His Own Path
Disclaimer: I used to be a big fan of Dragon Ball Z but over the years, that's waned a bit. But I thought I would do this Gohan centered (one-shot mainly) fic as to be honest, that kid has deserved a lot better then what he's gotten in the show. Hell, he especially deserves a better mom then Chi-Chi for that matter. Takes place after the Cell Games.
Son Gohan sighed in agitation as his mom continued to go on and on about how he needed to get back to his studies so he could become even smarter and have the best education and degrees possible in life. It made him prefer the complete lack of that the previous month when she'd been grieving for the loss of his dad after the man refused to return to the land of the living from the dead. Something that had made Gohan rather upset by as well and still was upset over to this point. Ignoring his mom wasn't easy thanks to how unnecessarily loud she could get and her voice was starting to give him a headache. As the fact of the matter was, Gohan was beyond tired of his mom forcing certain things on him and never allowing an inch for anything else unless the situation was beyond life and death and even then she'd try it if she could.
Her damned frying pan was another thing he hated the Hell out of as it was practically abuse since she used it on him or his dad anytime they did something she didn't like. Something he hadn't realized until he and Lime had gotten to talking one day and she learned of certain things his mom did and had been horrified to learn about the pan. Going on to explain why that was so horrible to her and surprising him greatly and discreetly asking a few of his older friends about it and getting confirmation about it from them. "WELL!? ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, GOHAN!? I WANT YOU TO GET STARTED ON YOUR MATH!"
Another sigh escaped him but this time, instead of going along with it, he was going to argue against it. "Mom, I'm not doing it." He told her bluntly.
She looked at him in complete shock, as if she hadn't heard him correctly. "I'm… I'm sorry, but WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
"I'm not doing the homework, mom. I'm not doing ANY of it." He told her in a firmly calm voice and watched as her face grew red.
Normally, this would have scared him shitless but he was holding firm as he had, now that he really thought about it, faced far worse odds then her and lived to see another day. His mother soon exploded on him, ranting and raving about how he was turning into an example of today's horrible youth and she couldn't bear it. Followed by ordering him to go to his room and get started on his homework if he knew what was good for him. But he still stayed right where he was. "I'm not doing it. I'm tired of being forced into doing things I've never really wanted to do. And trust me, I've actually thought about it so I KNOW what I'm talking about! And before you even think about using that stupid pan on me, you should know that would be considered child abuse and I'll go to the authorities if I have too." Gohan informed his mom coldly.
Causing her to blink at him in shock and before she could stop herself, she slapped him hard on the cheek. "I AM YOUR MOTHER, SON GOHAN! YOU DO NOT TALK TO ME THAT WAY! AND THAT PAN IS NOT ABUSE ON A CHILD! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!"
"Most studies would agree that it IS abuse. Maybe if you had done some yourself you'd know that, mom."
Chi-Chi glared unhappily at him but it didn't scare the young boy one bit. Not after all he'd seen and done in his really short 11 years of life. "I don't want to learn anymore then I already know, and I especially don't really want to do much fighting or training anymore. I want to be able to do whatever other kids do, maybe learn an instrument. I have that right and I'm tired of you taking it from me to force your own thing on me." Seeing that guy play the guitar on a tv when he'd been over at Bulma's the other day had been really awesome to see for the kid.
And wanted to try it out for himself afterwards. His mother could only stare at him in complete and utter shock as he walked back into his room and even blocked the door so she couldn't get in unless she wanted to destroy it just to speak with him. "GOHAN! HOW DARE YOU, YOUNG MAN! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!" Screeched out the woman angrily and even pounded on the door.
But he refused her on this and it made her even more livid. Over the years, things would get increasingly more tense at the Son household. Especially after having had a miscarriage and unfairly blaming it on Gohan for putting so much supposed unnecessary stress on her for not doing his oh so important studies. Gohan would learn the guitar and do whatever interested him and it'd be great since it wasn't forced on him. Of course sometimes he would train so he wouldn't get entirely rusty but there would come a day when his mom for some reason, had the idea that going to a public school would make him return to being her good little obedient boy. Naturally, this didn't work out too well but he was at least around other kids his age more often. Though he could have done without Videl Satan and her hotheaded pushyness and nosiness.
Going to Orange Star High also let him be able to form a band with a few of the students, which was another bonus for him. Lime practically melting over his growing Rockstar interests was another pleasant bonus as well! Gohan also had no problem in happily putting Hercule in his place when the loud jackass got in his face one day much to his annoyance. Something that gave Vegeta vast amounts of amusement over!
Author's Notes: I probably could have done more with this but I figured I'd end it where I did. Writing this was a bit cathartic for me and I don't think I've seen something like this be done before. I also never cared much for the fact he got with Videl, who was practically close to being another version of his mom for that matter with the way she acted.