Ack. Whassup, guys? I know I'm supposed to be working on Mockingbird, but I've had this one lying around a while waiting to be posted. Now, I know what you're all thinking—'Gohan and JUHACHIGOU?!?! That's worse than her and Trunks!' But I had this idea a while back, and…well, you'll see.
MG: I don't see it! How the hell could you pair me up with her?
…Gohan-san, you have no idea how ironic that statement was…
MG: Nani? What did I say?
Never mind…well, I guess we'll get on with the fic.
Disclaimer: YES! I own DBZ, including MG, MT, Bardock, and 17! *glares at people* What did you think I was gonna say, bakas?
And remember as you're reading… (Most of this is obvious, though.)
"Blah" = regular speech
'Blah' = thought
/Blah/ = telepathy
Italics = flashbacks
*****
Juunanagou calmly walked forward, his arms folded, and nudged the limp body with the toe of his blue high top. "He's dead," he said with a satisfied smirk. "Come on, Juhachigou. That brat he had with him last time is bound to be around here somewhere, and he probably won't be too pleased with our handiwork." He turned back to his sister, who was staring blankly at the young man in the crimson-tinted mud puddle. Juunanagou's expression changed quickly to one of concern, then back to his usual smirk as he reached up and snapped his fingers in front of her face. She jumped a little, slightly startled, and looked at him. "Yo, you in there, sis?"
She hesitated a moment, then turned her inhumanly ice blue eyes back to the puddle. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"So let's go." He lifted into the sky and took off over the red-violet horizon, not even glancing back to see if Juhachigou was following him.
The tear trails on Juhachigou's pale cheeks were camouflaged by the rain streaking her face and dripping from the strands of drenched blonde hair hanging limply around her ears and shoulders. She kneeled next to the demi-Saiyan's body and ran her fingertips gently over his scarred face. She suddenly gasped and jerked her hand back as her eyes widened, then slowly and shakily reached back down again. Even with the rain pouring down, she could feel the faintest trace of warm air emitting from his mouth.
She quickly placed her fingers against his neck in search of a pulse, and smiled with excitement as her sensitive fingertips picked up an almost nonexistent throbbing. She looked around frantically for her twin, and after seeing no trace of him, lifted the demi-Saiyan's body out of the mud puddle and hoisted him over her shoulder. He let out a small sound and blinked weakly, then fell into the open arms of unconsciousness.
"Hold on, Gohan, I'll—" She glanced up at the sky and saw a small figure in the distance, searching the demolished city for any signs of life. She panicked a moment, then laid Gohan back down and disappeared into the shadows. She had thought for a moment of simply taking off, but she knew that she would have been caught. And at any rate, this boy could probably get better help for his sensei than she could at this point if he could possibly think clearly enough to realize that Gohan was still alive.
The teenage boy landed lightly and froze for a moment, then choked out his sensei's name and slowly started forward on trembling legs towards the body. He talked quietly to himself, uncontrollable tears streaming down his face and splashing unnoticed into the rivulets of rainwater flooding the broken concrete and pavement. He jogged forward a few steps, hesitated a moment, and crouched by Gohan's side. He lifted his friend's body a little, trying desperately to shake him awake, but could see no signs of life in his sensei's blank eyes.
Juhachigou's heart caught in her throat as Trunks launched into a fit of rage. Blood trickled down his arms as he tightened his fists, his fingernails digging into his palms, and in a scream of utter despair a golden flame surrounded his small but muscular form. The gold fire rushed up through his now-spiky hair, causing it to fade from lavender to blonde. He fell to his knees and slammed his fists into the ground, causing the earth to shake and clouds of dust and debris to erupt into the air.
His body shook with heavy sobs, and he looked skyward, cold hatred piercing through the hopelessness in his unearthly emerald eyes. "Gohan-san…I won't let them get away with this…" He leapt into the darkening sky and shot off over the horizon in search of the Jinzouningen.
Only when the boy's trail had completely vanished did Juhachigou dare to emerge from her hiding place. She carefully lifted Gohan again and rose a few feet off the ground, then took off through what was left of the city in a desperate attempt to find shelter.
She looked up at the crumbling apartment building and let out a disgruntled sight through her nose. The first two floors were still standing, but above that, the rubble was piled haphazardly. She knew that the entire structure could collapse and the whole building would come crashing down around them at any given moment, but it was the best she could find. She stepped over the splintered door on the ground and looked about the wrecked lobby. A single, unbroken light fixture hung overhead, and the light flickered unpromisingly.
The room to her immediate left appeared somewhat safe, and Gohan's weight on her shoulders was beginning to affect her. While her enhanced strength was enough to let her lift vehicles, he was still quite a bit larger than her, and her body was aching from the battle. She kicked through the broken plaster and brick on the floor, then tripped and stumbled, barely catching herself from falling.
"At least the bed's still in one piece…" she said to herself, and laid Gohan's unconscious form down. The mattress protested with a series of creaks, and another chunk of drywall fell to the floor. "I'm sorry, Gohan, but it's all I can do. I can't take you home or my brother would kill both of us."
His chest rose and fell by almost undetectable amounts under his badly torn, soaked, bloodstained gi. She ripped off the lower half of her sleeve and wiped the blood from his face, then brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Please don't die on me…I'll be back as soon as possible, okay?" She pulled the tattered blanket up over him and left to find some bandages and a doctor.
Juhachigou stepped through the door to the doctor's office and tucked her hair behind her ear. The office was filled with wounded people, the victims of the Jinzouningen's most recent attack. The pair made it a point to never destroy a hospital or doctor's office—they figured that the more survivors there were, the longer they could continue wreaking havoc on the Earth. The people in the waiting room all stared at her in a state of frozen horror, some of them whispering erratically about the Jinzouningen. She ignored them and walked up to the receptionist's desk.
"Where's the doctor?" she asked calmly. The receptionist pointed a trembling figure at the door and stuttered, "He—he's busy, miss. You—" She clamped her hands over her mouth as Juhachigou regarded her with an icy glare and pushed through the door.
The doctor dropped his stethoscope and backed into the corner as Juhachigou walked towards him. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you! I need you to come with me," she said, grabbing him by the wrist.
"B-but ma'am, I have patients here! I can't just—"
"If they could get here, they're obviously in good enough shape to wait. I, however, have an emergency. Hurry!" she snapped as the doctor fumbled with his tools. He picked up his bag and Juhachigou led him out the door, picked him up by the waist, and took off back towards the apartment.
"Will he be okay?" Juhachigou asked, staring at Gohan. The doctor sighed, shook his head, and hung his stethoscope around his neck.
"I don't know. It looks like he's been through a lot—he's covered in bruises and cuts, and I'm pretty sure he's got a few broken bones, or cracked ones, at least. I wouldn't be able to tell that without access to an x-ray. Honestly, I don't see how he's still alive."
"I don't think he's all human. He's the one that's been fighting me and my brother."
The doctor looked up at her in confusion and surprise. "Then why did you save him?"
"Because…I don't know. I just felt like I had to do something, but I don't know why. It's something I can't explain, something I've never felt before." She smiled a bit. "I'm beginning to act almost human," she said quietly, partially to herself. "My brother is going to murder me when he finds out I didn't let him die." She ran her hand down Gohan's cheek and over the bandages covering his eyes. "Will he…" Her voice trailed off, but the doctor knew what she was going to ask.
"There's no way of knowing, even with all the marvels of modern medicine. I don't think the problem is with his eyes, I think it's something in his brain. I can't tell…even though he's unconscious, his eyes should have reacted to the light."
"So…he's…" Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "…He's blind."
He nodded, a grim look on his face. "I'm sorry. He needs a lot of rest, but I want you to call me when he wakes up."
"Alright," Juhachigou said softly as she sat down on the edge of the bed, ignoring the fact that the doctor had slipped out the door. She ran her fingertips down the scar on the left side of his face, and another tear slid down her cheek. She angrily reached up and wiped it away, unsure of when she had developed the human ability to cry, as she couldn't remember ever having that experience before. "Oh God, Gohan, what have we done?"
She watched his chest rise and fall rhythmically. His breathing was now deep and steady, and his heartbeat was back to normal. "I have to go. Juunanagou's not gonna be pleased with me, and I have to make up a story to tell him when he asks me where I've been." She let out a tiny laugh. "I could probably get away with telling him I went shopping or something. He wouldn't care. He'd probably just be grateful I didn't drag him along." Juhachigou let out a long sigh, stood, and walked to the door. "I promise I won't be gone long," she said, then turned and left.
*****
Well…? What do you guys think? *hides behind Gohan*
MG: Hey, if you think I'm gonna protect you, you're dead wrong. They can have at it for all I care.
Hmph. Some boyfriend you are. Anyhoo, I'd really like to know what you all think of this fic, or at least of this pairing. (I really have no idea where this idea came from…) I'll try and update before Halloween, but I can't make any guarantees. I have several other fics in the works, a few of which I've not yet posted, so…well, all you writers know how that goes, especially with cases of Writer's Block. Well, what are you waiting for? See that little purple button down there? Yes, that one your mouse is hovering over. Click it! Review! Oh, and on a final note—all flames will only be used to make s'mores.
MG: S'mores? Where? (Flames really would be a bad idea. She's one of the biggest pyromaniacs I know.) Ja ne, minna. I must go make sure she gets back into the habit of actually working on her fics…
Eheh…yeah. Ja ne, minna-san!