My Comment: I saw that there was a lack of fan fiction for this kind of story so I decided to take the mantle of responsibility and make things right!
I don't have much time to upload, So I'll just make chapters whenever I have time.
Have a good read!
Gohan was very content with his new life inside the Orange Star High School!
Carrying his books and materials like prized possessions, Gohan was the first to casually step out of the classroom while his fellow students went their own way. History class was slow, but for Gohan the subject was a breeze! His only concern was being surrounded by teens of his age group and trying to act like a normal person. His younger years were spent too much on deciding the fate or the world and/or universe by death matches so this was a good change in pace for the peace-loving half-saiyan.
Casually walking past a group of athletic female students, one of them winked at Gohan and blew him a kiss, causing the Saiyan to blush and walk a little bit faster. There was no time to spend flirting with girls because his mother had drilled a very strict code of conduct into him.
Finally, Gohan was first to arrive at the door to the Math class. He smirked innocently, knowing that he would also have no trouble in this class either! Gohan made sure he thanked his mother tenfold for always worrying about his studies as a kid.
"Here goes." Muttered Gohan, expecting another easy class. His strong hands firmly gripped the doorknob and he twisted it gently to avoid breaking it with his strength only to find himself staring at a medieval plaza full of people walking past each other.
"Huh!" Gohan's grip tightened as he realized that he was never holding onto a doorknob, he observed that the hand that was supposed to be gripping a doorknob was empty. Then he felt the heat of a hot sunny day. Gohan looked up at the sky and covered his eyes after accidentally looking directly at the sun. Behind him was a glorious fountain where the water sparkled under the sunlight. The chatter of people almost drowned his thought process.
'Is Dende pulling a prank?' Gohan wondered, only for a knight in silver armor to push Gohan aside, causing him to drop his school materials into the water.
"No!" Gohan quickly reached into the water and scrambled his things together, hoping to save his notes. The knight in silver armor didn't even look back to apologize and simply continued on his fixed path, the civilians stepped aside out of respect when the knight got too close.
Gohan felt like he just witnessed someone die and he was powerless to stop it. He checked his school notes in worry, only to feel his heart be crushed upon seeing that all of his notes were unreadable.
Feeling the world weigh his shoulder's, he decided to look on the bright side of things... "Oh well... It'll only take me 15 minutes to replace this information." He muttered as some strangers walked past him without giving him a second glance. There was nothing too out of the ordinary to warrant their attention other than his foreign clothes.
Despite his notes being destroyed, he held his books and materials closely with the hopes of recycling the pages once they dry up. It has been made very clear that Gohan is NOT dreaming. His tragic loss of school material was enough proof. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary because his vicinity had normal people accompanied by, demi humans, dwarves, orcs, lizard men, dog people, catgirls, etc. He had those back at home and it all seemed pretty normal. But the lack of flying cars, capsules, airplanes, cellphones, advertisements, and electronics had left him bewildered.
'Should I ask for directions?' He wondered, instinctively walking to where the majority of people were headed. He first saw what looked like a gathering of people in front of a yard sale next to a withered down statue. A bald senior wearing a scarlet scarf over his fancy attire was naming prices at an impressive speed. But as soon as Gohan approached the gathered crowd, he was pushed aside by two large orcs dressed as guards.
"Excuse me!" Yelped Gohan in surprise, only for the two huge orcs to look down on Gohan. As he slowly stepped away in embarrassment, half of the crowd eyed him in curiosity. Gohan was now embarrassed and held onto his books tightly before looking away and apologizing.
"Sorry!" He awkwardly exclaimed while quickly walking the opposite way. Even though he now walked a fair distance, he felt the harsh stare of the two orcs burning onto the back of his head.
After finally losing them, Gohan stopped in front of what looked like a fruit stand of apples. After observing with hunger-filled eyes, a man with green hair with an exposed chest caught his attention.
The man grinned and asked, "You look hungry! Tell ya what, I can give ya two appas a for a piece! And I don't do discounts boy, so you better not let this offer slide!"
'A-appa? Is that a fancy way of saying apple?' He thought in wonder. "Is a piece a slang term for... how much is that in Zeni?" Asked Gohan, pulling out an unfamiliar currency.
The man noticed the strange money and halted the Saiyan before accepting the strange cash, "H-hold it! We don't use that in Lugnica. So you're just another broke kid, huh?" Then he raised his voice as he clenched his fist, "Get the hell away from my business!"
"Gah!" Gohan backed away, almost dropping his books in the process. Many bystanders watched the quarrel, so Gohan's posture deflated as he walked away as fast as he could to avoid the gazes people had sent him.
After a while of asking around to no avail, the halfbreed finally decided against talking to strangers because whenever he tried asking someone a question, people either told him to "Go away!" or "I don't care." or "It's not my problem."
One time, he accidentally stepped into a bar meant for what are considered 'Demihumans only' and Gohan was shouted down by several enraged Demihumans telling him to; "Get out of here, human!"
"Sigh." Gohan now found himself seated outside of a restaurant's lobby, where strangers had gathered to socialize among themselves while eating at their tables. A waitress walked around, asking for orders, only to ignore Gohan since he didn't seem like a customer. The saiyan-student simply stared at the pavement where carriages were pulled by reptilian beasts that he had never seen before. The sound of the wooden wheels dragging against the ground was drowned out by the chatter of individuals who he could not recognize. His mind was empty of options. He hoped that he was somehow still back at high school to be daydreaming inside the nurse's office. It would be alright if at least Gohan was being pranked by King Kai's powers, even if that didn't make any sense at all.
He blankly watched as a young girl carrying a basket full of apples waited for the next carriage to drive past her so that she may quickly cross the road, but as she took several steps, she suddenly tripped onto the ground, spilling the apples all over the ground.
"!" Gohan immediately stood up from his seat, along with several bystanders that had witnessed the young girl trip onto the road. If she didn't get up quickly, she would be trampled by the next reptile pulling a heavy carriage. Dread began to fill Gohan's heart as he watched the girl remain still on the ground. She would not get up!
If Gohan wanted to save this girl, he would have to summon his Ki in order to increase his movement speed, but he would have to do it in front of these people! He didn't want to give away the secret of his powers to the public!
The girl on the road tried getting up but she tripped again, now decreasing her chances of survival. She will surely die.
Gohan clenched his fists and made up his mind, "I'll save- gah!" Gohan fell on his knees and held his chest in pain, gaining the attention of some bystanders.
Gohan could only watch in shock as the carriage got closer and closer, only for the very same knight in silver armor to suddenly throw himself out there and grab the girl with a powerful grip and rolled out of harms way before the carriage could trample them both.
Cheers erupted as the knight gave a thumbs up, showing that everything was okay. Gohan sighed in relief, he didn't need to give away the secret of his powers just yet. He could now relax but something bothered him.
'Had I slacked off that much?' He wondered. He was afraid of trying again, but he needed to make sure that the problem would not persist.
Suddenly, the very same waitress that ignored him a while ago had placed a hand on his shoulder, expressing worry.
"Are you ill?" She asked in concern, only for Gohan to grunt in pain again as he tried summoning at least a small amount of his Ki.
"I-I c-can't do it!"
Something was wrong. Something was trying to stop him from using his powers. For some reason, Gohan felt the shape of a delicate hand squeeze his heart with extreme force. He knew he still had access to his power and he still felt far stronger than a normal human, but whenever he attempted to summon his Ki, something would just stop him. No, it was someone, but who?
"Sir!" Shouted the waitress. "Please don't die in front of our shop! It would bring bad publicity to our establishment."
'So much for caring for fellow man.' Thought Gohan. He lightly pushed aside the woman's hand to avoid being rude and tried to vacate the vicinity. Bystanders stayed clear from Gohan's path because of his odd behavior.
'I need to get out of here!' Thought Gohan with his hand clenching his chest. He tried to sense for the Ki signatures of the Z-Fighters only for the very same pain to stop him again. He almost fell on his knees again but kept himself on his feet. His very presence was causing people to stay clear from him so that they can avoid whatever disease he probably caught.
"W-what's happening..." He muttered to himself with throbbing pain in his chest. This isn't a prank by Kami himself, this was very real! Whatever reason Gohan had for being here, he hoped it would be good. He hoped that he would be eventually found by the Z warriors and be given an explanation to what happened to him.
Suddenly a yellow blur had rushed past him, giving his spine a tingling feeling. He just witnessed a small girl travel faster than the eye can see. He couldn't keep track of her, but he remembered seeing her face. Gohan touched his pockets and felt them emptied too.
'Did she just rob me of my wallet and phone?!'
Gohan was about to phase out of existence and appear right in front of the small thief but he remembered the pain that prevented him from using his Ki.
'Dammit!' He mentally cursed. He still had his powers, but something didn't want him to use them! He had the keys to the castle, but it was off-limits to him.
Gohan limped forward, guessing the general direction of where the thief might have went. The girl was poorly dressed so she obviously isn't from this wealthier district.
'Why didn't I think of using my cell phone? Now it's gone and I can't call for Krillin or Yamcha!'
Gohan had no other objective in his mind other than to find that girl. He hugged his books tightly and slowly marched past the bystanders. Some people bumped shoulders with Gohan, feeling indifferent about his visible weakness.
Gohan breathed slow breaths to avoid hurting his heart. When ever his heartrate increased too much, his Ki would rise and would start causing him pain. "Grr!" He grunted in pain, freaking out a nearby family walking past him.
He felt very claustrophobic. "I need air! I need space!" He unconsciously said out loud, alerting more people to his presence.
Gohan started straying too close to an alleyway because he thought he saw the blond girl run in there. Once he got too close, he was shoved into the dark space by someone behind him. His books fell out of his hands and he was dragged by the shirt and shoved onto a wall by two strangers. Wait, there were three, the third one was just too short to notice.
"Give up your stuff or else!" Ordered a punk teenager with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. He was accompanied by a buff man with an exposed hairy chest and wearing a bandana over his head.
Gohan growled, "Back off!" And he sent a powerful punch that broke the nose of the buff stranger. The offender collapsed hard onto some wooden crates, shattering them. Upon witnessing this, the punk teenager pulled out two knives and tried stabbing the center of Gohan's throat but the weapon was parried out of the offender's grasp. Then Gohan punched the teenager away with excess force, knocking the punk out cold.
All that remained was the short person. Gohan's glare was enough to frighten him.
"Tsk! You'll regret this!" Huffed the little dwarf in anger. He was about to run away until he noticed the buff guy growling as he slowly got onto his feet to realize that his nose was bleeding.
"You little shit! I'll break you in half!" The buff man threatened Gohan as he quickly got back up and went straight for a wide open punch that was easily parried to the side, then Gohan dug his fist deep into the man's stomach, causing the man's eyes to bulge out comically.
Gohan leaned in closer and growled, "I'm having a BAD day! So leave me ALONE!" As he said this, he finished the man off with a roundhouse kick to the face, knocking the offender out cold. All that was left was the fleeing dwarf who witnessed his buddies defeated by a single teenager. The little man ran away as fast as his little legs could take him. Pathetic.
"Hmph!" They most likely mugged Gohan because he seemed defenseless and weak. Now that he's safe, Gohan glanced at his books and walked over to them, only for a girl with sliver hair to appear out of the light and step on the open pages of the history subject.
"NO!" Cried Gohan in frustration. "Don't step on my books!"
The girl yelped in surprise once she realized she accidentally stepped on someone's property by accident.
She stepped back in guilt, "Oh my stars!" She bent down and picked up the books as carefully as she could then quickly handed them back into Gohan's arms. Then she apologised with the most sincere voice Gohan had ever heard in his life.
"I'm so sorry! Really, I am! I'm unsure of how to repay you. Honestly, I am so very sorry but I am in a hurry. I really don't know what I can do for you to make things better but please, accept my apology! I cannot lose the thief!" She stepped back and bowed her head in shame.
Gohan blankly stared for a while before shaking his head to return to his senses.
"It's fine!" Replied Gohan. "I apologize instead. I should have just thrown those books away. As you can see, they're wet and beyond repair." Explained Gohan as he flipped the pages of his book, only for some of them to tear off.
Gohan thought this would make her feel better, but she persisted. "NO! I am sorry! I was pursuing the thief for selfish reasons that I cannot explain. I should have just given up, but because of my selfish persistence, I ruined your books for sure!"
The girl seemed like she was about to cry. Just for stepping on someone's books?
Gohan raised his hands in surrender, "I wont waste anymore of your precious time. I was robbed too, so I understand your situation. Perhaps I'm searching for the very same thief as you are. Plus, I was almost robbed twice just a while ago." Said Gohan as he glanced at the two strangers that he had knocked out.
The girl looked at the bodies and gasped, then she quickly ran to the closest downed offender and got on her knees. Gohan watched in curiosity as the girl placed her delicate hands above the person's nose and emitted a holy light that caused the bleeding to stop.
Gohan watched in amazement at the girl's powers. She wasn't afraid to keep her abilities a secret around people!
'Is it normal to do this around here?' He thought with wonder and amazement.
Any bruises that were on the man had now vanished, reminding Gohan of a similar technique. He pointed at her and said, "Wow, that looks like Dende's Healing Technique!"
The girl remained focused on the injured man, "I'm unsure of this Dende person, but you seem to give them much praise."
"Ah, don't worry about it." Replied Gohan, still holding onto his useless books. "Wait a minute. Why are you healing that man? Aren't you in a hurry?" Asked Gohan with curious amazement.
The girl replied indifferently, "If I help this man, then he'll be forced to repay me with information that I can use."
Gohan raised an eyebrow, "But chances are, he doesn't even know the answer to what you're gonna ask."
She remained indifferent and didn't lose her determination, "That may be the case, but my effort wouldn't be in vain if I am to be rewarded with the knowledge that he knows nothing."
Gohan tilted his head to the side. That didn't make much sense at all.
'This girl is way too kind for her own good.' Thought Gohan, pitying her.
The buff stranger slowly started waking up, his eyes opened to the sight of silver hair. Then he gasped, "What the!"
Gohan immediately made his presence known, "Sory, but can you please listen to what she has to say?"
Eyes wide, the offender complied, "F-fine!" He remembered the beating Gohan had given him and it scared him into acting straight. "W-what do you want?" He asked, half-angry at Gohan.
The girl smiled then asked, "Have you seen a small thief pickpocketing random strangers? She's stolen something very important to me and I need it to be returned. If you know anything about her, please tell me."
The man shook his head as he tried to stand up straight. "I have no clue as to what you're talking about, but I'll make it up to you somehow, for healing my broken nose." And he sent Gohan a glare that meant 'I'll get my revenge.' only for Gohan to send him a similar glare in response.
The man walked past Gohan and approached his knocked out buddy to pick him up and carry him on the shoulder like luggage. Then he vacated the vicinity, wondering where the short one ran off to...
Gohan looked down and sighed, "I'm sorry again."
The girl stood on her feet again and eyed him in curiosity. "For what?"
"I was the one responsible for breaking that man's nose. He was accompanied by two more guys who attacked me, but I should have held back my strength against them. It was irresponsible of me to fight the way I did against weaker opponents." Explained Gohan as he bowed his head.
Gohan looked up to her again and finished, "Because of my actions, you've wasted more of your time by healing that injured man. If I can make it up to you-"
The girl waved her hands in dismay, "N-No. I-it's fine! Really! You were only defending yourself. When one's life is in danger, sometimes irrational responses are the most appropriate to make, if it means it will save your life."
Wow.
'She's seriously too nice for her own good. No matter how many times I try to take the blame, she finds a reason to believe I'm innocent. Just who is this girl?' Thought Gohan, almost blushing at her kindness. He didn't want to see her have to deal with the dangers of the world all alone, so he suddenly felt responsible for her very safety. He wondered if this was why he was brought here? Gohan felt drawn to this female but he didn't know why. She appealed to his human nature very strongly. Perhaps Gohan could accompany her to help find the thief.
Gohan finally suggested teamwork. "Very well. At least allow me to repay your kindness somehow. I think we should both search for the thief together."
The girl was surprised by his response. This was something that she dreaded to hear and she gave him the impression that she didn't want anyone's help.
"A-are you sure? You would accompany me?" She asked, doubtful.
Gohan responded with the famous Son grin. "Hey, two heads are better than one, right? And I have a general idea of where the thief may have went, but it's a rough guess. We'll be more likely to spot her if we both search for her instead of you doing it all alone."
Suddenly, a boyish disembodied voice echoed behind Gohan.
"She's not alone because I'm with her!"
"What?"
Gohan turned around and saw nobody but the broken crates. "Huh?"
"Over here, kiddo!"
Gohan turned around again to see a floating cat about the size of his own hand staring directly at him. The cat was hovering in midair 2ft away from his face. He briefly stared in wonder before asking, "Are you related to Korin?"
The cat's features became confused, "Who's that?"
Gohan shook his head. "Sorry. I'm just saying things." Then he glanced at the silver-haired girl and asked, "Are you both friends?"
The cat posed triumphantly. "I'm more than just her friend. I'm Emi-"
"Puck!" Exclaimed the girl. For some reason, she wouldn't allow the feline to say her full name.
"Let's not waste anymore time. Come and help me find the thief, please." Pleaded the girl, turning around as she motioned for Gohan to come follow her. So Gohan did as he was asked.
He didn't get to hear her full name, so Gohan simply remembered the silver-haired girl as 'Emi.'
[X]
On their journey to find the thief, 'Emi' would sometimes steal glances at the scholar, as if inspecting him. Maybe that's something normal that women do to make sure that the man accompanying them can be trusted. Gohan would respond by smiling innocently to maybe appear trustworthy. But how could a woman trust a stranger who has yet to give their own name?
As he followed closely behind her, Gohan finally broke the silence. "Hey, it would be nice we exchanged names. It would make things easier, you know. So my name is-"
Emi shook her head as she interrupted him, "That won't be necessary because I don't intend to be with you any longer than I need to."
Gohan blinked twice, "Huh?"
The feline faced Gohan with a smirk, "No offense to you kid, but this is her way of being nice to you. You'll never see each other again."
Gohan expressed disappointment with his facial features. Instead of replying out loud, he silently questioned with his thoughts, 'How's that supposed to be nice?'
Thus, both Gohan and Emi remained silent as they continued their search for the thief.
The pain in Gohan's chest had gradually vanished after walking closely with the silver-haired girl. Despite claiming to be in a rush to find the thief, she took her time by patiently asking people around despite frequently being turned away. Some individuals looked at her with a prejudiced gaze. Did they know her? Some individuals would go out of their way just to stay as far away from her as possible. Gohan wondered if she was some sort of celebrity that he didn't know about?
"Hey..." Gohan broke the silence between them. "Why do they act like that when you show up?" Asked Gohan.
The floating cat who was named 'Puck' gave Gohan a curious stare before 'Emi' turned around to respond to him.
"I believe they're just too busy to be bothered." Replied Emi, nonchalantly waving her hand to him.
Gohan shook his head in disagreement. He was observant enough to notice there was indeed something wrong.
"It doesn't seem like that to me. They're purposely avoiding you." Explained Gohan.
Emi's nonchalant demeanor quickly vanished as Puck frowned at him.
The feline fiercely glared at the scholar and despite being small and cute, his glare sent cold shivers down his spine.
"Watch your tone, boy. I could pulverize you into ash and haunt your afterlife for an eternity."
Gohan's posture deflated upon hearing the threat, "S-sorry I won't persist."
"It's fine!" Exclaimed Emi, surprising both Puck and Gohan. "I should have just told him already..."
Gohan's eyes widened.
"What?"
He could only wonder what horrible thing she could have been hiding from him. 'Was she a convicted felon? Is she a deranged psychopath?' He wondered.
Emi motioned for Gohan to follow her to a less crowded place where nobody could witness her so he nervously followed behind her while hugging his books tightly. She took him to a bridge that overlooked a canal of deep waters and then stopped when she knew that only the halfbreed and Puck were present with her. She now turned around to face Gohan with a serious expression adorning her beautiful features. Only now, Gohan had just realized how fair she was in her modest appearance.
The scholar exchanged glances between Puck and Emi while waiting for the dark secret to be revealed. He watched with curiosity when Emi brushed her hair aside to allow Gohan to see her pointy ears.
Gohan's eyes widened in surprise, 'She's an elf? Do elves exist?' He wondered, his expression was the only thing the girl feared from him.
She finally confessed with timidly curling her long hair with her fingers, "I'm a half-elf."
Gohan blankly stared at her with more confusion, "Huh?"
Emi repeated herself louder than before, "I'm a half-elf!" and as she confessed, she shamefully looked away and stared at the deep waters flowing through the canal.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Gohan quickly asked, not knowing the full context behind her confession.
Both Puck and Emi responded with their own confusion aimed towards the halfbreed.
"D-didn't you hear what I said?" Asked Emi as she dumbly pointed a finger at herself. "I'm a half-elf."
Gohan nodded in response, "Yeah, I heard you. But how does being a half-elf corelate to people avoiding your presence?"
Emi was at a loss for words. "I- uh... because of the wi...-" She was about to repeat herself but stopped abruptly. Then she averted her gaze and covered her ears while visibly dumbfounded.
Gohan desperately looked around, trying to avoid the feeling of awkwardness that surrounded the two of them. The floating feline casually rested on a support railing and watched the scene with fascination.
The cat finally spoke, "You're not from around here are ya, kid?" The little feline grinned mischievously.
Scratching the back of his head, Gohan replied, "Not really... You don't happen to know where Orange Star City is, do you?"
Emi finally returned her beautiful gaze to the Saiyan while Puck replied, "Doesn't ring a bell, kiddo."
The halfbreed frowned and his mind was now full of dread. "Where am I exactly? I've never seen this place before."
"No offense, kid. But you'd have to be sleeping under a rock or lived your entire life in the wilderness. That's the only explanation to why you don't know about the Royal Capital of the Dragon Kingdom, Lugnica." Explained the feline with a blunt attitude. "You're standing on Royal grounds as we speak."
Only more and more surprises followed and Gohan couldn't keep up.
Looking down at his books, now dried up of most of the water, Gohan replied, "Well, I do live in the wilderness."
"Really?" Asked Emi as she suddenly got too close to the Saiyan's personal bubble.
"Um..." The saiyan looked away, being shy.
"May I see your hands?" Asked Emi, innocently.
Gohan faced her again and did as he was asked. He gently placed his books onto the pavement next to him and then showed her his two hands only for Emi to grab his left hand with both of hers and then observed his fingers with the eyes of a detective.
She observed while explaining, "You don't seem to be one of the poor, hardworking type. But your muscles are of someone who uses excess force."
Gohan blushed and wanted to comment, but Emi looked at him with curiosity, "Are you a perhaps a discharged knight?"
"A knight?" Asked Gohan, confused again.
Puck exasperated in amusement. "Don't tell me you don't know what a knight is!" Exclaimed the feline while circling the scholar.
Gohan unconsciously pulled away his hand from Emi, hearing her "Eep!"
"I-I do know what a knight is! I just..." Gohan exchanged glances between a bewildered Emi and an amused Puck again, trying to find a logical explanation to use but...
He was clueless.
Gohan's shoulders slumped down and he sighed in desperation, "I'm nowhere near Orange Star City, am I?" He asked, hoping for this prank to end.
"Still doesn't ring a bell, kid. Honestly, I don't think such a city exists here."
I don't think such a city exists here.
Gohan was far away from home.
How did you even end up here?
His past doesn't exist.
Where did you come from?
Gohan isn't allowed to use his powers.
Hello?
He had the keys to his hidden potential, but the doors were hidden from him.
Lugnica to kiddo!
How will he ever-
Splash!
Gohan found himself pushed off the railings of the bridge by a powerful stream of water that sent him falling into the canal. He would have instinctively hovered in mid air but he felt a painful sting on his back because he landed flat into the water.
Gohan screamed while being submerged, his back stinging like he recieved a hard spanking. He took too long to resurface, and remained submerged with his own thoughts. He was trying to make sense of things, but he couldn't. He had his own life going very greatly in the Orange Star High School only for everything to be snatched away by some unknown force.
Whatever it was, he wanted it to show itself so that he may give it a piece of his mind. The halfbreed now remained 5 minutes under the water, causing the girl on the bridge to worry. Gohan realized the girl could have been distressed so it was time to swim up to the surface.
His head resurfaced out of the water and he regained his breath. The first thing he heard was Puck reassuring Emi. There also happened to a be small crowd hat had formed on the side of the canal when Gohan wouldn't return to the surface.
"I told you he was fine. I would have saved him if his life force was in danger." Explained the feline while nodding sagely.
"Don't ever do that again!" Complained the half-elf, already in tears. Despite Gohan was indeed in good health, the silver-haired girl remained tearing up. She thought Gohan may have drowned because of Puck's disregard for humans.
Feeling bad for making her cry, the scholar yelled at them from the water, "It's okay! I forgot most people can't hold their breath for more than 40 seconds. I was just lost in thought. That's all!"
Emi was relieved to hear his voice again but she sent him a glare too. Gohan could only avert his gaze from her fiery amethyst eyes.
"What were you doing down there?!" She demanded with unknown authority.
"I was just gathering my thoughts-"
"Come out of the water, please!" She pleaded while leaning dangerously close to falling herself. Puck then briefly warned her of wat she was doing.
Gohan nodded, "R-Right!"
[X]
In one final effort to find their thief, both halfbreeds unintentionally stumbled upon a lost female child who stood alone among the crowd. She nervously glanced left and right, trying to recognize her parents among the people but to no avail.
Emi glanced at Gohan and he already understood what was on her mind.
"Doesn't that little girl seem lost to you?" Asked Emi, tugging on Gohan's sleeve.
Nodding, the half-saiyan replied, "Yes she does. Do you think we can we help her, somehow?"
Pulling on his shirt, she replied, "Of course! We can't leave her all on her own!" As she said this, she calmly approached the child as non threateningly as possible while dragging Gohan with her.
With hopeful eyes, the child focused on the two people that appeared in front of her but only to realize in disappointment that these two weren't her parents. Emi calmly greeted her with a, "Hi there! Where're your parents?" only for the child respond by bawling her eyes out.
Emi raised her hands non threateningly. "N-No! Please don't cry! It's okay!"
Gohan could only watch in curiosity. He himself didn't know what exactly to do to make the kid feel better but he thought the little girl had a resemblance to someone... But who?
'The apple merchant?'
'THE APPLE MERCHANT!'
An idea formed in the scholar's mind. It was worth a shot.
Gohan crouched down to the child's level and smiled at her as he gain her attention.
"Hi, I think I've seen your father. Is he big and strong and have green hair? Does he sell fresh fruit and own his very own shop?"
The child blankly stared in curiosity until recognizing what the Saiyan was talking about. Her eyes light up and she hugged the scholar, "Yes! That's my daddy!"
Gohan almost lost balance before regaining his footing, "Woah! Personal space, please!"
The kid simply giggled in response.
Emi watched in wonder then broke into close to Gohan's personal bubble. "Wow! Have you met her father already?"
Gohan slowly backed away to regain his personal space while scratching his head in embarrassment.
"Let's just say that I saw the resemblance someone had to this child and took a wild guess."
Emi's smile had vanished.
"Assuming the parent of a lost child is a dangerous thing to do."
"Right. I'll remember that."
[X]
It didn't take long to find the father of the lost child. Gohan's good deed would have left him satisfied if he wasn't immediately tackled to the ground by the apple merchant upon seeing that his daughter was holding the hands of two strangers.
It was too fast for anyone to react and it formed a small crowd pretty quickly. After the moment of confusion passed away, the child pleaded to the parent to spare Gohan for saving her.
[X]
"Sorry for jumping all over ya, broke kid. Please, take two appas. It's the least I can do after what you've done to bring back my kid." Explained the merchant while his kid happily sat on his shoulders. He took two apples (for some reason they're called appas) and handed them to the hungry scholar who happily accepted the offer.
Taking one bite, Gohan asked with a mouthful, "T-Thank you, sir. But there's something I would like to ask."
The merchant nodded, "Ask away, broke kid. Two appas ain't enough to repay what you've done for me."
"Okay, have you seen a short blond girl who's poorly dressed? She can move pretty fast and managed to pickpocket both me and the girl to my side." Explained Gohan, gesturing to Emi who waved 'Hi' in response.
The green-haired merchant nodded, "I see you're talking about Felt. You're gonna have to look in the slums to find her. That's all I know."
"Thank you, sir. You've already done greatly to help us!" Exclaimed Gohan before finishing with a formal bow.
"You sure know how to behave yourself despite being a broke kid. Good luck finding your thief!"
[X]
Now with newfound determination, the couple of halfbreeds explored the slums, asking around as before. Whenever Emi tried asking random people in the ghetto, they would turn her away. But whenever Gohan asked around, he was treated nicely and gained valuable information mostly because his attire seemed dirty after being tackled to the ground not too long ago.
It was now sundown but Gohan had managed to receive the exact information he needed. He formally bowed to the passerby that enlightened him with Felt's location then went on his way to regroup with Emi.
It didn't take long for the scholar to find his way back to Emi who seemed to be waiting for him. She stood under a tree tapping her foot against the ground. As the Saiyan aproached her, he noticed Puck's absence and asked her about it.
"Hey, where's Puck? I don't see him anymore."
Emi shook her head, "He's resting. Puck needs mana in order to maintain a physical form. I would explain, but have you found the thief yet?"
"Yes! She's right this way! But some guy said that we would have to somehow buy or negotiate with someone if we want our things back."
Emi became very displeased with this revelation, "That's not fair! I need it back!"
"Don't worry! If things turn out bad, I'll just force em to return our belongings!" Replied Gohan with his famous Son grin.
She at least faintly smiled at his determination to get their things back.
[X]
"Here it is." Said Gohan as he stared at what seemed like an abandoned warehouse of sorts. Emi stood closely behind him.
He was proud of the accomplishment, but he could have arrived faster with his powers.
Gohan wondered, 'If I could still sense Ki, I'd probably know if our thief is in there to begin with. It's possible that we were thrown off by false information in order to help Felt escape us.'
As Gohan stepped onto the front porch, Emi stopped him before he could make contact with the wooden doors.
He turned his attention back to Emi, "Hm?"
"Thank you, for helping me. If we manage to catch the thief..." She blushed as her words trailed off. She wouldn't finish her sentence.
The scholar raised an eyebrow, "Yes..?"
Emi shook her head, "It's nothing. Let's get our things back." she said with a smile adorning her lips.
With a thumbs up he replied, "Right!" then he placed his books onto the ground then firmly pushed the doors open.
The doors eerily creaked open and the inside of the abandoned structure was far too dark for Gohan to see anything. Each step Gohan took, he heard the wooden floor creak very loudly. Sneaking around would not be an option.
Gohan would have instinctively formed an orb of Ki into his hand to use as a light source but he remembered the awful pain that prevented him from doing the basic things a Saiyan could do. He grunted in frustration when he realized he would need help from someone else.
He looked back to the exit and asked, "Hey, can you hold the doors open for me? I can't see anything in here."
It took a while but Emi responded, "Sure!"
While the scholar waited for Emi to arrive, he felt chills down his spine. He dismissed it as him being nervous for lacking the ability to use Ki until a he noticed a strong scent that should have been obvious by the time he set foot into the warehouse.
Blood.
Sniff, Sniff*
Gohan's head now faced the direction of where he believed the scent to be originating.
He took slow steps towards it but felt himself accidentally bumping onto a table.
"Ouch!" Gohan bent down and rubbed his hip. He seriously felt pathetic now that he couldn't enhance his body with ki, although he remained far stronger than an athlete and he knew he could beat Hercule in a fight about 500 times without rest.
Finally, Gohan heard the doors creak open and the light of the moon filled the dark space.
"Thank you, now we can-" He couldn't finish his sentence because he could only stare in disbelief, "Ah- ah!"
The thief was dead and she lied in a pool of her own blood. Not too far from her, a giant old man with his back against the wall suffered the same bloody fate.
Footsteps echoing outside the exit, Emi asked, "Did you find the- gah!"
A body collaped against the ground right in front of the exit.
The scholar turned around only to become witness to a horrible sight, "Emi?!"
There she lied on the ground with a gaping wound to her neck. Emi was now dead and her blood starting pouring into the wooden planks.
The half-elf wasn't holding the doors open anymore so they quickly shut again, leaving the scholar in the darkness to fend for himself against whatever monster that remained hidden in the shadows.
Gohan felt himself trying to become Super Saiyan only to suddenly collapse with pain in his chest again. There it was again! The feeling of someone's hand playfully crushing his heart!
'Why did it still persist this long?!' Gohan thought he should have been able recover from this condition but he remained the same.
"You saw it, didn't you!" Echoed the voice of an unfamiliar woman in the very same room as him.
"!" He could feel the hairs on his body begin to rise as he gained goosebumps from hearing someone else with him. The woman's voice was silky smooth, yet it filled him with dread.
Suddenly, years of training kicked in and he felt himself unconsciously dodging a slash to the stomach. He nearly bumped into the same table again because he couldn't see a thing inside the warehouse.
"My, what a fine specimen you are! To be able to dodge me in the darkness like that, you must have impressive bowels!"
That voice echoed right behind him.
Gohan tried attacking the mysterious person with a kick but he instead destroyed some unknown wooden furniture in the darkness.
He hurt himself and possible gained a few splinters so his movements would possibly be hindered.
"What a wonderful kick that was! I'm sure it would have ~hurt~ if I've been hit by that."
Gohan grit his teeth in anger and he shouted, "Show yourself!" He was now in a stance.
All he heard was the laughter of what he assumed could have been a beautiful woman capable of catching the attention of any heterosexual man.
He couldn't hear the attacker's movements at all. She was completely invisible and her movements made no audible sound. She was the perfect killer for. The only time the scholar could appropriately respond against her was whenever she attempted to attack him. That was the only way for him to feel her presence.
'Maybe I can take her down if I wait for her to make her next move...' Thought Gohan, hoping his strategy would work in this seemingly hopeless fight.
He felt another attack coming, he couldn't see it, but it was aimed for his throat! It was brief, but he could already envision a person's head in the darkness. He had to take the shot!
"Take this!"
Gohan moved aside as he felt something near-miss him, then he felt his fist hit someone's face. It was a powerful punch that made a similar sound of bones crunching. He had just broken her nose.
A body collapsed onto some unseen furniture and Gohan remained standing and unharmed. 'Did I win?' He wondered.
Not wasting another second, he tried sprinting to where he thought the exit would be, only to suddenly feel himself stepping all over his own bowels. He then slipped onto the wooden planks. Somehow, he didn't feel the pain yet because his mind and body was being fueled by the adrenaline of an uncertain fight. He tried getting up again, only to lose the feeling of both of his arms so his face now collapsed onto the wooden planks. A small beam of light creaking through the door was the only light source he had to confirm that he now had two stumps for arms.
Still, there was no pain yet but he was breathing heavily.
With no other thought in his mind other than to 'ESCAPE' he tried crawling with his legs only to lost the feeling of those too.
He was now becoming light headed and too sleepy. He couldn't even hear the voice of the woman's displeasure with him.
"..."
[X]
"BROKE KID! I TOLD YOU TO BACK OFF!"
"Huh?!" Gohan fell backwards and dropped his books onto the pavement. A small crowd had formed to watch the quarrel. Extreme confusion filled the scholar's mind as he went to pick up his things and stumble on his way out of the crowd of people.
His heart rate was elevated and he began to have a cold sweat. He continued his walking away until straying too close to an alleyway only to end up being pushed into it by two- no, three hoodlums.
He dropped his books and he was dragged to a wall where he heard the same threat again.
"Give up your stuff, or else!"
Of course, the scholar instinctively punched them in the face and made sure they didn't get up again. The buff man collapsed onto some wooden crates while the skinny punk teenager was knocked out cold.
"You guys again!"
The little dwarf simply ran away while shouting curses. Pathetic.
He saw that his history subject was wide open on the ground so he quickly went to pick up his things, only to accidentally bump into Emi. They would have almost kissed each other if Gohan didn't protect his face with his books.
"I'm sorry! I am in a hurry so please, be careful next time!" Yelled Emi as she ran past Gohan in a full sprint managing to leave him in the dust.
"W-what?" He blankly stared as she vacated the vicinity, possibly never to be seen again.
'Wasn't she dead?' He thought in amazement, but it didn't take too long for him to finally come to a conclusion.
"I had a vision of the future!" Exclaimed Gohan in fascination. Then he stopped and became serious. 'Wait, does this mean what I think it means?'
"I have to save her!" Gohan tried ascending to the sky so that he may fly to the warehouse but he was inflicted with the very same pain in his chest again.
He collapsed and clenched his chest, "D-Dammit!" His head was lowered in shame because he couldn't believe his condition would be so severe.
"There he is! The punk that beat down Chin and Ton!"
Gohan turned his attention to the sudden disturbance that entered the alleyway. The little dwarf had brought a gang of seven more thugs with him and he pointed an accusing finger at the scholar. The seven thugs all held sharp and/or blunt objects to use as weapons against the scholar.
'Seriously, so pathetic!' Thought Gohan, now getting onto his feet and getting into his fighting stance. "This didn't happen in my vision." Gohan muttered out loud.
"So he's gonna fight us?"
"What an idiot!"
"You're gonna die today, fool!"
"Go! Get him now!"
The seven thugs all rushed Gohan all at the same time, some of them quickly circled around the scholar to cover his blind spots.
The first one to enter Gohan's personal bubble had their left knee shattered before they could swing their dagger, then the thug was kicked aside so that the next offender may come forth.
A rusty pipe near missed Gohan's head as he tilted to the side with minimal movement before swatting away the weapon and grabbing the thug's arm to use him as a shield for the attacker coming right behind Gohan.
The thug/shield suffered a severe blunt force to the face by a hammer. Bloody teeth were sent flying out of the person's mouth before Gohan pushed him towards the other offenders.
As they stumbled all over each other, Gohan sprinted past two thugs that sneaked behind him so that he may attempt to escape.
He successfully ran past them to quickly pick up his books while they shouted at him, "Coward! Get back here!"
The scholar snickered and shouted back, "Are you guys sure you know who the coward is?" as he ran into a crowd of people. "You're all ganging up on a single person!"
Then he heard someone shout back, "Take it like a man, you little shit!"
As the scholar ran past the surprised crowd, he looked for a high up place he could lose his attackers. If he could somehow parkour over a building, he might just lose them. They didn't seem agile enough to keep up with him anyways.
Bingo!
He saw a three-story-building that had fancy balcony windows that were firmly supported by thick railings below and on them. The railings seemed sturdy enough to support the weight of a person so it was worth a shot. He didn't wish to discard his books, so he decided to use a single arm for this dangerous stunt.
With his books firmly hugged by his left arm, Gohan ran towards the tall structure and proceeded to run on the walls and jumped as high as he could until he managed to grab onto the railings of the first floor balcony with his right arm. Hearing the thugs too close to him, he quickened his pace and climbed the railings until needing to jump onto the second floor balcony. He could only use one arm to hang on for dear life.
This action had caught the attention of some bystanders and slowly, people had stopped what they were doing to watch what would happen.
"What's he doing?"
"He might fall!"
"What's going on?"
"Look, up there!"
The thugs that followed him below realized the amount of attention they would get if they persisted, so they quickly mixed into the crowd to vanish among them.
Yet, Gohan continued climbing and soon reached the very top of the structure. He now found himself grabbing onto the bricks for dear life because the roof was designed in a fancy triangular shape.
His breathing was heavy and his heartrate was elevated. Heights normally wouldn't scare the halfbreed, but he couldn't fly and he didn't know if he would survive falling back down. He indeed summoned quite the crowd of people who thought the scholar might be attempting suicide.
He could briefly hear among the voices below, "Don't do it!" or "You have much to live for!"
"Great, now how do I get back down?" Gohan wondered out loud.
"You aren't planning to jump, are you?" Asked a voice behind the scholar.
"Ah!" He nearly slipped when he turned around only for someone to grab onto his right hand to make sure he wouldn't fall down and die in front of a crowd.
"Easy there!" Said a red-haired young man who was dressed in white uniform, sporting a fancy sword to his side.
Gohan nervously looked him in the eye, "I-I wasn't going to jump!"
"It's okay." Replied the red-haired young man. "I'll help you back onto the ground. Just stay with me."
The scholar nodded in obedience. For some reason, the presence of the this red-haired stranger made Gohan's worries vanish completely. Like he could share his secrets with him and not fear any retaliation or betrayal. The charismatic smile of the stranger had sold the impression of 'Good guy very well.'
The stranger wouldn't release his firm grip on the scholar's hand and motioned for him to come closer.
"Can I not be too close?" Asked Gohan, uncomfortable with the amount of eyes that watched him.
"I'm afraid you'll need to be as close as possible if you want to survive." Explained the red-haired stranger as he picked up the scholar in a bridal motion, much to the halfbreed's disgust.
"What the!?"
"Do not try to struggle or this will become very unpleasant for the both of us."
"R-Right! Sorry!"
"Thank you for understanding. Now... I'm going to jump back down."
"What?!"
Without further warning, the red-haired jumped down to the sound of cheering below.
'Why are they cheering?' Gohan wondered. 'Are they crazy too?!"
Somehow, the fall was much slower than Gohan would have thought and the landing was pretty soft too. The red-haired stranger finally allowed the scholar to stand on his own two feet again. Then he was met with the sight of two knights in silver armor grabbing onto this arms and shoving his books onto the ground.
"Woah! My books!"
'You're under arrest for trespassing onto Noble's a property!' Explained the knight that firmly held Gohan's right arm and shoulder.
"But I was being pursued by thugs!" Protested Gohan as he was being dragged away.
"Shut it!" Shouted the knight to his left.
"It's not fair!"
Then he was met with silence and they would no longer respond to him because they've already made up their minds.
Gohan knew he could easily break free and escape the law. And he felt he was strong enough to take them down, but following the rules and the law of the land was something the scholar was taught to do. He really didn't was to serve an unjust sentence in prison but had no choice but to listen!
His shoulders slumped downwards as he allowed himself to be taken away. But he suddenly remembered the gruesome images of Emi's death inside of the warehouse.
'No! I cannot allow that to happen! I must save her!' He was now moments away from resisting arrest until the two knights suddenly stopped in place.
"?"
'What's happening?' Thought Gohan, visibly confused to why they've stopped.
He saw the red-haired stranger whisper something to the side of the knights and they glanced at each other before nodding. Suddenly, they released their firm hold on the scholar and allowed him to be free.
"Don't get into trouble, kid!" Said the knight to his right before they both casually walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
Gohan turned his attention to the red-haired stranger and saw him smirk before turning around to walk away.
Not knowing what the heck just happened, he remembered that Emi was in danger of being killed by the mysterious woman, so he looked for his books and picked them up before going for a full sprint towards the slums.
He had to make sure he didn't waste too much time with these frequent distractions. He HAD to save the halfbreed female no matter the cost!
I can only upload whenever I have time because I am a correctional student and lack the time to slack off in the academy. So sorry if I don't ever update this again. Someone could always make a better story than me. I'll happily read theirs when I'm on break.