he finally woke up.
when he first opened his eyes, a blinding light made him blink multiple times. he let out a tired grona as his iris adapted to the strange, fluorescent light above him.
upon opening them completely, goku looked around him. he was in a white room, with all sorts of strange things he's never seen before around him. when he got his hearing back, a beep sound constantly repeated.
he then checked himself in the mirror in front of him. the monkey boy was on a long bed, lots of sheets covering his small body. a strange, transparent mask covered his mouth as his breathing resonated through it, and his index finger had a weird clip attached to it.
" huh? where am I?" thought goku, as he looked for his friends around the room.
that's where the door opened, and in came a tall, lanky man in an oversized doctor's coat. behind him was krillin, yamcha and bulma, who smiled upon seeing their friend awoke.
"goku!" krillin shouted as he ran towards the hospital bed that goku laid.
"we were so worried!" bulma said.
"hey, guys!" goku said, getting up from his bed, only for the doctor to stop him and pin him down the mattress.
" now, now, young man, you've been out cold for almost a whole day! you need some rest!" the doctor said.
" huh? what's going on? where am I?" goku asked.
"you're in the budokai island general hospital." the doctor answered. "and rest assured, you haven't been injured or anything. you just fainted and you didn't got up, so we took you in."
"i...fainted?" goku said.
"yeah!" krillin exclaimed. "Jacky chun trapped you in a weird technique where he sent you electric shocks. we all thought you were done for,but then, you screamed in anger, and this huge yellow aura surrounded you, and your hair turned gold and..."
goku only looked with utter confusion.
"basically, you lost the finals." bulma said.
" WHAT? aw, man!" goku said.
" hey, don't feel bad, you did your best!" yamcha cheered. "you'll definitely win it someday!"
" yeah!" goku said, as he regained his confidence. "hey, bulma, your mom said she'll make dinner for us. can we go now?"
the gang only looked at goku with stupefaction. in some ways, what happened was even scarier than when hheturned into a giant ape! he completely lost it, and emitted a power that nobody who could feel ki has never felt before! and, after what seemed like an eternity, he woke up from his coma and already thinks about food!
bulma couldn't help but wonder just who...or rather, what goku really is.
"technically, you still need rest before going to dinner or doing anything else, really." said the doctor checking his notes...only for goku to get up and leave the building!
"H-HEY, GOKU, GET BACK HERE!" bulma shouted.
"i'm hungry!" said goku as he left the hospital.
later, the night fell, and the gang were at the capsule Corp. dining table, where a hungry goku was anxiously waiting his meal. bulma and yamcha looked at goku.
" hey, babe, I dunno about you, but i don't think goku's human." yamcha whispered to his girlfriend.
"no shit..." bulma answered sarcastically. "first, the tail. then, the whole "turning into a giant ape" thing. and now, his massive, anger-fueled energy outburst... no wonder dad is interested in studying him!"
"i definitely don't want to be on goku's bad side after what happened!" krillin added, to which yamcha and bulma only nodded.
" hey, bulma's mom, is dinner ready yet?" goku asked panchi, who was in the kitchen.
"soon, sweetie!" the blonde older woman shouted. " you'll see, I will make a grand feast for all of you!"
" alright, I can't wait!" goku exclaimed.
"goku, don't call my mom like that. call her Mrs. briefs, instead, ok?" bulma told the monkey boy, who nodded. then, Dr. briefs appeared.
" it seems we have a late guest." the scientist said, as none other than master roshi arrived in the dining room, to the joy of everyone.
"howdy, boys and girls!" master roshi greeted with a peace sign. "that was one hell of a tournament!"
"master, did we do well?" krillin asked.
"if you did well? you guys were even better than I expected!" the turtle hermit said. "yamcha did a lot of progress, too! it seems your baseball career hasn't stopped you from training."
"of course not!" yamcha said. " martial arts and baseball are my two biggest passions! I'm very lucky to be able to pursue both of them!"
"and you're lucky to have a girl who supports you!" bulma said as they kissed, making roshi jealous.
"sucks that I didn't win, though..." goku said, his head bowing down. that's where master roshi came up to him.
"losing a final is disappointing, I can tell you that." he said, goku listening intently. "but hear me out, goku: you must not let defeats wear you down! you must learn from them, and use it as motivation to improve yourself!"
"yes." goku said,looking at his fists. "that man, Jackie chun, he might be old, but he showed he was better than me by a margin!"
"there is always someone better, no matter what." master roshi said. "and that's what makes putting hard work and effort worth it: to be not only better than anyone else, but also a better you!"
"that's weird, chun said almost the exact same thing to me!" goku said.
"heh heh, no wonder: he studied with me a while ago, before I took your grandpa under my wing. that's also why he knows the kamehameha!" roshi explained. "and you fools actually thought he was me!" he said to yamcha and bulma, who giggled.
"well, the resemblances were rather uncanny!" bulma said.
"hahaha, that's because I basically raised him!" roshi laughed.
"I bet you made the same face he made when goku got angry!" krillin said, laughing.
upon hearing what krillin said, the hermit's expression turned completely serious, and looked at goku.
" indeed...that power...is unlike anything I've ever felt before!" he said, as he sat besides goku. "tell me, goku...what happened through your mind when Jackie chun put you in the bankoku bikkuri sho?"
upon hearing this question, goku looked on the floor, attempting to remember what he thought.
"well..." he said, looking focused. "...it really hurt, he kept sending me shockwaves after shockwaves. I tried everything I could to get out of it, but nothing worked. I thought I was gonna lose right there. then, I began having flashes of my life until this point. meeting bulma, going after the dragon balls, training with you...spending time with my grandpa..." as he said that, his face looked sad. "...and waking up at night...and finding him completely squashed...and be...being alone in the woods..." goku said, as he looked like he was a bout to cry.
"DINNER'S READY, EVERYONE!" bulma's mom suddenly shouted as she brought a rolling table full of sumptuous dishes. there was everything: meat, cooked vegetables, bread, salad, soup, rice, cuscus, desserts, everything!
"FOOD!" exclaimed a salivating goku, completely ignoring the fact that he was about to cry literally 2 seconds ago.
throughout the dinner, everybody got to talk to each other about several things. master roshi couldn't believe how hot bulma's mom actually was. Dr. briefs talked about his future studies on martial artists, to which krillin happily explained to the old scientist what he'd seen and been taught in the shaolin temple and with master roshi. finally, yamcha talked about his college baseball career, and how some major league scouts are looking at him, which is a good sign towards accomplishing his lifelong dream of turning pro.
bulma, meanwhile, looked dumbfounded, as everyone witnessed goku emptying almost all the dishes by himself! everybody looked in awe as they witnessed this Herculean feat being performed in front of their eyes. after goku was done, he tapped his belly and smiled, satisfied with his meals.
"oh my, such a big appetite!" bulma's mom said.
"my goodness, I wonder how science can explain that!" Dr. briefs joked.
"it was so good! thanks Mrs. briefs!" goku said to bulma's mom.
"you're welcome anytime, sweetie!" she said.
" yeah, he doesn't really have a home to go to...aside from his little house on the hill." bulma said.
goku sighed out of fatigue.
"his big appetite came back to bite him!" krillin said.
"im too tired to go home." goku said, almost sleeping.
"no wonder...you've been through a lot." master roshi said.
"he can stay here, if he wants." yamcha suggested.
"pff, as if I'm letting Tarzan here wander around the lab!" bulma said.
"well, I did say I wanted to make him my principal subject for my studies on martial artists." Dr. briefs said.
" yeah, and we're all pretty tired, too." krillin said.
"this is a lab, not a hotel!" bulma said.
"it's alright, bulma, I'll make sure they'll be comfortable at home!" panchi said.
"MOM!" bulma shouted. "you can't be serious?"
"not me, I'm going back to my house." roshi said.
"and I pretty much live here now, so yeah." yamcha said.
" alright!" goku and krillin shouted, prompting bulma to sigh in exasperation.
"by the way, bulma, why don't you take our guests on a tour of the lab?" Dr briefs suggested.
" yeah, bulma! i wanna see all that crazy stuff that you make!" pleaded goku.
after some consideration, bulma reasoned that it wouldn't hurt to show them around the lab. "all right, I will. but don't touch anything!"
"promised!" goku said, locking his pinky finger with bulma's.
after dinner, bulma, as promised, showed the guests around the lab, goku, roshi and krillin amazed at all of the weird machinery and the various workbenches inside the vast complex that is the capsule Corp. lab.
"and this is where dad wants to study your martial arts skills." bulma said, pointing at a dark blue dome.
"what's that?" goku asked, for seemingly the hundred time since the tour began.
"its a training room." bulma explained, getting annoyed at the fact that, once again, she had to tell goku everything. "it contains many cameras placed at different angles, as well as body heat captors and all sorts of programs to measure your athletic prowess. the body heat captors are placed there so that he can capture ki heat signals."
"he can just try and sense our ki." goku said.
"uh, you do know that not everybody can sense ki, right?" krillin rhetorically asked.
"that's wrong." master roshi said. "everybody can sense ki, they just need to train their senses. Dr. briefs uses these captors in order to try to scientifically explain how ki works...i don't wanna burst his bubble, but there are some things science can't explain, and ki is one of them."
" and as a scientist, my job is to test it in order to see if it is explainable!" Dr. briefs sneaked into the conversation. "goku, you and your friend..."
"krillin!" the bald monk said.
"yes, krillin!" the old scientist exclaimed. "anyways, you and goku will step inside this chamber tomorrow. all you need to do is spar like you usually would. the scanners and captors will do the rest!"
" tomorrow?" krillin asked.
"well, it is getting late." master roshi said. "well, I'm off to my island!" the hermit said, as both he and his students waved goodbye to each other.
goku then thought of something.
"hey bulma!"
"what is it, goku?"
"can you show me the stuff that you invented?"
"sure, if you want." bulma said, as she went up towards her room, with goku following her there.
once they arrived in bulma's room, goku was surprised by how vast it actually was. there was a workbench on the right wall, her bed was in the deep left corner, with a TV set with a VCR facing the bed. around the work bench were all sorts of small tools that the purple-haired scientist built, and there was also her capsule-building kit.
bulma showed everything to goku and explained them in details. the monkey boy listened intently, even if he didn't understood what his friend said most of the time. what kept him reeled in into bulma's complex scientific descriptions, however, was just how passionate bulma looked and talked about all of this stuff. just as bulma didn't understood goku's love for martial arts at first before trying it herself and now getting it, goku too began understanding why bulma loved this science stuff: it allowed people to discover things that were previously unheard of. he was surprised that people are still discovering new things, even as time passes by.
and bulma looked so into it, it made goku smile. a smile that bulma noticed.
"what's wrong? why are you smiling?" bulma asked.
"heh heh...you're amazing, bulma!" goku said sincerely. bulma was surprised at the compliment that goku gave him.
" huh? what do you mean?"
"I mean, you're just so smart and reliable!" goku enthusiastically said. "you know lots of things I don't even know about! and you're always there to help people, too! sure, you can have a temper, at times...but, I dunno, it makes you charming...that's the right word, right?" he said, asking if it was the right word to use.
bulma couldn't answer. she was taken aback by Goku's words, and the fact that he's fully aware of what he's saying. she knew that goku is honest...stupidly honest, even. but now...
"d...did he just admitted he...likes me?" bulma thought In her head. I mean, it was obvious that both she and goku turned a liking to each other over their adventures for the dragon balls and during training with master roshi...but this is, like, so unusual for goku! and while she and yamcha obviously love each other, she never was complemented for her smarts and her knowledge in the way that goku just did.
thinking about it made her...blush?
" huh? what's wrong? you having a fever or something? you're all red!" asked goku innocently.
"no! nononono, it's just..." bulma said, brought back to reality by this goku-like question. "...thank you, goku! it's really nice of you!" she said to the monkey boy, who responded with a smile...that made bulma smile herself.
that made her lie down on her work bench, sighing in fatigued.
"tired?" goku asked.
" yeah, really..." bulma whined.
"...goku, can I ask you something?"
"sure! what is it?" goku said.
"...did you feel lonely?"
" huh? what do you mean?" goku asked, curious.
" well, I mean, you never knew your parents, you only knew your grandpa, and then he died by the great ape's feet, leaving you by yourself..." bulma explained. "...did you feel alone? sad? powerless? were these feelings the ones you felt when you became angry at the tournament?"
goku didn't know how to answer to that tough question. bulma began regretting asking such a question to a kid.
but then, goku answered.
"yeah..." he simply said. "...but now, I met you, yamcha, krillin, master roshi, your parents...i don't feel so alone now!" he said with his trademark smile.
bulma looked at him. she smiled, then took his hand.
"I'm glad you're feeling alright, now." bulma comforted him. "I don't ever wanna see you in pain again."
"i don't wanna see my friends in pain again either!" goku said, assuring the purple-haired scientist. she then looked at her work bench.
"to tell you the truth...i felt lonely, too, before meeting you and yamcha." bulma admitted. " I was always busy working with dad in the lab...did I tell you I have a sister?"
"really?" goku said, surprised.
" yeah. her name is tights." bulma said.
"BWAHAHA! HER NAME IS TIGHTS!" goku laughed out loud.
"shut up..." bulma said, knocking her head on the desk. "...anyways, she's a writer. a pretty successful one, at that. she's also pretty popular, admired by many children around the world, and she's got many friends."
"ok, but what's that got to do with you being lonely?" goku asked.
" well...y'see, I admired my sister...and was jealous of her, too." bulma said, looking thoughtful. "I was jealous, because she had lots of friends and a husband that loved her for what she is. me? at school, I was popular, but I always felt that the girls I was friends with never really loved me, that they were only with me because of my status as the rich heir of capsule Corp., pretty much the most important company in the world. not to mention the boys were not my type at all! they only cared about how hot I was!"
"so you do have a fever!" goku said.
bulma didn't even want to correct the monkey boy. she simply laughed, confusing him. she then sighed and looked at herself in the mirror above her desk. "you're something else, yknow that?" bulma told goku.
"what do you mean?" he asked.
"i mean, you're such an innocent boy, who literally never saw the world before I took you with me. hell, you didn't even know what a girl looked like! and I have to teach you almost everything about life!"
"yeah, heh heh, sorry if I seem clueless!" goku said, scratching his head.
"no need to be sorry." bulma saod, facing the monkey boy. "in fact...it makes you charming, in a way!" she said, echoing what goku said about her character.
"hahaha, I see what you did there!" goku said, as both he and his purple-haired friend laughed together.
" you're really the first person to appreciate me for my person, and not just for my pretty face." bulma told goku.
" you're way more than just pretty, bulma!" goku innocently said, making bulma slightly blush.
"you're a good person, goku." she told him with a smile. "i like you."
"i like you too, bulma!" goku said.
bulma then blushed and looked down on her desk. "man, why did I told you all of this?..." she wondered out loud.
"maybe because you needed to tell me this." goku answered. "you needed someone who would listen to you when you wanna say something...just like you did when I told you about my life, just like you did when I ask all those questions."
bulma only looked at him. this boy, as naive and innocent as he can be, does surprise her with thoughtful analysis at times. roshi is right, he's more mature and smarter he looks. perhaps because of her influence, due to always asking questions to her. she smiled a warm smile towards the boy, who responded with a smile of his own.
" does that mean we're even better friends?" goku asks, surprising her scientist friend, not knowing what he meant by that.
"uh...yeah, I guess?" bulma answered hesitantly.
" ALRIGHT!" goku shouted.
"shut up! everyone's sleeping at this hour!" bulma reprimanded him.
"oops, sorry, haha!" goku said, scratching his head.
" and you should go to sleep, too! it's late!" bulma suggested.
" yeah, alright..." goku said, yawning befor looking at bulma's bed. "hey, can i sleep with you tonight?"
"in your dreams, pal!" bulma answered, playfully putting goku in a headlock and messing up his already messy hair. "ask mom, she'll show you where you're going to sleep tonight."
"alright. thanks, bulma!" goku said, waving good-bye at her.
"good night!" bulma said.
when goku left her room, bulma sighed and jumped on her bed, exhausted. she wondered what the hell was wrong with her? why did she blush when goku complemented her? she couldn't possibly have a crush on a freaking kid, let alone goku! besides, she's with yamcha!
"pff, I should go to sleep." she sighed, covering herself with her blankets and turning around, facing the wall, falling asleep.
END OF CHAPTER
