Super excited about this update! Sorry it's been longer than usual. Been travelling and ended up stranded in Louisiana, then rescued, then stranded again in Dallas, but am finally home :) haha!
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Chapter 7
School?
Gohan's brow was furrowed in frustration at his mother's refusal for his most recent proposal and no matter how hard he tried to move past his mother's words and simply continue on with normal activity, he just couldn't seem to shake his disappointment at her rejection. He wanted to be good and do exactly what his mother wanted, but the last few weeks had been a little rough as fall was so quickly encroaching on the two of them. Gohan was doing all he could hunting wise to help his mother prepare for the upcoming winter that required extra preparation due to his father's absense and the approach of the newest member of their humble family. Summer was over, really. It had flown past Gohan's senses as he was at the every beck and call of his expecting mother. She did her best to always be reasonable with the young boy, Gohan was still only eleven after all, he was hardly in a place to be the man of a house taking care of a pregnant grown woman. However, Gohan had seemed to step up to the plate, exhausting himself to make his mother happy and demanding perfection from himself. He hunted, he studied, he learned to help his mother with cooking and cleaning, even laundry. Gohan had even began his own secret training time while his mother was sleeping to exert some of his housed up energy that was burning within him, begging for release since the end of the Cell Games. His power had become so great and demanded so much from him, Gohan vowed within himself to train in remembrance of his father.
Goku. His idle. Gohan couldn't remember a time when his father wasn't his hero, not only actually rescuing him and the entire planet, but also being the example of the man Gohan had decided to aspire to be. Gohan knew that his father had quirks and flaws, but the principles his father stood upon were pure, tested by flames and Gohan knew as he grew he would be put through trial and tribulation but that he would also stand firm and come forth as gold, just as his father did before him. Gohan held a dedicated, innocent fervor for his beloved, deceased father.
Gohan had been running himself ragged with responsibility. He trained himself thoroughly, but had mainly had to learn deeper, more powerful forms of meditation to keep his body fully capable of anything his mother might need. Often she would reject his help with cooking and cleaning, desperate to maintain a sense of importance around the house, but many times Gohan would purposefully beat her to her tasks while always remaining aware to leave things to keep her preoccupied. Today he had spent an obscene amount of time working on all of his studies, but his thoughts had began to wander to places that they hadn't been in months. He was years ahead in his studies than most kids his age, at least being capable of senior level schoolwork, if not far beyond and into college. And as he started to think of other kids his age, he began remembering the rest of the world. He wondered what Krillin would be up to right about now. He thought about Bulma and Vegeta, baby Trunks and Mirai Trunks from the future. He thought about Piccolo and Dende up there with Mr. Popo. But his thoughts of Piccolo seemed to bother his mind, like there was something he was forgetting, someone he was forgetting. I mean, there was Yamcha and Tien. Chiautzu and maybe Oolong and Master Roshi? It felt like so much longer than just a few months since he'd seen them all. The last time he'd seen anyone besides his mother was -
Videl.
He'd completely forgotten about her. Guilt had rushed through Gohan's veins as she remembered his last encounter with his only friend his age. He'd promised not to forget that were to be best friends. What kind of friend was he? His mind began to plague him with negativity as he strained to find a solution to correct his mistakes of the past months. After many moments passed he came to one possible idea. He had chosen to pitch it to his mother, an incident which now left him in his current frustration.
"Mom, can I ask you about something kind of huge?" Gohan had asked her.
"Of course Gohan, I am your mother. You can talk to me about everything."
"Okay, just promise to really think about this and not to jump to any kind of conclusion? Can you promise that?"
"What, Gohan?" She chuckled to herself. "What is so serious that you're afraid to ask me about it?"
"I... I, uh... I was wondering if I could go to school with kids my age?"
Chi-Chi stopped scrubbing the dish in her hand from the earlier lunch. Her face scrunched together ever so slightly from either anger or serious thought. Gohan really hoped it was a serious consideration. Moments passed before she would turn to face him as he waited patiently, but with tension.
"Why would you want to go to school? You're so far ahead Gohan, I don't think it would help your learning. You'd be so bored, honey!"
"But mom, I think I need to go. I mean, I need to have real credibility to get into college and I don't want to get behind by starting too late." Gohan's innocense radiated through his wide eyes as his mom looked down at him in concern.
But Chi-Chi couldn't bare to think of her son going away for eight hours to the big city alone every day. Her baby was only eleven years old and she would be left completely alone the majority of the year. It couldn't be a good idea. But her son was making a plausible argument. She just couldn't bear to let him go.
"Gohan, my answer is no."
The stern look in his mother's eyes meant she was very serious, and the conversation was over but Gohan felt the fight in him mustering. Something deep within him burned for the right thing, as if his power was stirred by righteous cause. Gohan's whole heart felt that this was his answer to leaving his friend behind. His mind wandered to remember her face and the purity in her blue eyes, eyes so different from his own. He remembered being with her on the lookout when they were friends, when he was all she had...and now he had left her completely without a second thought. He would rot for how he mistreated someone's trust! Fire burned within him as something welled and bubbled from his center. He knew he wouldn't be able to contain it much longer. His control was about to burst.
"I need to find Vegeta. Don't wait up for me. I'll be fine."
Then Gohan shot himself out of the nearest window with a gold glow left behind in his wake.
