Crack of Dawn

By: blitz_ace312

Note: Just a short skit of the Gaiden Scene.


"ME!? Konzen Douji?! A guardian!?!? Are you out of your mind, woman!??! LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!!!" a hand briskly slammed on the desk and a very calm Kanzeon Botatsu stared at her nephew who had a huge black streak across his forehead, running down to his nose, down to his neck and splattered in a huge blotch across his shirt-front. On his other hand, however was a meek little boy who bit his lip the entire time, staring nervously at Konzen who looked like he was going to blow it any minute now.

"K-konzen... go-gomen nasai..." the boy's lip trembled as he spoke, trying hard not to cry in front of the two in the room. Konzen's anger melted at the sight of the small tears brimming out of the boy's eyes. "Gomen nasai.." Goku's gaze fell on the floor as he sniffed once and twice. "........Go to your room and wash up..." Konzen placed his hand on the boy's shoulder assuringly. "Eh?" Goku looked up in question. "You've got ink all over you. We'll clean up the mess tomorrow." Konzen shifted his gaze way as not to show weakness in front of his own aunt or to anyone for that matter. "H-hai!" a smile crept across the little boy's features as he picked up his feet and ran off.

Then, Konzen turned back to the older woman who had a plastered grin on her face. "You were saying...?" ".......You can't possibly entrust me with this responsibility! I've got pressing matters to attend to! And you keep giving me more work to do, how do you expect me to do everything!?" Konzen cleared his throat. "So do you mean to tell me that you don't want to take care of Goku as his guardian?" she gave him a challenging gaze. Konzen returned an even gaze. "It's not that I mind, but the least you could do was give me less work. Besides, the saru keeps messing up my papers and ink. You've given me a lot of trouble... I haven't had the slightest bit of peace ever since you handed him down to me!" then with a soft voice he added, "Then again... he always does his share of chores..." An image of little Goku sweeping up his own messes came to Konzen's mind, changing the flowers on his desk everyday and such. "What are you mumbling about?" Kanzeon interrupted his trail of thought.

"Nothing. Never mind. I'm going back to my room," Konzen grunted as he stood up to leave. "Oh! By the way, here are a couple of things for you to do... it's not that hard..." Kanzeon reached down under her desk and pulled out a stack of papers, still holding the wistful smile.

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Late at night, Goku woke up with a yawn. He scratched the back of his head as he sniffed the night air. He checked outside the window only to find out that dawn had not yet shown her face. "Too... early..." little Goku rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up in the darkness. A low growling sound echoed in the room and reached Goku's ears. He slightly jumped as he held the blanket over his head. "W-what was that? W-who's there?" he glanced around the room, seeing no one. The hair at the back of his neck rose slightly as his heart thumped in his chest. There was no answer. The sound was heard again, even louder this time as if it were close, so close. Goku clutched the covers around him tighter. //No... musn't... be afraid... Help...// he hugged himself tighter, hoping whatever it was in the darkness would leave him alone, or it was just all his imagination. He shut his eyes tight and hoped this was nothing but a bad dream. //It might be some bad animal who came in my window...// Goku tried to think of any rational explanation to break his fear or at least comfort him.

The growl in the darkness grew even louder than before. Goku couldn't take it anymore. He flung the bedcovers to the side and pulled the door open swiftly and banged to Konzen's door. "KONZEN! KONZEN! KONZEN!!! WAAAAHH!!! OPEN THE DOOR!!!!!"

Raising his head from the papers, a loud banging was heard outside. "What the...?" he walked over and flung the doors wide open then something brown jumped right at him and clung to his waist. "It's after me! It's after me!!" Goku sobbed hysterically as his head was buried on his shirt-front. "Calm down! Calm down!!" Konzen tried his best to soothe the trembling boy down.

"Now... what happened?" Goku stepped back as Konzen closed the door and sat across him. "I...I was in my room... and.. and then, there was this sound. It sounded like a WILD animal or ..... a youkai!! And it was going towards me and... it was GONNA EAT ME!!!!" Goku covered his face with his hands. "A monster huh? We'll see about that..." Konzen led the boy into his room by hand and opened the doors. "I don't see anything." Konzen said as he scanned the room for any suspects. There was no strange aura or dangerous air about. All was peaceful. "You were just imagining things.."

"Nuh-uh! I heard it! Three times!" Goku held out three fingers. All of a sudden, the room echoed with a loud sound. So loud that Konzen had to inevitably step back. "What was that?" "I told you! I told you so!" Goku squealed, clenching onto Konzen's arm. "Ssshh... I'll find where its coming from..." Konzen stood in a defensive stance as he glanced around, challenging whatever it is in the darkness to show itself. It wasn't easy, especially with a whimpering Goku permanently attatched to his arm. "Goku!" Konzen snapped but the boy refused to budge, it was as if his feet weighed tons. "It might come from behind me!" "Move! SARU!" his voice split the room. "NO! I want to go back! I want to go back! Waaah!!!" Goku rushed back to the door, trying to claw it open. Konzen grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground. "SSH!!!" he hissed in the boy's ear.

All of a sudden, the noise was even louder than before. Goku made a sharp gasp as he struggled to move away from Konzen's grasp. Konzen made a dead stop as a sudden realization hit him, more like slapped him right in the face. "It's here! It's here!! Put me down!" "Saru... is THIS the one making all the noise?" Konzen glared at him, pointing at the lower region of his body, referablly his stomach. "Eh?" Goku's eyes grew wide and the sound rumbled again. A blush crept on Goku's cheeks, "Ops.. ehehe..."

A glass of milk was on Goku's lap as he finished sipping its contents. The warm liquid slipped down his throat easily and it settled in his stomach, calming him down. Konzen sighed as he returned back to his papers, peaceful at last, at least that's what he thought. The next thing he knew he saw little Goku, fast asleep on the floor, curled up in a tight ball with a slight smile on his face, full of contentment. "Saru..." the older man shook his head as he fixed the first half of the papers and tucked them into the drawer. The second half was on his desk. "Shit... how am I ever gonna get any sleep?" Konzen tapped his inkbottle with his pen and looked outside. It was already dark and a light breeze hit the room. Konzen stood up momentarily and walked towards his bed. Taking out a blanket, he placed it over the shivering Goku on the floor. Deciding on moving him to his own room later after he finished his work. Then, he returned to his desk. With one arm propped against his head he tried his best to stay awake and finish the last of his papers.

Konzen's eyes drooped down a little before he shook his head to wake up. Then, his head leaned its weight on his arm and his eyes slowly closed......

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"Goku..."
"Goku......"
"Goku... time to wake up..."

Golden eyes slowly fluttered open and came almost face-to-face with a familar face and a wide smile. "Good morning~!" "Ten-chan?" Goku sat up, rubbing his eyes. "You must have tired out poor Konzen-san." Tenpou said as he glanced at the sleeping man with his face resting on the desk table. "He needs his rest. He must have fallen asleep while finishing his work..." Without being told, Goku jumped to the opposite of Tenpou and helped him by propping one of Konzen's arms over his shoulder while the brunette did the same. Konzen must have been in deep sleep not being able to notice what they were doing or even stirring up to wakefulness. The two laid him on his own bed and tucked him in. Tenpou dusted his hands and took a look at Goku. "Say, Goku. Why don't we get breakfast and let Konzen-san sleep?"

"Okay!"

Goku quickly ran out of the room excitedly. "Hn... very energetic boy you have here, Konzen." Tenpou chuckled as he shook his head. "Get some good sleep and maybe you might be able to finish your work by the time you wake up." A grunt escaped the sleeping form of the blonde nephew of Kanzeon.

"Ten-chan!!!!" came a yell from the hallways. "Aa. Coming Goku... Saa.. oyasumi nasai, Konzen." Tenpou smiled before closing the door behind him slowly as careful as not to wake the slumbering Konzen...

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A certain red-headed general of the West Army whistled a tune as he walked past the hallways. It was a perfectly good day as usual in Heaven and there didn't seem to be any trouble. 'Boring...' Kenren scoffed to himself. There was never any excitement around and there was nothing to do which usually meant a good thing for him but too much peace was getting on his nerves. "There's gotta be something interesting around here!" he yelled out, causing a few servants to jump back. "Yarou..." just then, he heard the clashing of plates coming from the dining hall. "Eh?" partially curious, Kenren peeped into the room only to be greeted by a huge bowl of noodles that had cracked as soon as it hit him and the noodle spilled onto his hair and clothes. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?!?"

The three figures in the room froze as they saw him. One of them, a small boy with a plate full of what looked like stew, ready to throw it to another boy in the middle who he recognized as Prince Nataku and the one drenched in the most stains and the dirtiest of the bunch who crept out of the mess and grinned sheepishly, taking off his glasses to wipe the sauce and stuff off them. "Ohayo, Kenren." "Tenpou?" the red-head arched an eyebrow at the BIG mess in the dining hall. Prince Nataku and Goku put down all the food stuff they had and sat down still muffling giggles. "WHO threw that?" Kenren glared at the three pointing at his stained clothes. Immediately Nataku's arm shot out and pointed right at Goku, who in turn pointed it right back at the prince.

Kenren took some of the noodle from his shoulders. "YOU TWO WILL PAY!!!!" he made a mad jump at the two and pinned them to the ground, still holding the noodles in his hands he smothered it on the two. "FOOD FIGHT!!!!!!!!" Goku announced as he and Nataku knocked Kenren off the two of them and they began to grab at anything that looked like food and threw it right at each other. Tenpou ducked and a piece of chicken missed him. He found security under the table.

Kenren grabbed Goku and put him into a headlock. "WHOPS!" he overturned a bowl of salad and dunked it in Goku's hair. He let out a triumphant yell as he ruffled the boy's mussed up hair. "That'll teach ya!"

"YAAAAA!" a loud war-cry was heard as something knocked both Kenren and Goku to the ground and Nataku was on Kenren's back. "HA! Take that, YOU!" Nataku and Goku hi-fived.

"Two little shrimps against me! That is so unfair!" Kenren grabbed two pies from the table and while the two were laughing it out, he shoved it right in both their faces abruptly ending their laughter.

Now it was Kenren's turn to laugh but he lost his balance as he stepped on some slippery substance on the floor and fell right on his butt. The three looked at each other, then, burst out laughing so hard.

"I believe we're missing someone....?" Kenren stopped laughing and gave a serious expression, one with a crafty smile embedded on his face. Goku and Nataku looked at each other and shrugged. Then, the realization hit them and they too giggled in mischief. "Ready boys?" Kenren rubbed his hands together.

"Ready!"

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Tenpou heard silence. 'Is it safe to go out?' he wondered. Sweat beaded his brow mixed with a slight anxiety and suspicion. The silence lengthened. He found himself asking himself once more. 'Should I go out? Is the coast clear?' What would a military tactician like Tenpou Gensui do? In these circumstances when his so-called opponents are different from the ones he has faced before. They are much trickier and could surprise even him. He cautiously peeked from the tablecloth to find no one except the big mess on the floor. He sighed to his relief and crawled out of the security of the table.

"NOW!!!!!!!!!!!"

and before Tenpou knew it he was bombarded by his opponent's attack and wrath. By the time they were done with him, Tenpou got up from the mess on the floor. The other three had laughed together and hi-fived each other. "Now it's MY turn!" Tenpou took something murky from a bowl and lashed it out at the three who were defenseless at the sudden surprise attack. "Gack!" Goku wiped it off his face and licked his lips. "Sweet," Kenren commented as he tasted the substance on his own face. Suddenly, they heard footsteps outside. "Uh-oh." the four chorused.

"I must go now," Nataku said as he stood up and rushed out the opposite direction. Swiftly escaping stealthily through the back door which led to the kitchen.

The doors burst open before the other three could make a move. Stood by the doorstep was the great kami-sama and his followers who gasped at the sight of the dining hall......

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Grumbling as he got up, Konzen noticed that he was in his bed. 'The last thing I remember is working....' then, Konzen realized what had happened. "Shit! I better finish up!" he threw the covers out of the bed and took out the remaining half of his papers and suddenly noticing that it had already been finished. 'Must be Tenpou and Goku...' he shook his head as he signed his signatures on those required by some. He fixed the papers and was ready to hand them back to Kanzeon-Botatsu. 'Speaking of which... I haven't had breakfast yet..' he thought glumly.

All of a sudden, the doors burst open and Kanzeon Botatsu herself was standing in her nephew's doorway. "Well, well... done with work I see? Good boy! I knew you were up to the task." she patted the top of the pile. In response, Konzen muttered something under his breath which was inaudible. Then, before she left, she turned back to her nephew.


"By the way. Kami-sama wants to see you in the throne room right now...."


~End

Author's Notes: What do ya think? Let me know. Please leave reviews. Comments, flames, suggestions, anything.... Sank-yu for taking your precious time and reading this little fic. ^__^