Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, or My Hero Academia. Enjoy.
Chapter 28: Homebound
The males of Class 1-A relaxed in the steaming water of the hot springs. "Man, this is great!" Kirishima said.
"Tell me about it…" Gohan followed.
"Yeah…" Midoriya said. Bakugo, Tokoyami, Sero, and Koji decided to skip the hot springs and went straight to bed earlier that evening.
"I'm surprised you were able to jump in right away, Todoroki." Kirishima told him.
"I've built up a high tolerance for heat because of my flames." He explained as Gohan splashed him.
"I'm surprised you didn't think of that, Eijiro." Gohan told him as he laughed. "How are you doing over there, Mineta?" He asked, splashing some water onto his classmate.
"This is mutiny! How could you guys do this to me! Absolute betrayal of brotherhood!" He yelled. After what had happened during the Summer, Hagakure slid Gohan a note asking for the boys to tie up Mineta. With a secure knot and a bathing pale as a makeshift boat, he floated about the hot springs listlessly.
"This is a punishment befitting of your deplorable actions, Mineta!" Iida had chimed in, no doubt especially heated over the incident that took place the last time that the boys shared a soak in the hot springs.
"Walls were meant to be climbed! You can't do this to me!" He claimed as Kaminari couldn't help but laugh.
As loud as the boys were being, the girls must have overheard them, because Sato could just barely hear their congregation of laughs and giggles from the other side of the tall oak wall. "How are you feeling, Eijiro?"
"Haha, it feels like I was on the road of a fifteen car pileup!" Kirishima said with a chuckle. "Ow…"
"Yeah… Even when Gohan holds back, he still hits way too hard." Midoriya continued, sinking into the water until the lower half of his head was submerged. "I'm surprised Kacchan wouldn't come out…" He said through the bubbling of the water.
"Gohan probably knocked some sense into him." Kaminari said, scratching the back of his head. "Might have finally made him realize how strong he is."
"I tried holding back as much as I could…" Gohan said as he sunk into the steaming water as well. By the time another hour passed, Gohan, Todoroki, and Kaminari were now left behind. As the three stood to leave the bath, Gohan realized that the bundle of energies nearby had reduced to one faint reading. Looking to the wall, he found himself in his thoughts. It feels like Hagakure is still over there. I wonder why she decided to stay behind. He thought as he brushed his hand over his head. Man, I'm feeling a little light-headed. I've been soaking for too long. As he dragged his feet through the water and stepped onto the decorative wood flooring, he stopped, turning around as he thought he caught the sound of a blocked sneeze. Before he allowed himself to get the wrong idea, he quickly grabbed the towel that had been resting on the shelf near the bath and covered his exposed rear end. Stopping by the clothes shelf near the entrance, Gohan donned the yukata provided to them for post-bathing, and quickly walked back to his room.
Now left alone, Hagakure took several deep breaths. "I thought my heart stopped beating! I can't believe I let myself do something so reckless and perverted!" She shouted to herself as she swiftly made an embarrassed escape.
The following morning, the class was escorted to the dinosaur exhibit up the mountain, where Aizawa explained the situation to the staff. "So, with all due respect, it's very important to my students that we go off the trail. The trip was at no cost to us, so I don't want you to feel as if you have to be persuaded by guilt for not letting us pass."
The man, wearing khaki shorts and a pink collared shirt with a silhouetted T-Rex, leaned over and held his chin, staring intently at Gohan. "Wait a minute!" He said with a face full of shock. "Is your name 'Son' by chance?!"
"Yes, Sir. Gohan Son, but I'd preferred to be called 'Gohan'." He explained with a smile.
"Of course, Gohan!" The man said, spreading his arms as if he'd wrap them around Gohan at a moment's notice. "Any friends of the Son family are free to visit the side trails we set up for Mrs. Son. I bet you didn't know this, Gohan, but whenever Goten wanders too far, we keep an eye on him till he's ready to head home." The tall man pointed to himself using his thumb, smiling proudly.
"Well, thank you! And I'm sorry for any inconveniences he may have caused!" With his bow, the man just waved his hand.
"No need for all that! We hear enough of it from your mother, and it's always misplaced! The kid's great to be around and helps the younger ones that visit be braver around the dino's. We should be thanking you, really." He told him, scratching the back of his neck. "But anyway, it really shouldn't be an issue at all. Just stay together, alright?"
"Your understanding is appreciated." Aizawa told him. "Come on." He said, gesturing for Class 1A to follow closely behind him. "Gohan," he said, catching the Saiyan's attention. "Lead the way."
As prompted, Gohan began to walk in front of his class, a wide smile across his face. The class walked for roughly ten minutes up the winding mountain trail. "Mr. Aizawa, what happened to Ms. Kyoka?" Uraraka asked as their teacher began gritting his teeth.
"Ms. Kyoka allowed herself to oversleep after drinking too much. Ill make sure to have a talk with her when I get back." He spoke through his teeth.
"Wow! Look at that!" Sero called out as they passed a triceratops. As it stomped its large feet, Class 1A could see a second one right behind it.
"Good morning!"The woman by their fence said. "Make sure you all enjoy the sights!" She said, waving towards them.
"I can't believe it! It's a stegosaurus!" Kirishima pointed out.
"Hey! Aren't you guys from UA?!" A taller woman asked. Looking over, everyone could see an excited smile beneath a pair of blue eyes, and a head of blond, feathered hair. As they gathered around, her name tag read 'Nakamura,' and she wore the same pink collar and khaki shorts as the previously-seen staff.
"That's correct." Aizawa told her.
With a nod, she smiled. "I could tell just by the look of your uniforms." She said, pointing her finger. "I myself am a UA Alumni, as well! The name's Yuki Nakamura, but my friends normally call me Yumura."
"She's like an angel…" Kaminari praised with a swoon.
"Straight from the heavens…" Mineta chimed in agreement.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, but we should really get going." Aizawa said as he made an attempt to rush the class along. Although he found Aizawa to be shifty all of a sudden, Gohan continued to lead the class along the trail before suddenly hopping the fence separating them from the trees.
"It's just this way, everyone!" Gohan told them as the scene around him began to grow more and more familiar. It was about two-and-a-half hours further up the mountain until finally, Class 1A approached a clearing, and just ahead was a dome-shaped house, with a more traditional home structure built around it, only familiar to Gohan. "I'm home…"
"Gohan, this is where you stay?" Midoriya asked.
"Man, all the way out here in the mountains? There's no form of service whatsoever!" Kaminari said, looking down at his phone.
"Man, this blows." Mineta told him as an array of capture tape tightened around him.
"Mineta. I'm sure you're old enough by this point to understand what it means to respect your peers. Am I correct?" Aizawa growled as his eyes stared coldly into Mineta's very being.
"Y-Y-Yes, Sir!" He barely managed to get out before his teacher released him.
Gohan and Class 1A approached the home. As they got closer, Gohan felt his smile grow wider. As he finally reached the door, and reached out, he knocked lightly. Several minutes passed before the door finally opened, and an all-too-familiar woman with black hair answered the door. Seeing her face, a sudden warmth filled his chest. It's been a few months since he's moved into Heights Alliance, and the whole time he missed his mother. Her smile, and her cooking, and her laugh. "Oh, Gohan!" She said with delight, no doubt full of joy. Turning to the only other people she recognized, she looked over to Midoriya and Aizawa. "You're…Izuku, right? And you're Gohan's teacher." As she realized, she clapped her hands together with glee. "You must be Gohan's class! I'm so happy to meet you all!"
"Good morning, Mrs. Son. I'm sorry to arrive unannounced, but I didn't have any way of contacting you, and Gohan assured me that, against my better judgement, no matter what you'd be alright with us arriving so suddenly." He explained apologetically.
"No no, it's absolutely fine! Let me tell you, the house has stayed a lot cleaner and emptier without my husband and oldest son around. Please, please, everyone come inside!" She said, gesturing her arms through the door as the class filed in. "I'll start putting something together for everyone, so please find some way to get comfortable. Unfortunately I don't have the same capacity of seating as I used to!"
"Mrs. Son, you don't have to be so gracious as to cook for my class." Mr. Aizawa told her, holding a hand out in front of him.
"Nonsense, Gohan used to eat almost as much as that whole class could! Ever since he left, I'm afraid that I've been buying more ingredients than needed out of habit. If I don't cook for them, it'd all go to waste anyway." She said with a wide smile on her face. "Besides, ever since my husband passed, my living room has never been so full. It's actually quite refreshing."
While ChiChi and Aizawa continued, Class 1A began to comply with her wishes. Just as he had remembered, Gohan saw the oval table his mother had, centered between two three-seat couches on either side and a loveseat behind it. Gohan, Midoriya, Mineta, Koda, and Aoyama all sat on the floor around the table while Asui, Uraraka, Sero sat on the right couch with Iida, Todoroki, and Sato stood behind them. Behind the left couch, Kirishima stood behind Jiro, Kaminai, and Yaoyorozu, while Bakugo stood off in the corner. On the loveseat was Hagakure and Ashido, with Tokoyami and Shoji behind them. As ChiChi began to cook, striking up a conversation with Aizawa about the dinosaur tamers who moved into the area, a young boy emerged to join the class in the living room.
"Gohan!" Gohan looked over to see his little brother, who hasn't seen him since the Sports Festival, and jumped to his feet, picking him up in his arms.
"Hey Goten! Man, you look like you grew twenty feet since I last saw you! You're getting too big now!" He told him with a smile, holding him into the air.
"You're silly! No I haven't, Gohan!" He told him as his brother held him to his chest.
"Gohan! He's so adorable!" Ashido shouted as all the girls began to swarm them.
"He reminds me of my own little brother. Ribbit." Asui told him with a smile.
"Goten, these are my friends." Gohan introduced. "Everyone, this is my little brother, Goten!"
"It's so nice to meet you! I'm Toru!" Hagakure introduced.
"Call me Mina, then!" Ashido continued.
"My closest friends call me Denki, little man." Kaminari told him, standing behind the crowd of girls.
As everyone began to crowd even further, Gohan had to use Instant Transmission to appear in the kitchen. "Gohan?" His mother said.
"Hehe… It smells great, Mom!" He told her before returning to the living room, having caught a small glimpse of Aizawa in one of his mother's aprons. "Hey, if it's ok, everyone, please try not to crowd him." With those words, everyone could now see that Goten had partly buried his face in the plain blue shirt that he was approved to wear, since everyone was allowed to wear some casual clothes for the hike. "Don't forget, he rarely gets to be around so many people at one time. Especially when he's the center of attention like this. Give him a minute to open up." Wth Gohan's smile, it was clear just how happy he was to be home.
"We're sorry, Gohan. We didn't mean to spook him." Uraraka apologized with a bow, along with the other's who had previously crowded Goten.
As an exercise, Gohan put his younger brother on the floor, and told him to go up to one student to introduce himself to. After looking around, he went up to Midoriya. "Mr, I saw you at the place where Gohan fought. It's nice to meet you!"
"It's nice to meet you, too, Goten. My name is Izuku, but you can call me Deku." He said with a smile.
"Ok, Mr. Deku!" With that second encounter with Midoriya, Goten began to introduce himself to each person in Gohan's class, all while ChiChi prepared lunch with Aizawa, who was somehow talked into helping out.