"Rise and shine!"
Gohan stirred slightly, a groan escaping her lips at the incredible chirpiness of the voice which had awoken her.
"You probably want to hurry up," said Videl, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
"Yeah, it's almost seven-thirty," said Erasa, the bubbly voice from earlier. "We would've woken you up earlier but you just looked so peaceful in your sleep."
"Huh?" muttered Gohan in confusion as she sat on the bed, rubbing her eyes. Stifling a yawn, she responded, "What am I doing over here?"
The walls surrounding her were a faint aqua-blue. Though everything still felt a little unclear, she distinctly remembered her mum having renovated her room a day or two ago which included painting her walls a creamy white colour.
"Well after Videl fell asleep on top of you, last night," said Erasa suggestively, causing Videl's face to flush with embarrassment, "I got my dad to lug the two of you into our guest bedrooms. Thankfully my grandparents aren't staying over or the two of you would have had to share a bed."
That last line had Gohan sitting completely upright. Quickly, she attempted to move the conversation to another topic, "So school…"
"Yeah, school," repeated Videl. "At this rate, we're going to be late."
"Better shower quickly then, Gohan," said Erasa as she gestured towards the ensuite bathroom before dragging Videl out of the room. "I'll pick out some clothes and leave them on the bed or something."
…
Gohan could not believe what she was wearing. Even though she had gone on a shopping trip with Erasa and Videl awhile ago, she hadn't thought she'd ever end up wearing the more outlandish outfits that the blonde had hand picked.
She hadn't had much choice between the outfits and the girl was quite sure that was Erasa had intended. There had been this skimpy little one-piece outfit which barely extended from her hips to her chest, what literally looked like just a sports bra with an accompanying un-modest short skirt, and the other option - her current outfit.
It wasn't the style or the material of the clothes that were so… out there. But rather the letters printed in big, searing-hot pink, block letters across the top. All morning she had been afraid that a teacher would come after her for having the word 'SEXY', just wildly out there - on display for the whole world to see - and spread across her attire, but alas, no reprimand came. The other piece of the outfit was a simple skirt that miraculously reached to her thighs. The former boy still couldn't help but feel odd wearing it. The skirt was made of light material that fluttered a little bit: it was a very different experience to the pair of pants she was used to wearing.
Gohan looked around the class, attempting to block her top from the view of her judgemental classmates but she couldn't help as though feel it was to no avail. Erasa, naturally, hadn't offered to rescue her from her plight by offering a jacket or something and Videl had even let loose a chuckle upon seeing her.
"How much longer do you reckon it'll be till class starts?" asked Gohan, hoping that once it started she would feel more in her element.
"Fives minutes, give or take a few," said Sharpner, glancing at his watch. "But then again, knowing our Maths teacher, I'd wager we'll be sitting here waiting for the next half an hour."
"Besides, maths is no fun anyway," complained Erasa, Gohan vaguely recalling her having mentioned that it was her weakest subject.
"Ehh, it's not that bad," said Videl, deciding to throw her two cents in as well. "And the teacher's pretty nice too."
"I'm sorry we can't all receive the same amount of favoritism as you Miss I-fight-bad-guys-for-fun," Erasa stuck out her tongue cheekily, referring to the concessions the teacher granted Videl because of her crime fighting escapades.
"You'll probably do pretty well in it," said Videl, grinning as she purposely ignored Erasa's comment. "You almost got perfect scores on your entry exams didn't you? Three marks off or something?"
Gohan gulped slightly. "A-Actually I got one hundred percent… on all of them."
"Oh," said Videl, slightly taken aback. Gohan cringed inwardly, she could just imagine what was going through the crimefighter's mind.
"That's alright, I like my girls strong and smart," said Sharpner with a hint of a smirk, though it wasn't clear if the comment was directed at Videl or Gohan.
Gohan blanched. She stuttered at a loss for words, "I-I don-"
"You wish!" exclaimed Videl in almost mock disgust. "I'd rather go out on a date with a mop than you."
"There's your cue Sharpie, you have a similar hairstyle," said Erasa as she nudged the boy suggestively in a playful manner.
The four laughed and suddenly Gohan felt less insecure about her surroundings and the extremely flamboyant lettering printed across her shirt.
...
Slobbery track suits and shirts so big you could drown in them were heaven. This was something that Gohan had learned only today. Arriving home, the first thing she had done was free herself from her vomit-worthy pink prison. She felt defiled to some degree, but she would never, ever tell Erasa that. Feeling as though the couldn't even look at her own bare skin for another minute, she had taken an old fighting gi from her closet. It was about twelve sizes too big on her now, but it still felt like a perfect fit.
Now, delighting in the feel of fabric as soft as velvet, Gohan sprawled on the couch, watching the ceiling fan spin, accompanied by a constant and soft whush of air. Her mind was surprisingly blank. Normally she would be raving over her entire existence, or well, her existence as of a few weeks ago, at least. A part of her should find it unfortunate that she had already learned how to hold herself up in her new physique. One would think it's degrading for a former guy to know the incredible practice it took to walk around with boobs, freaking boobs. Yet, Gohan had already mastered the trade. Her balance was otherworldly now as well; she had to thank Erasa for that one. If she could walk on high heels, she could also walk on fishing wire with only her big toes.
Was she starting to enjoy the life she was forced to live now? A part of her still denied it with passion. She was born a man, so it was only right that she should stay one… right? But then why did she enjoy her 'girl time' with her new best friends so much? Well, parts of it, at least, the ones where she wasn't assaulted with pounds of grime, makeup brushes and awkward questions about her sexuality. She tried to tell herself that it was because of their openness, their willingness to let the new, strange country girl become their new best friend. But still, despite the ever present stares from boys everywhere, the feeling of two bags of chest fat always dangling in front of her and the ever present danger of her heels snapping and making her kiss concrete, she still found that a life in her current body wasn't half as bad as she expected.
If, five months from now, Shenron would arise into the skies and demand for a wish in that thunderous, booming voice of his, she would have to ask him to turn her back to the man she once was. Three weeks ago she would've murdered for time to quicken, but now she wasn't so certain. Even if she had to give up the body that she was in now, that didn't matter all too much for her. A part of her was most frightened what her new friends would say.
"Hey guys, guess what, I'm actually a six foot five tall guy with chest muscles you could smash bricks on, instead of boobs!" It sounded ridiculous in her own head, let alone of one who had no idea of the Dragon Balls' existence.
Sharpener, Erasa and Videl had become somewhat of a lifeline to her, her little rubber life-preserver in the great big sea to prevent her from drowning. In this case the sea was the sea of idiots swarming Orange Star, and the constant looks she was receiving wherever she went.
But then again, in all honesty, those looks did do her self-esteem some good. Yes, she was being oggled like a piece of meat with legs and tits, but not without proper reason. She had felt a thorough nosebleed come up the first time she had undressed in front of a full-length mirror.
Something weighed her legs down, which were sprawled across the length of the couch. Normally she would've been forced to swing her lower legs over the end; the backs of her knees would always embrace the armrests. She didn't look away from the fan circling above her head like the rotors of a helicopter. The weight on her calves was familiar enough to disregard it.
"Hey Goten," she said. "Whatcha doing, Squirt?"
"Hey Big Brother," came the cheery greeting, immediately followed by, "I mean Sister, sorry."
Gohan finally looked down at the tyke, raising an amused eyebrow. The kid's innocence was endearing.
"I didn't mean to make you upset." Goten said, misinterpreting Gohan's expression.
"Ah, it's nothing," Gohan told him, smiling. "I know that this can all be a little confusing to you, so don't worry your head over it, okay?"
Goten nodded his consent. "Okay."
Silence then followed, which Gohan used to turn her attention back to the spinning thing on the ceiling. Poor Goten, she thought, he already had some issues with identifying the more subtle differences between boys and girls. Now that his elder sibling was both, things could get a little confusing. But only a little.
"Honk!"
Gohan shot up so fast that she nearly catapulted her little brother off the couch and into the wall. Unfortunately, the boy had a Saiyan's grip to him, leaving him hanging onto not one, but two things he had just grabbed all too firmly.
"Goten!" Gohan shouted. "Don't do that!" her own hands closed around the little kid's wrist, guiding them to let go and away from her chest area. Goten merely looked at her with surprise.
"What's the matter, Gohan?" he asked, baffled.
"Goten," Gohan tried to reason. "You shouldn't just touch a girl over there, it's rude!"
"But, but," Goten pouted. "Trunks told me that they were really soft and squishy, so I wanted to see for myself." He hung his head, dark locks concealing dark eyes.
Despite the palpable awkwardness, she smiled a little. Of course it had been that little blight's suggestion. Trunks was the idea man between the two best friends, but unfortunately the kid was more Vegeta than Bulma, leaving his master plans to be somewhat questionable. Always.
Gohan sat up with a giggle, ruffling her brother's hair. She pulled him into her lap, folding her arms around his shoulders and resting her chin on top of his head. She loved doing that, partially because he still let her, and partially because it still gave her the feeling that he was her little boy.
"Goten, listen to me," she said. Those dark little orbs turned to her, still looking shot down. "I'm not mad at you."
"You aren't?"
"No, Squirt, I'm not." she told him, and that was the truth. "It's just that, well... You know that both boys and girls have a few places on their body that nobody should really touch? You know, their private places?"
Goten nodded, but remained silent.
"Well, these," she gestured at her chest, "are also places where girls don't like to be touched by everyone. That's because they are body parts that only girls have. So, that means that girls can be a little angry when a boy just touches them for no reason."
Goten's face lit up with sudden understanding.
"Oh, I know now!" he said. "Just like with me and Mr. Tinky, right?"
Gohan threw her head in her neck and laughed. "Yes, Goten, just like Mr. Tinky."
"Well I promise I won't do it again," he replied. "Thanks for telling me, Big Sister, if you didn't, I think I would have grabbed Mommy."
Gohan laughed again, so hard she felt tears come up. Then, she hugged Goten and talked into that full head of hair of his.
"It's okay, Squirt, just promise me that you won't just grab girls if they are not prepared."
"I swear!"
"Pinky swear?" she said, extending a little finger.
"Pinky swear," Goten parroted, hooking his pink in hers. They shook on it and then it was official.
Gohan had always reckoned that she had to be the one to tell Goten about the birds and the bees, but this was absolutely absurd. All she could hope for was that he learned to respect people's "private places," whether it was her chest or his own Mr. Tinky.
…
"Hey Gohan," said Bulma as the boy-turned-girl opened the door to their house. With a flash of smoke, Bulma capsulated her jet-copter. "Mind if I come in?"
"Sure," said Gohan, stepping aside as she invited her father's friend in. "Why? What's up?"
"Is mum home?" asked the aqua-haired woman with a smile. "It's about the wish, I think I may have any idea of how to reverse it."
"Really?" asked Gohan reflexively before pausing. "Uhh yeah, she's just in the kitchen. Follow me, I'll lead you to her."
"Heh Gohan, I've been here enough times to know where the kitchen is," chuckled Bulma as she followed Gohan nevertheless.
"I like what you guys have done with the place," said Bulma in admiration of their recent renovations. "There's a lot more room and the place has a bit more of a modern touch to it, but it still feels just as homey. It's a shame that your dad's not around, I'm sure he'd have loved it."
"If he didn't try to attack Mom for performing witchcraft first," chuckled Gohan as Bulma joined her.
"Oh they told you that story, did they?" the billionaire asked with a bemused twinkle in her eye.
"Ah Bulma, it's nice to see you," said Chichi as they stepped into the kitchen. "You're just in time for dinner, why don't you join us?"
"Why not?" Bulma asked as she greeted Chichi with a hug before ruffling Goten's hair. "As our two little Saiyans here gobble up all their food, I'm sure we can talk business."
Moments later the four were seated as Goten tore through his food. Gohan did so at a more restrained rate as she attempted to pay attention to the conversation that would take place while the two adults poked at their food awkwardly.
"So you wanted to talk about something?" asked Chichi, swallowing a spoonful of rice.
"Well I was actually planning to invite you guys over to dinner at my place next Wednesday to explain this, but I guess we can cover it in more detail then," said Bulma, pausing for a moment to chew food before continuing. "But yeah, I came up with an idea to maybe reverse our little wish situation."
That even caught Goten's attention and even though he continued to shovel food into his mouth, the boy's eyes were fixated on his best friend's mum.
"This is definitely a big decision so I won't be asking for your answer right now since there's a lot more to think about, like school, than you'd probably outright remember. But I figured Dende has a vague idea of where New Namek is since he lived there for a while, and I've been working on making a new spaceship for a while now," the blue-haired woman twiddled with her hair. "So I figured that we could make an expedition to New Namek and use their dragon balls to undo the wish."
…
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