recall correctly."

But their thoughts were cut off as a person opened the door.

"Father? I needed to discuss with you something…" And the head of the Zoldyck family stopped talking as he noticed a person other than his father in the room. "And who are you, Miss?"

"My name is Byleth Eisner, Silva-san. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Nice you meet you as well, Byleth-san. Are you father's acquaintance?"

"Hmmm…" Zeno hummed as he stroked his beard trying to find the right word for their relationship. "Acquaintances are right, but more accurately… a past lover."

"Father!" Silva's face turned into a horrified expression. "How could you take such a young lover when you have Mother?!"

Byleth laughed and Zeno looked appalled at the thought of his still-alive-and-kicking-wife thinking that he had a lover.

"It was before he met your mother, Silva-san. A long time ago."

Silva furrowed his brows and he processed what Byleth said.

Seeing Silva's apprehensive face, Zeno sighed. "This is why we could never get married, Byleth-chan."

Byleth laughed. "Of course, not that I like to be tied down to someone. Anyways, who would believe a twenty-five-year-old looking woman was the wife of an old grandpa? They would think that I'm a gold digger or something."

Zeno balked. "I'm still alive and kicking." He shook his head. "But that aside, I asked you to come to ask: why did you come with Killua's friends? Are you… trying to teach one of them? Or Killua?"

Byleth scratched her chin in awkwardness.

"I'm planning to teach the blond-haired child. And after that, I plan on teaching Gon whatever he needs help with after he learns the basics of Nen. I will teach Killua as well."

"Oh? That's interesting. You used to never teach more than one student at a time. What changed, Byleth?"

Silva looked at Byleth with a questioning look, unable to know what kind of powers the woman had that would make his father interested in teaching his son.

Byleth looked down and her face turned dark.

"Much has changed in the twenty years I have not seen you, Zeno. The last time I taught multiple pupils at once, I made a grave mistake. That's what I'm trying to fix by teaching the blond child, Kurapika. However…" She bit her lip. "Gon is a different case. I'm fixing another mistake."

She looked up and gave a small smile.

"I hope Gon and Killua continue to be good friends, Zeno."

Zeno gave a look asking what she meant.

"We couldn't marry because we both knew that I couldn't help your family continue if I married you. I thought I could never pregnant but… I met a man. His Nen powers and mine mixed together and…"

At Byleth's pause, Zeno furrowed his brows, starting to understand what she met.

"Gon is my child that resulted from our powers."

Author's Note:

I know I should work on my other FE3H crossover... but this idea has been stuck with me for a while I wanted to maybe make it into a one-shot but it's getting too long...

If Togashi-sensei ever comes back from his hiatus and tells the audience about his mother, I will GLADLY take out the last part of Byleth being Gon's mother. But he didn't as of now, so I will make the story into one that I like for now:)