Trip to the Past

Chapter 3: Tournament Registration

I woke up the next morning to sunlight streaming through the leaves of the trees, straight into my face. I opened my eyes, groaned, and shut them again. Once more I had woken up with the sun in my eyes. I just hoped it didn't become some sort of tradition. I stood up, shrugged the last bit of sleep out of my body and started my search for some breakfast. I soon found a few berries and quickly ate them. It wasn't nearly enough to satisfy my appetite, but I wanted to be there when my father arrived for the tournament. I had no idea when he would arrive but I had already overslept and so I couldn't spend a lot of time on breakfast. Judging from where the sun stood it had to be around eight o'clock, which meant I had overslept by around two hours. Though it was a very unlikely scenario, I really hoped my father hadn't decided to arrive early for once. It was true both he and Master Roshi usually liked to sleep pretty late, but that didn't stop me from worrying. If he was excited it wouldn't be too weird for him to wake up early for once. I had reached the city by now and I looked at all the shops I passed by, the food that was on display made my mouth water. It looked really delicious, though my hungry stomach may have made it appear more tasty than it actually was. Too bad I didn't have any money to buy food with, Eighteen should have wished for that with her second wish. Now that it crossed my mind, I had no idea whether Eighteen made a second wish. If that was the case I would probably find out sooner or later. My stomach growled, interrupting my line of thought. I was really going to eat a lot later, but for now my father was more important. It was a good thing that once I was one of the finalists I would get food for free. I only had to get through the preliminaries tomorrow. Not to mention, after I won the tournament I would have more than enough money to buy some food. I wasn't even considering the option that I would lose. Vegeta would be proud of my arrogance.

In the distance I could see the registration boot coming into view. There was a short line but nothing that would take too long. After a few minutes in the line it was my turn. The man behind the desk seemed a little shocked at my young age but didn't comment on it in any way.

"Are you entering the tournament yourself, young man?", he asked.
A simple "Yes" was my only response.
"Alright then, just give me your name and I'll write it down for you."

A name! I knew there was something I had forgotten! For obvious reasons I couldn't use my real name. Goku would recognize his grandfather's name anywhere, there was no doubt about that. But what should I use as a name? I had to use something fairly familiar, so I would automatically react to it. But I had to be careful not to pick a name of someone my dad knew in this time. Neither could any of his friends know the name. Of course, I could use the name Goten. It was my little brother's name so I was familiar enough with it, but nobody would have that name for another eighteen years. It sounds a bit like Goku, but it was at least a whole lot better than Gohan. The man who was writing down the names seemed to be getting a little impatient so I quickly told him my name.

"My name's Goten." He looked at me for a moment but then just continued.
"Alright Goten. Preliminaries start tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, be sure to get here on time or you'll be disqualified."
"Of course, thank you sir."

Now that that was all taken care of I positioned myself against the wall a few yards away and prepared myself to stand still for a few hours, waiting for my father to arrive. Knowing him, he'll be fashionably late.

After waiting for a few hours in vain, they still hadn't arrived yet, I was starting to get really hungry. I could of course just sense Master Rishi's ki and figure out how long it would take for them to get here, and then return just as they arrived. But I wanted it to be more of a surprise. Also, if I sensed Master Rishi's ki, I wouldn't be able to resist searching for my dad's. I didn't like feeling the ki of my dad in this time. If I did then my head would tell me my dad was here, but my heart said he couldn't be here, that he was dead. The only way I would really believe my father was here and alive was if I saw him. So I would wait until I saw him before I tried to sense him. It was almost lunchtime now and I really needed to eat, the small breakfast I had wasn't enough by far to even come close to satisfying my hunger. I couldn't take it anymore, I had to eat something. saiyans weren't made to wait on an empty stomach. I decided to go for a quick hunt in the forest. I took down a bear just like I had done last night. But instead of preparing a fire just fired a quick ki blast at it and hoped it would taste good. It didn't taste too bad, perhaps a bit raw on the inside but I didn't really mind. By the time I got back to the registration boot about twenty minutes had passed. I resumed my position against the wall and waited. It was unlikely they had gotten registered while I had been eating. Goku would want to eat during lunchtime. I remained like that against the wall, leaning against the wall, arms crossed and glared at everyone who dared to look my way. I was probably doing a pretty good job of imitating my teacher, Piccolo, especially since I wore the same clothes he did. There were times during the day when nobody would approach to register for twenty minutes, and at other times there would be a line of five people waiting to give up their name.

It was only in the evening, when I started to get hungry again, at around six o'clock. The sun was starting to set, and I finally saw the three persons approach had been waiting for all day.

The tallest one was an old man with a white beard and moustache. The top of his head was completely bald though, and in his left hand he had a black hat. He was wearing an equally black suit and had a pair of sunglasses perched on his nose. He was walking a little hunched over and had a walking stick in his right hand. That man was without a doubt Master Roshi, the famous Turtle Hermit.

The shortest person was also bald, he was a bit too young for a beard or moustache, but he did have six dots placed on his forehead in an orderly fashion. He was wearing a yellow gi, one that made it obvious he had trained at the Orin temple at one time. That was Krillin, it was funny to see that even now he was still shorter than Goku.

Goku was the last person in the little group. He was wearing a blue gi with a white belt. He also had an orange pole strapped to his back. His most notable features were his large, innocent eyes and his incredibly messy and spiky hair, that somehow still looked natural. There was no doubt that that was my father. It suddenly felt as if a weight had been lifted of my heart. I really wanted to run over to him and hug him, but I had to control myself for the time being.

It was funny, seeing my father at such a young age. The way he looked in wonder at everything made it obvious he wasn't used to this form of civilization yet. I finished studying them as they finally reached the registration boot and got registered for the tournament. I was absolutely certain now that I had gone back in time. This made me wonder whether I would even want to go back after I became friends with my father. At that moment, Goku's eyes that had been looking around, taking everything in, fell on me. Even though we were the same age now, I was slightly taller than him, this made me smile inwardly. I met Goku's gaze and stared him in the eyes for a few moments. Then I grinned at him and walked away, my cape swirling behind me. I walked back into the forest and hunted for some meat, I also collected some fruit, that would make for a good breakfast the following morning.

After dinner there was only one thing left to do before I could go to sleep. I had already decided to participate in the tournament and also that I would get to know my dad better as a friend. But there was still one point which I was unsure about. I hadn't decided yet whether I would really change history or not. I had a few valid arguments for both sides, but neither seemed really decisive enough to make a decision. I knew it was dangerous to change past events, it could really be bad for the timeline. It could be both a good and a bad thing if I would kill Dr. Gero now. There wouldn't be any androids, yes, but everyone would lose the strength they gained by fighting the androids. And that might not necessarily be a good thing. If I would defeat villains in Goku's stead, he wouldn't be as strong. If he was weaker, then he and piccolo may be defeated by Raditz, and that would be disastrous. But I was brought here by Shenron, and he probably knows what he's doing. He wouldn't send me here if it would ruin the whole timeline. Perhaps I was meant to change the future. And I know that if I ever saw my dad in trouble in this timeline, I wouldn't be able to help helping him. No matter the consequences. I thought back to the wish I had heard Eighteen make.

"I wish for Gohan Son to be able to spend some more time with his father."

That meant that Shenron must have given me a chance to spend time with my father if I wanted. And I really do want to. While there is the chance I would chance the future for the worse, I could also change it for the better. Any weaker my father would get by me defeating enemies in his place I could make up for by training him myself.

In the end there was one turning point on which my decision rested. If I had to go back to the future soon, then I wouldn't change anything, or at least, nothing substantial. But If I could choose when I would go back to where I came from, then there was no problem with changing the future a little. From the wording of the wish it seemed the most likely to me that I could choose when I returned. Simply by wishing it. So it was decided, I would try to make the world a better place by interfering a little. I didn't know everything about my father's youth, but I knew enough to make do for the moment. It would also be for the best if I didn't tell anyone that I was from the future. But I knew that if my father ever asked, that I wouldn't lie to him. I owed it to at least be honest with him. I then laid down next to the dying fire and slowly drifted to sleep.

Alright, again a chapter finished. It took me only one day, so that was pretty fast. I hope this chapter answered some of your questions. Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review. Next chapter are the preliminaries, so that means that I'll have to write action scenes. I haven't done it before, so it might take a bit longer. But for now just enjoy this chapter and I'll try to have the next one up by tomorrow.