The following is a fan-based, fictional story. All names and characters used are the sole property of Funimation, Toei Animation, and Akira Toriyama.
Goku stood at the front entrance of his home taking in the fresh, morning air. His gaze was caught by the rising sun out in the horizon. He then began to stretch his arms, crossing them and twisting his body to pull on his triceps.
"Ah, it's gonna be a perfect day," he thought.
Suddenly, a voice shot out from inside.
"GOKU!" the voice called.
The front door swung open and a dainty figure stood over him. He nonchalantly turned around as he continued his daily routine.
"What is it, Chi-Chi?"
"C'mon, we have to get ready! We don't have time!"
"Uh, ready? For what?"
"The picnic, that's what!"
"Huh?"
"Honestly, how is it that I'm the only one that remembers these things?" she cried.
He then came to a stop, swung his arms behind his head, and faced her direction.
"But I… I thought everyone wasn't going 'til noon."
"Bulma figured, since it's been awhile, that we spend as much time together as possible, seeing as you don't see them anymore," she smirked.
"Hmm… I guess I've been so caught up in training that I forgot to visit."
"Well, c'mon. I need to finish up my half of the food."
"Oh good, I'm starving!"
"Oh, I don't think so, Goku! This is for the picnic and the picnic only!"
"But what about breakfast?"
"I've been busy preparing everything. Why don't you just catch yourself a fish or something? And come back in, so you can take shower when you're done!"
Goku frowned as his stomach could only growl for attention.
Meanwhile, the halls of the Briefs' residence remained silent. With a yawn, Bulma stretched out her arms as wide as she could. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she took a glance at the empty space behind her. Once again, her saiyan of a husband left to train without her knowing. She sighed, shaking her head with a smile. She knew her husband all too well.
She soon brought herself to her feet, making her way into the bathroom. It was only a few minutes of rustling and fumbling around until…
"AAAAHH!" she cried.
Trunks whipped his head around as he dropped his toys and made his way toward his mother's room. With his saiyan speed, he zipped down the hall causing a large gust of wind to form. Upon reaching the source of the scream, he put a stop to his feet, skidding past his mother's bathroom door.
"Mom, what is it?!" he cried, slamming into the wall.
He quickly rubbed his head and jumped to his feet as he fled to his mother's bathroom.
"Mom, what's wrong?!"
Bulma sat on the ground, bug-eyed, as her jaw hung open. Towels surrounded her. Cans of hair products rolled across the bathroom floor.
Trunks observed closely as he stood motionless.
"Mom?"
"N-No way…Six pounds… I-I gained six pounds?"
With that, Trunks immediately fell flat on his back with his legs in the air.
Fire crackled and popped, flames grew in size, and straight above, a large Yellowtail roasted to a golden brown. Goku's eyes lit up as drool seeped from the corners of his mouth. He immediately grabbed his prize and inhaled its aroma within his hands.
"It's been so long since I've had fish. I almost forgot what it smelled like," he thought.
Finally, without hesitation, he widened his mouth as wide as possible and slowly leaned in to take his first bite. To no avail, he chomped down, catching nothing but air as he was suddenly dragged by his shirt collar. His catch seemed to only move farther away as it laid flat on the fallen tree he'd sat on.
"Uh, what the—"
"This is no time to be lollygagging! We need to get ready! Now!"
"Huh, Chi-Chi? Hey, wait! My fish!"
Along with her tone, Chi-Chi's face automatically softened. "Oh, that's right."
"Huh?"
She took a swift turn, taking him with her, and retrieved his catch, keeping it from out of his reach. She then made her way to their house.
"It's nice of you to pitch in this time, Goku," she smiled.
"Aw, when am I gonna get to eat today?" he muttered, grabbing hold of his stomach.
"So, Mrs. Briefs, what seems to be the problem?"
"Well, Doctor, in the past two weeks I've noticed that I gained an unusually large amount of weight."
"Oh? How much, exactly?"
"Well, last week when I weighed myself I'd gained about five pounds. And just this morning the scale read that I gained another six, so that means… I gained… ELEVEN POUNDS?!" she gasped, sitting dazed in her now rapid thoughts.
"Hmm, I see. That is unusual. You're usually a very active woman, too. Hmm," he thought, "what does your diet consist of?"
With a light blink, Buma regained focus of her doctor's presence.
"Uh, the same as I've always had it. I've been sticking to the same diet regimen you gave me since my last check-up."
"Hmm… strange. Well, it could just be your metabolism."
"What? My metabolism?"
"Don't worry, it happens to everyone. When we're young, our metabolism flourishes. But as we get older, it begins to slowly drop—especially in women. Women have about a five to ten percent lower energy expenditure than men, which is why many often have trouble losing the weight."
"Humph, that figures," she fumed, thinking of Vegeta.
"Yes," he chuckled, "but with a different diet regimen, I think we can fix this."
"Oh, thank goodness!"
"Yes, I'll have you start on it today, in fact. I'll also put you under a mild prescription that should help boost the process as well," he announced, scribbling down on his clipboard.
"I can't thank you enough, Dr. Seldeen."
"Always here to help, Mrs. Briefs. Here you go."
He quickly tore out the prescription and sent her on her way.
"Thanks again!" she waved.
In a speedy pace, Bulma made her way out of the building.
"Alright, I'll just get the prescription and then I need to get ready, fast," she thought, "I only have about an hour before everyone'll be there and I know that man won't be ready. Ugh! I hope Chi-Chi's having better luck with Goku."
"O-kay, mom! I'm ready!" Goten announced, revealing his newly sown attire.
Chi-Chi immediately stopped what she was doing, leaving her dumplings unattended.
"Oh Goten, you look so cute!" she exclaimed, "But wait… you have little smudge, sweetie."
Chi-Chi promptly pulled out a napkin from her pocket and began roughly wiping her son's cheeks.
"Hold still, Goten. Otherwise, it won't come off."
"Aw, mom…" he frowned.
"There, now go get your brother."
" 'kay!" he shouted, running toward his brother's room.
Chi-Chi rose from her knee as thoughts of her husband's whereabouts popped into her head. She knew he'd taken a bath, so she thought to check in their backyard, only to find their rusty bath barrel lying on its side in the grass. She looked around, searching for his presence.
"Gooookuu! Gooookuu! GOKU!" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth.
Her husband had always done this, especially before they were about to leave to a gathering. And she hated it.
"Ooh, that man! Where could he have gone?" she thought.
That is, until she smelled the burnt aroma of her dumplings coming from the kitchen. She gasped, making her way into the kitchen as light smoke filled the stove-top.
Meanwhile, Goten stared curiously out of his brother's window as a lone grasshopper stood upon the glass in front of him. Following his brother's orders, he kept himself occupied while Gohan rummaged through his wardrobe.
"You're a small little guy, aren't ya?" he chuckled.
"Goten, have you seen my—Huh? What's this?" Gohan muttered, discovering a slip of paper that had fallen out of one of his dirty pant pockets.
Without hesitation, he unfolded it and took a quick glance at its familiarity. Skimming through, Gohan's cheeks began to brighten dangerously red as it had been a note from class, written by none other than his close crime partner—Videl.
"I can't believe I still have this."
"Have what?" Goten exclaimed, hopping on his brother's back.
In a flash of reflex, Gohan crumpled the note and slid it into his pocket.
"Uh, nothing, Goten! Just finished! Y-You ready to go, squirt?"
"But what was that paper you just had in your hand?"
"Uh, paper? What are you talking about, Goten? I didn't have any paper," he chuckled.
"Yes, you did. You just put in your pocket."
"E-Eh, no, I think you're seeing things."
"Don't lie to me, Gohan! I saw it! And I'm gonna tell mom if you don't show me what it is!"
"No! D-Don't tell mom! It's, uh… a secret."
"Huh? A secret?"
"Yeah, and, uh… mom can't find out."
"What is it? Did you do something bad?" he asked, hopping down to the floor.
"Uh, yeah. You see, I got a bad test grade and I can't let mom find out."
"Oh, how bad?"
"Bad. She can't find out about it, okay?"
"Well… okay."
"Thanks Goten. Now let's get going. I'm sure mom and dad are waiting."
Goten nodded as he scurried toward the door.
"Race ya!" he chuckled.
Gohan smiled, exhaling a much needed release as his brother exited the room.
"A bad test grade… Nice one, Gohan. Real smooth. Grr! How could I be so stupid?!" he thought, pounding his forehead repeatedly as he made his way out.
Outside, Goku and Chi-Chi stood eye to eye as they underwent another marital debate.
"But Chi-Chi!" Goku whined.
"No! Absolutely not and that's final!"
"But if I use instant transmission it'll be a lot faster. It'll only take a few seconds."
"No, Goku! Can't we just try to do things like a normal family for once?"
"Aw… alright," he sighed.
"Good. Now then. Gohan! Goten! C'mon, we're gonna be late!"
"Coming mom!" they both answered.
Bulma patiently waited for her prescription, flipping through a stack of out-dated magazines. It had already been half an hour since she got there and everyone was to be at a country park for the picnic in only fifteen minutes. She was going to be late.
"How long is it gonna take? It's only a hunger suppressant! I swear, good, organized workers are hard to find now a days," she thought.
While she waited, in the back of the pharmacy counter, a team of pharmacists looked through a wide assortment of medications. Only a single, newly-hired pharmacist had finally made it to her last order.
"Now let's see… Mrs. Briefs. Prescription 4656535-B. And I just saw that awhile ago, too," she murmured.
Meanwhile, a second pharmacist was returning from the back room with a prescription bottle in hand. The bottle was wide and had a milk-white color to it with a blood red label surrounding it. He was quickly making his way toward the front when a co-worker spotted him.
"Hey, what's up, Tony?" the new girl asked.
"Oh hiya, Kate," he exclaimed, "I'm just gettin' ready to send out this prescription. There was a recall about it, so they want me to send it back."
"Oh, I wonder why."
"Who knows? A lot people've been complainin' about stomach issues and what not. Go figure. Well, anyway, I'm kinda in a hurry and really have to get goin'. Later Kate."
"Oh, okay. Later Tony."
Regaining focus, Kate made her way into one of the many aisles to search for Bulma's prescription.
Back in the waiting lounge, five minutes had passed and Bulma decided to check on her prescription. She stepped up to the counter and addressed a nearby pharmacist.
"Hey, excuse me."
"Yes, ma'am?" Tony answered.
Without looking, he placed the bottle of recalled medication down on a nearby shelf as he nonchalantly made his way toward the front desk.
"Yes, I've been waiting for almost an hour now," Bulma calmly explained, "I just wanted to see if you might have my prescription yet?"
He grabbed his clipboard and pen, clicking down to check off his waiting list.
"Let's see… Name?"
"Bulma Briefs."
In the back, Kate continued to search, making her way toward the front.
"Now, I know I saw it around here somewhere. Hmm… I remember it had a red label… Maybe…"
She made her way to one of the front aisles, discovering an assortment of colored labels. It was only a few minutes before she spotted two similar prescription bottles with red labels sitting next to each other.
"Ahah! Two of them!"
She quickly grabbed one bottle to be sure of its appearance, only to find that the numbers didn't match up.
"Hmm… that's not it. What about…"
She took a glance at the second bottle, squinting her eyes to make out the numbers.
"Ah, that's it! Alright! This job isn't too hard after all."
She placed the deceiving bottle back on its shelf before suddenly being interrupted by her more experienced co-worker, Tony.
"Hey, Kate! You have Mrs. Briefs' prescription?"
"Yes, sir!" she answered.
Without looking she, yet again, grabbed the wrong medication.
"Oh, great!" Bulma sighed, "That's a relief."
"Here you go, Mrs. Briefs!" Kate addressed, handing Bulma the prescription bottle, "Would you like to charge this to your account?"
"Oh, that's fine. I'm kind of in a hurry."
"Okay, you're all set! Have a nice day!"
"Thanks, you too!"
In a flash, Bulma threw the bottle in her purse and stormed off, while Tony went back to his order, grabbing Bulma's medication from where it sat.
NOTE: Well, my first chapter to my very first fanfiction. How did I do? Constructive criticism is most appreciated.
