The air was crisp and undisturbed around the grounds of Mount Paozu, in the wee hours of the morning. For miles and miles, the mist was undisturbed and pristine; the grass was perfectly dewie and verdant. Birds were singing and dinosaurs were attempting to ignore the the slowly rising sun with grumpy stubborness. All around the area was a purile example of exactly how a countryside should feel in the morning. An absolutely perfect picture that could not have even been painted.

And then it was shattered, by the bellow of a wild beast.

"GOOOOOOOHAAAAAAAN! WAAAAAKE UUUUUUP! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR YOUR FIRST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL!"

Gohan snapped from his pleasant and cherished slumber into an alertness that should be outlawed at this time of morning. He launched out of bed, and within seconds had his change of clothes in hand and was in the bathroom. Taking a shower and getting dressed happened in a little under 5 minutes and after that he was in the kitchen for breakfast. His mother still had her back to him, and clucked her tongue.

"About five minutes to get down. That's a good time, Son Gohan," she said, her voice a frightening mixture of amusement and irritation. "Your father never made it in under ten, and the way that Goten is still probably knocked out, neither will he."

"Errr, thanks mom!" Gohan replied with a grin made tense with apprehension. The rational side of his brain knew there was absolutely nothing his mother could feasibly do to him. He was an alien, and the most powerful being on the planet- and definitely for a ways beyond as well!

However, he was very much his fathers son, so rationality was almost never the winner in a battle of wills against Chi Chi. That frying pan should be considered a weapon of mass destruction.

Presently, said woman began to present him with absolutely sinnful amounts of food. Gohan set into it like a man possesed by the very essence of gluttony itself.

"My my, a little more adamant than usual today! That's saying something for one of you Saiyan's," Chi Chi observed with a titter, while Gohan wolfed his food down at an even greater speed than the sickening usual.

"Mmmmm! Don't you mean 'That's Saiyan somethin'!" Gohan exclaimed with glee, looking up to see-

-his mother giving him a look somewhere between revulsion and actual dissapointment. Gohan bashfully returned his full attention to his meal, nursing his wounded sense of humor.

They remained in comfortable silence for the next five minutes. Chi Chi continued to bring Gohan his breakfast in handheld banquet forms, and he sucked it down. It didn't take much longer to fill him up.

Smacking his stomach in contentment, he made his way towards the bathroom once more. "Excellent as always, mom!"

His shout came just before he closed the bathroom door. He brushed his teeth with the speed and precision granted to him by his Saiyan blood and years of training, and was done within a wink. He raced down the stairs, and began to search frantically. "Awwwwe man mom, have you seen my backpack around? I could have sworn I left it by the door..."

"You did," Chi Chi acknowledged with a slight eye roll. "Don't you remember? I told you yesterday that I was adding the finishing touches to your supplies!"

And with that, she produced his bag seemingly out of nowhere. Gohan stared for a moment, before giving his mother that huge Son smile and walking deliberately towards her. "Mom, you're the one with real powers around here."

She rolled her eyes fondly at her eldest son, and said, "Nevermind that I can kaioken, fly, and use my ki. No, it's the household skills that are the real wonder!"

He grinned at his mother and pulled her into a hug. She smiled back at him as they pulled away, with eyes that were now filled with emotion.

"Oh, Gohan...look at you. About to have your first day at the most prestigous school in the whole world, and you're still unmistakably your fathers son. Somewhere, out there, he is so proud of you he's fit to burst. He was always on about your inner power, but he always sounded so convicted when he told me that your greatest strength was your brilliant mind."

Gohan swallowed audibly, feeling himself swell at the praise. "I'm the son of Goku and Chi Chi," he declared with humility. "I will always be proud of that, and live up to the example you both set me."

His mother buried her face in his chest again and choked mildly. "You've more than lived up to his example. I rememb-"

"Gohaaan, I told you I'd wake up to see you leave!"

Mother and son both jumped mildly at the sound of the small voice, and turned to the diminutive figure at the edge of the stairs. Gohan was instantly struck, as always, by the eery similarities to their father. The messy hair, the facial features, the uncanny mannerisms. His mother let him go, and he swiftly scooped Goten into his arms. The young boy instantly reciprocated the embrace. He walked them both back over to his mother, who was smiling tenderly at her sons. Gohan so very much loved these little moments with his family; even if they weren't a whole unit, they could be an unbreakable one.

"I remember, squirt," Gohan cooed to little Goten in his arms. He could already feel the boy slacking back into blissful unconciousness. "You did a great job! Now rest up, and mom will have breakfast ready for you in a while."

Goten hummed with staisfied comprehension, and reached an instinctive arm out for his mother. She took him with tenderness.

She kissed Gohan's cheek and said with pride, "Go on, Gohan. Go and meet the world."

He grinned the Son grin, and raced out the door. He powered up with no effort and jetted off. As he ascended into the air, he raised his power levels until he was flying rather faster than he normally would. He was a little late, after all.

Humming a pleasant little tune to himself, with his pleasant little grin on his face, Gohan tore through the sky with the speed of a Saiyan champion.

Orange Star High School...ready or not, here Son Gohan comes!

Saiyan's could get this look about them. They were an expressive race, one which felt their emotions with intensity nearly unmatched in the galaxy. One minute, their emotions are leaning one way. Happy, sad, confused...anything.

The next? They just looked blank and terrifying. Vegeta constantly wore that face, so it wasn't necessarily scary for him anymore. It was just who he was.

Watching the nicest man in the whole universe just turn dead eyed...King Kai had to admit, it was one of the most disturbing things he had ever had to witness. Goku was a simple man. Easy smiles, awkward confusions, and a complete lack of knowledge towards most social structures. However, within the past year, the man had begun to show signs of cracking. That saiyan blood was beginning to boil. However, this wasn't about some upcoming battle or a world shaking event.

He just missed his family.

He couldn't blame him, though. King Kai had, foolishly in hindsight, allowed him to watch most of his households activities up until that point. Watching them grieve over him, and being able to see the kind of great man his son had grown into...

"Goku..."

He attempted to interrupt the mans brooding, but was interrupted (with a jump scare) by the great warrior leaping to his feet.

"How much longer do I have to wait," Goku intoned with clipped emotions, his Saiyan rage barely in check.

King Kai hesitated, and truly thought out his options. On one hand, doing anything but beseaching patience would probably irk his superiors. He was already dead, his sphere of influence greatly diminished, and absolutely no real advancement in the last millenia. However, thinking back on what Goku was forced to endure over the last seven years...and after all he had done for the entirety of creation...

King Kai straightened his shoulders and made a decision. "Let's go ask the Grand Kai himself."