Watching from a fence line, the little boy knew he was about to learn something.

Son Gohan, the proud demi-saiyan of nine years, was looking over a small wooden fence at a playground full of children running around as they had the time of their lives. Wearing a short sleeve yellow shirt and blue overalls, the boy appeared to be sitting behind the fence, even though his head and shoulders could be seen by all.

What everyone couldn't see though, was a sleeping purple dragon by the name of Icarus. Why the two had decided to come here of all places was unknown but considering his alternatives, it was a lot better.

His mother had wanted him to actually study on this bright, sunny day while she and his father went into town for supplies. Opting not to do so, the saiyan had gone to see his mentor, Piccolo, and found him in the middle of meditation; one thing Gohan preferred not to do.

So after running into his faithful pet, the two adventurers found themselves in a city called Orange Star, and smack dab in the middle of it was this playground full of children close to the boy's age.

Right in front of the fence Gohan looked over was a big dirt patch that had seen one too many ball games. Behind it was a jungle gym of curved and twisted bars that was presently being used by several kids. There were some other things here and there as well but they didn't quite interested the boy as much as the conflict that was building up on the dirt field.

"How many times do I have to tell you!" a brown haired boy shouted as he held a soccer ball. "Girls can't play with boys!"

Standing defiant before the kid, a small girl with black hair glared back at him. "Of course we can! Girls can do anything boys can do!"

It had been like this for quite some time. For some reason, a group of boys refused to let any of the girls play with them. While Gohan personally had no problem with it, these boys did for some reason. Once they had put their foot down, many girls had left to do something else, but this one girl refused to be brushed off.

"Boys are better than girls, always!" the same brown headed boy yelled.

"No they're not! They're just dumber!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh! You know what they say. Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider!"

This time, a boy with long blond hair spoke. "That's not true!"

"Of course it is!" the girl replied. "And girls go to Mars to get more candy bars!"

From Gohan's standpoint, this had to mean something because all the other boys looked offended. And his mother thought you could only learn stuff in books.

And then the blond headed boy laid out the ultimate claim; one that silenced the whole playground. "Well girls have cooties!"

"Cooties?" Gohan said aloud. "What are those?"

Everyone that had heard the Son boy's comment turned to him. "It's these germs all girls have!" a boy shouted, followed by a bunch of negatives responses from girls and claims that it was the boys who had them.

"Yeah, and they can spread them to any boy, especially when they try to kiss them!" another boy said, also followed by more denials from the girls.

"And if you get their girl cooties, you get sick and even die!" the brown headed boy from earlier finished.

With the explanation done, Gohan had wide eyes. How could he have not known such important survival information? But then that would mean…

"Does that mean my mom has cooties?!" the boy started to panic.

Somehow, without the demi-saiyan knowing it, the group of boys had gathered around him, lending him the support he needed. "No, moms don't have cooties thankfully," a red headed boy said. "Dads managed to get a hold of them and get rid of all the cooties, so you're safe."

"Oh," the saiyan said as he let out a sigh of relief. "I guess I've been lucky so far since no girls live anywhere around me."

A look of envy went on all of the boys faces. "Man, that is so awesome," one of them commented, followed by many agreements.

"That's so retarded!" the girl from earlier shouted, breaking up the all-boy support group. "Girls do not have cooties!"

"Go away Videl," the blond boy shouted back. "We won't let you infest one of our own!"

"Shut up Sharpner!" Videl screamed. "Here, I'll prove it to you that girls don't have cooties!"

Then, walking straight up to the fence, the girl pushed her way towards Gohan, grabbed his overall straps, pulled him to her, and giving him a long, chaste kiss.

With wide eyes, Gohan just sat through the kiss, his mind slowly numbing from the experience. Was this what happened when a girl gave cooties?

As soon as the kiss ended, a boy shouted "Oh my Kami! Videl just gave that kid cooties! Run before she gives it to you!"

As if that was a cue for anyone male in the vicinity, a stampede occurred; all the boys trying to get away from the cootie infested Videl.

"Jerks!" Videl yelled after them. Seething with anger, the girl stormed off, completely forgetting about the boy she had just kissed.

Gohan, in the meantime, had his faculties slowly returning. That girl…she had just kissed him…and…and….

"Ahhhhhhhh!" the boy screamed. "I've got cooties!"

Suddenly, Icarus raised his head, startled from his nap from the shriek. Turning on the dragon's back, the saiyan boy screamed "Hurry Icarus! Take me home! There has to be a cure for cooties there!"

Sensing his friend's distress, the purple dragon immediately leapt into the air, flapping his tiny wings as fast as he could so that his little friend would survive the illness that plagued him.

Due to the sudden appearance though, many kids went screaming from the playground, fearful of the dragon as it took away a poor, defenseless child.

Police would comb the whole area for the terrible lizard but would find nothing; ending up adding a new statistic to their ever rising homicide rates.

And back at the 439 Mountain Area, Piccolo and Goku would spend the whole night, watching worriedly as the young Son tossed and turned in his sleep, muttering about "cooties." It wasn't until Chichi assured them that Gohan would be alright did they even leave the room, though they kept a close eye on it. Who knew if this was what the heart virus Trunks had warned Goku about was; this "cooties illness."

Only time would tell.


Well, this was a trip down memory lane for me lol. Hope ya'll recognized some of the school yard beliefs that we all once held in high regard. And as we all know, girls really do have cooties, even if they don't want to admit it.