Dragon Ball SS: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

Goku gently brushed Gohan's hair out of his face and set a cool washcloth across Gohan's forehead. Gohan sighed in relief and gazed at his dad through tired, half-closed eyes.

 

“Dad, I shouldn't just lie here-” he began.

 

Goku interrupted him. “You need to rest,” he said. “Your mother should come around soon, and you know she's going to be demanding explanations from you as soon as she does; it'll just be easier on everyone if you're well-rested when you have to talk to her.” He turned to leave, but looked over his shoulder one last time at Gohan before he turned the lights off. “In the meantime, I'll get everyone up to speed with what Vegeta told us. Perhaps that will calm both her and Piccolo down.”

 

Gohan nodded as his father left. He listened to the muffled sound of voices from the kitchen for a few minutes, then closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind.

 

Goku walked back into the kitchen to find Goten fanning his half-fainted mother with a magazine and Piccolo leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and arms crossed, a deep scowl etched into his face. Chichi's eyes fluttered open at the sound of Goku's footsteps and she shakily righted herself in her chair.

 

“Goku-sa?” she asked. “Is Gohan-”

 

“He's resting,” Goku said. “This has been a hard day for him; he needs to clear his mind and recover before he does anything else.”

 

“Gohan said that Vegeta is involved in this,” Piccolo said without opening his eyes. “I expect an explanation, Son.”

 

“Gohan ran into me and Vegeta this afternoon,” Goku replied. “Vegeta came to find me because he sensed something wrong in himself and wanted to see if I was also affected.” He briefly outlined the fight that he and Vegeta had and the discussion that had resulted. “Vegeta said this is probably something that's going to affect all of us who are Saiyan or part Saiyan.”

 

“But...I'm not affected,” Goten said. “At least, I think I'm not. Sure, I was running a bit of a fever today – Mom almost didn't let me go hang out with Trunks because of it. But I was out all day with him, and we ran into Bra and some of her friends, and none of us had any problems like that.”

 

Goku frowned and crossed his arms. “That's why this isn't making that much sense,” he said. “Even I wasn't affected as much as Gohan and Vegeta were.”

 

“Where did you and your friends go today?” Piccolo asked suddenly.

 

Goten looked up at him, startled. “Nowhere special,” he said. “Trunks and I went to the mall, but we got kicked out for goofing off in the fountain, so we went to the water park. That's where we ran into Bra and her friends.”

 

“The water park...” Goku began suddenly.

 

“I wondered the same thing,” Piccolo said. “If you relayed everything accurately, all of you except Gohan and Vegeta spent some time in water today – and then Vegeta recovered after a cold shower. It seems even a brief cool down helps immensely.”

 

“Though Vegeta said that it's only a temporary solution,” Goku countered. “Gohan wanted to talk to him more about it tomorrow; I think it would be a good idea to find a more permanent solution.”

 

“And one that doesn't involve having children!” Chichi exclaimed. “I don't know about Bulma, but I know that, even if I were inclined to, I am not in the condition to have children at my age!”

 

“Then I'll see you at Capsule Corp tomorrow,” Piccolo said. “Since Gohan chose to involve me in this, I want to know what the solution is going to be.” He turned toward the door. “Tell Gohan not to bother seeking me out until he has a better grip on himself.”

 

Goku, Goten and Chichi watched him leave, then Chichi sighed and stood up. She looked over the abandoned meal on the stove and the empty plates on the table. “Dinner's gotten cold,” she said almost automatically. “I'll start over on it.”

 

Goku and Goten could tell she was drained emotionally. The two of them stood up simultaneously to help her.

 

“I'll get dinner, Mom, don't worry about it,” Goten said. He moved quickly to the stove and began working anew on the meal.

 

“Chichi, I'm sorry,” Goku said. “We shouldn't have barged in at dinner time knowing there were problems.”

 

“It's all right, Goku,” Chichi said. “I should be used to it by now. I'm just glad that Gohan's going to be all right...Piccolo still scares me sometimes, even after all these years of being on our side. I just...I keep thinking back to when he took Gohan away when Gohan was little, and how my little scholar came back all ragged and war-like...” Her voice trailed off as tears welled up in her eyes.

 

Goku reached out and awkwardly hugged Chichi. He hated it when she cried, and he never knew quite what to do or say to make her happier. “It'll be all right, Chichi,” he finally said. “We'll have dinner and sleep on it. I'm sure everything will work out.”

 

 

Goten stretched his arms behind his head and yawned, then quickly finished off his breakfast. He looked around the kitchen and noticed that Gohan was still missing. “Dad, isn't Gohan going to have breakfast?” he asked.

 

Goku nodded. “He is. He wanted to cool off in the stream first; he's still not feeling well this morning, and I don't think he slept well last night. He'll be back in a bit.”

 

Goten groaned. “Man...I was going to hang out with Trunks again today, too,” he griped. “Can I just go over there early and talk to Trunks for a while before you guys get there? Please?”

 

Goku smiled. “Ask your mother, Goten,” he said. “I don't mind.”

 

“Mo-om,” Goten began.

 

“As long as you two don't wander away from Capsule Corp until we talk to Vegeta,” she said. “I don't want to risk you getting into trouble like your brother did.”

 

Goten folded his hands together before him in thanks. “Sure, sure, not a problem!” he said. He dashed out the door and took off into the sky.

 

Chichi folded her arms across her chest and watched him leave. “I hope he doesn't start trouble,” she said out loud.

 

“He's going to be fine, Chichi,” Goku said. “He's young and wants to have fun, not be held down by a complicated problem.”

 

“There is a time for fun, and there's a time for being responsible!” Chichi replied. “He needs to-” She stopped short as she noticed Gohan walk into the room.

 

“Sorry,” Gohan said. “Am I interrupting?”

 

“Of course not, Gohan,” Chichi said. “Come and eat some breakfast. You didn't eat dinner last night; you must be starving.”

 

“I am a bit hungry,” Gohan replied. “I'm still feeling a bit out of sorts this morning, but the cold water helped, like Dad said it would.”

 

He sighed, and looked down at the plate Chichi set in front of him before speaking again. “Videl and Pan are supposed to be home later today, and I still don't know what I'm going to tell them. I'm just hoping that with Vegeta's help, I'll be able to explain it well enough that Videl understands.”

 

“Surely there must be some way to fix it with medicine or some kind of treatment,” Chichi said. “I'm no doctor, but I know they have medicines for everything these days.”

 

Gohan quickly cleared his plate and handed it to his mother for seconds. He chewed thoughtfully, then replied as she handed him another plate of food. “I've been thinking about it, some last night and some this morning. I'm sure there must be some way to determine what's being altered in the brain chemistry; it almost has to involve hormones somehow. I'll have to see if Bulma has the equipment at Capsule Corp to run some tests. I have never heard of this sort of thing on Earth, so I don't know if our doctors would be able to analyze what's going on or not.” He continued to muse out loud for several minutes before realizing that Goku and Chichi were simply looking at him with bemused interest.

 

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I got carried away thinking out loud.”

 

“Don't worry about it,” Goku said. “It's good to see you acting more like yourself.” He handed his own plate back to Chichi. “I'll have more also, please!”

 

 

“Bra, I said no, and I mean it!” Vegeta said. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “You're staying home until this afternoon, and at that point you are not going out dressed like that!”

 

“Daddy, I can't believe you!” Bra whined. “You've never objected to how I dress before! Why is it such a problem now?”

 

“Just listen to your father, Bra,” Bulma said patiently. “He knows what's best for you whether you believe it or not. Now, if you're finished with your breakfast, go to your room and change.”

 

“Rrrr!” Bra growled. “This is not fair.” She stood up quickly and slammed her chair against the table, then stormed back to her bedroom and slammed the door shut.

 

“So when are you going to explain what's going on, anyway?” Trunks asked. “Goten and I had plans for today.”

 

“I told you before, I'll explain when Kakarotto and that brat of his get here. If Goten was coming over anyway, he'll probably tag along with them.” Vegeta stopped suddenly and narrowed his eyes at Trunks. “What sort of plans?” he asked.

 

Trunks threw his hands up in the air. “We're just going to hang out at the park,” he said. “What's it matter to you? The way you're acting, it's like you think he and I are dating or something.”

 

Bulma choked on her coffee and quickly set the cup down. “'Or something' being the operative words here,” she said.

 

A sudden blast of music from Bra's room cut off Trunks's reply. Quick, bouncing notes paired with a muffled but annoyingly cute voice echoed down the hall.

 

Vegeta winced and glanced toward the source of the music. “Bra, turn that noise down!” he shouted.

 

The volume remained steady. “She probably can't hear you over the volume of the music, Vegeta,” Bulma said.

 

“Oh, she can hear me,” he replied. He got up and strode down the hall to Bra's room. He kicked the base of the door solidly and it popped open. The noise instantly doubled and the lyrics assailed his ears. Roses are red and violets are blue; honey is sweet but not as sweet as you. It's invisible, but – so touchable-

 

“Bra, I told you-” Vegeta's shout cut off short as he stepped into the room to find his teenage daughter, not only not paying attention, but nude and jumping on her bed in time to the music. Vegeta turned red and hastily backed into the hall; he slammed the door shut behind him. “TURN IT DOWN!” Vegeta shouted through the door. “AND QUIT JUMPING ON YOUR BED!”

 

“I don't wanna!” Bra sang back in time with her music. “You can't make me!”

 

Vegeta raised his fist as though to hit the door but restrained himself. He turned away from the door and found himself face to face with Bulma.

 

“Is she seriously jumping on her bed?” Bulma asked.

 

“She's jumping on her bed nude,” Vegeta clarified. “Of all the mindless, infantile things she could-”

 

Bulma set her hand on Vegeta's shoulder. “I'll make her turn it down,” she said. “Go on and finish your breakfast.” She nodded toward the kitchen, then turned back to Bra's room and opened the door.

 

Come with me baby, please fulfill my wish; show it to me truly, show me with a kiss- Bulma sighed and reached for the volume control.

 

“Mom!” Bra wailed as the volume dropped. “I was listening to that!” She paused in her bouncing and turned to face Bulma with a pout.

 

“You're intentionally irritating your father, and you know it,” Bulma said sternly. “Keep it down in here if you're going to sulk. And if you break that bed, the new one is coming out of your allowance – you may not be as strong as your brother, but you're certainly strong enough to break furniture.”

 

“Fine,” Bra replied. She stepped down off of her bed and sat down on the floor with her legs crossed.

 

Bulma rolled her eyes. “And get dressed at some point. You're going to have to come out and be civil to our guests when they get here.”

 

Bulma had not more than closed the door when the volume of the music raised again, but it was not nearly as deafening as it had been. She shook her head as she started back down the hall. “At least it's not as loud as it was,” she said to herself.