Chapter Two: Date Night
Gohan was sitting on his parent's bed watching his mother as she as she was putting her makeup on. She was dressed up, and the oldest Son boy couldn't work out why.
"Gohan, can you watch your brother today? Chi Chi asked. Doing a final check of her makeup before touching up her hair.
"I can do that, where are you going?" Gohan asked, it had been a long time since he'd really seen his mother dressed up, and he was getting an uneasy feeling about it.
"I am meeting up with Mr Paper." Chi Chi cheerfully replied.
"Are you going on a date?" Gohan asked in shock. His mother had never gone on a date with anyone before. She'd tried to arrange a few dates with his father while he was growing up, but something always happened that prevented their dates.
"It's not a date, we are just going to get lunch and talk. It will be nice to talk to another adult that wasn't one of your father's friends."
"That sure sounds like a date to me," Gohan pouted. "What about dad!" He knew he was being childish but didn't like the idea of his mother being with anyone else.
"I'm not replacing your father! I love your father, I always will." Chi Chi glanced at the photo that graced her bedside table. Goku was the love of her life, she'd never stop loving him.
"It sure feels like it," Gohan mumbled. "What about when dad comes back?"
With a firm voice, Chi Chi turned to her son, looking him directly in the eyes. "Your father has been dead for seven years. If he was going to come back he would've done it by now. I am not going to put my life on hold forever for him. This discussion is over Gohan. I am going out tonight with Mr. Paper, you are going to watch your brother, and I will have a nice night out. My night out is not a date."
Chi Chi kissed his cheek after she was ready. He sighed as his mother walked out the house looking fabulous. It was only a few days since the parent's day at the school, and already she was meeting up with him again. He wouldn't have minded if she was meeting up with Erasa's parents but Sharpeners father! He knew the other man was currently single. The eldest Son boy paced wondering if his friend's father was anything like Sharpener was when it came to dating women. He shuddered at the thought. He hoped that Sharpener didn't take after his father in that regard.
DBZ
Goten didn't understand what a date was. The young boy was excited to be with his brother for the afternoon. It was the first time they'd been alone together since Gohan had started school.
"Big brother, can we go out and play." Goten bounced excitedly.
"Not yet, first you have to do your homework." Gohan couldn't believe he was repeating lines his mother once told him.
"Aww, do I have to," Goten pouted. "I thought that since mum was out that we could play."
"We will play, but first you have to finish your homework. I'll be the one that gets in trouble if you don't complete your work."
Gohan watched as Goten tried to sneak away several times while doing homework and fought over answers to questions instead of actually answering the questions in the first place. Gohan never argued with his mother about the answers for questions or even answering individual questions. His arguments with his mother had been that he'd done enough homework already and wanted to play for a short while.
Goten had nowhere near the amount of homework Gohan used to do and nowhere near his level of work at that age. After a long struggle, Goten finally finished his homework. Gohan wondered if it was this difficult for his mother to get him to do homework when he was younger, and he just remembered wrong.
After preparing afternoon tea, Goten finally got to play. Much to the delight of the youngest half saiyan. Gohan smiled as he watched the younger boy race around, and then trying to reach up for something.
"Why don't you fly to get it?" Gohan asked.
"I can't fly yet" Goten replied as if the answer should be obvious.
"I guess it's time for me to teach you." Gohan then pondered how he was going to teach his brother. Piccolo had taught him by tossing him into the air and dropping him from great heights and knew that his mother would kill him if he used that method to teach his brother.
"How do I fly brother?" Goten asked excitedly. "What do I have to do first?" He bounced around impatient to know how to fly. "Why aren't you teaching me yet? Come on Gohan, hurry up with my lesson."
Gohan ignored his younger brother while he thought of methods that should work to get Goten airborne.
"I've got it," Gohan announced.
He sat on the ground and got Goten to stand in front of him. He made some energy balls in both hands and demonstrated to Goten how he changed the energy from forming Ki blasts to using it for flying. It wasn't long until Goten was airborne.
Gohan watched in amusement at his brother's carefree nature as he flew around. Something that Gohan never got to experience when he first learnt how to fly. He learnt how to fly from terror and didn't have a chance to be carefree since he was training with Piccolo for Vegeta and Nappa's arrival and his father was already dead. One adventure after another until his father's death.
After an hour Gohan called Goten back. His brother needed to learn control on top of flight.
"How about now you power up to full strength," Gohan asked his brother. It was something he hadn't done since he'd started school. He watched as his brother powered up to full strength which was at the level to turn super Saiyan, but just hadn't triggered it yet. He was so proud and wondered how he'd missed this growth in his power.
"You're really close to turning super Goten," Gohan informed his brother.
"Really," Goten asked excitedly. "Trunks can turn super already."
"Vegeta must be proud," Gohan replied, wondering how he missed sensing Trunks reaching super saiyan. Had he really missed so much going to school?
"I don't think Mr. Vegeta has seen Trunks as super," Goten replied. "Gohan, I'm hungry."
Looking up at the sky and seeing dusk was setting in Gohan strolled back home with his brother. Control training would have to wait for another day.
DBZ
The house was empty when they arrived at the home Gohan had lived in since birth.
"When's mum getting home?" Goten asked the question that had been playing over in Gohan's mind over and over again.
"I'm not sure," Gohan replied honestly. He actually expected their mother to already be home. "How about we prepare a nice dinner for mum?"
"Okay," Goten shouted excitedly. Dinner preparations were on the way, and Goten caused a mess that Gohan ended cleaning up. It was quite late by the time dinner was ready, but their mother was still nowhere in sight. He knew Chi Chi was safe because he had a lock on her ki.
"We'll eat while it's still hot," Gohan suggested.
The young boy eating his dinner sadly, really wanting to share their creation with their mother. Gohan covered up his mother's dinner and played video games against his brother and then put on a movie after they'd finished playing video games. Once the youngest of the Son boys was asleep Gohan started working on a class assignment he'd been given towards the end of the week, not that he was getting far constantly wondering how much longer his mother was going to be.
DBZ
Gohan wasn't the only one concerned about parents. Sharpener had seen his father actually put effort into his appearance for the first time in a long time. The only child was getting ready for baseball training.
"What's with the outfit?" Sharpener enquired.
"I'm having lunch with the lovely Chi Chi Son" Graphite answered.
"Why?" Sharpener asked, not thinking of any reason his father would have with meeting up with Gohan's mother.
"It's just to chat," Graphite answered. "I'll see you tonight."
Sharpener didn't think anything of it till he returned from baseball practice expecting to see his father home. It was so unlike his father that Sharpener tried calling him several times and kept going through to voicemail.
"Why hasn't he called?" Sharpener complained.
It also meant that he had to feed himself, which he wasn't very good at. He hated cooking and nearly burnt down the house several times while attempting to cook. He ended up eating junk food and everything he shouldn't have for dinner after he smoked up the kitchen. His original meal was beyond saving.
It was well after midnight when his father finally turned up.
"When you said you would be back tonight I didn't think you meant this late." Sharpener scolded. "You get mad at me when I stay out late and don't give updates on where I am, and what do end up doing! The exact thing you lectured me about not doing!"
"Sorry son, I lost track of time." Graphite laughed off. "I'll see you in the morning, son."
Sharpener grumbled as he made his way to bed.
DBZ
As Chi Chi walked through the door after her late night she found her eldest son waiting. "Mum, I was so worried," Gohan shouted as he pulled his mother into a hug. "I thought someone had attacked you."
"I'm sorry Gohan, I lost track of time I didn't mean to worry you. I'm such a bad mother."Chi Chi cried.
"You're not a bad mum, you're the best. I was just worried." Gohan sighed with relief that his mother was finally home.
"Is your brother in bed?" Chi Chi question.
"He fell asleep on the lounge waiting for you a few hours ago. I've put him in bed." Gohan then filled her in on their day. "I cooked dinner with help from Goten, there's a plate for you if you're hungry and Goten finished all his homework. We also did martial arts lesson, and I taught him how to fly this afternoon."
"My baby can fly, he will need to show me tomorrow, though that child is hard enough to keep track of with both feet on the ground. It's going to be even more difficult now."
After checking up on Goten, having her meal and making sure everything that needed to be turned off was turned off Gohan, and his mother made their way to bed.
DBZ
Gohan and Sharpener where both exhausted Monday morning when classes started.
"What's wrong with you two?" Erasa asked in her cheery voice. Videl wasn't there yet, she would use the excuse she had police work whether she did or not.
"I don't want to talk about it" Sharpener replied.
Gohan simply didn't answer, that girl was too good at getting information out of him when he did talk. Even better than Videl. Classes went smoothly for the morning, though Videl still hadn't turned up for school and Erasa had gone home just before lunch not feeling well.
"What time did your mum get home last night?" Sharpener asked while it was only the two of them.
"After three this morning," Gohan replied.
"My dad got back just after midnight," Sharpener replied.
"My mum said they were only going for lunch," Gohan replied.
"Dad said the same." Sharpener sighed. "No offence nerd boy but I don't like your mum getting so close to my Dad."
"None taken because I don't like it either."
DBZ
Gohan and Sharpener started reporting on a daily basis at school the phone conversations that they heard and when the parents would meet up.
"She's not listening to anything I say. She keeps saying that if dad was going to come back he would've done it already," Gohan complained.
"Isn't your dad dead?" Sharpener questioned.
"That's complicated because he was killed by Cell he can come back anytime but choose to stay in the afterlife because he's interested in learning new fighting techniques for his..." Gohan trailed off not finishing the sentence as Erasa and Videl came to join them.
Neither teenager was ready to tell the girls about the change of situation at home.
