Author note: Jester Fraser. Thanks a lot for your reviews. They mean a lot. Yes
London is a long way from Japan, and not to mention he's in a different
timeline, oh well. Hope you like this chapter.
Chapter 3: Dragonballs…..and stealing!
Real time, Japan.
"So you see, Krillen, the tornado just swallowed Gohan up and I lost all sense of him." Goku explained, his voice full of dejection, as he told his best friend what had happened to his only son.
Krillen stared at Goku, disbelief spread across his features. His mouth opened and shut, like a fish, as he tried to find the right words to say to his life long friend. Then his eyes brightened up and he said,
"Why don't you use the dragonballs and wish him back here."
Goku's face brightened up to match his friend's.
"Your right, Krillen! I'll go and get the dragon radar from Bulma, and go and find them all."
With that Goku instant translocated to Bulma's house, feeling a lot happier.
London, 1900.
Gohan woke up with a jolt. He'd done that a lot during the night, but this time it was properly morning. He'd had a dream about how his mother and father were just getting on with life and were forgetting about him. He knew this wouldn't be the case, but it still terrified him.
"Hey, kid! Your finally awake."
It was the boy that had had the newspaper last night.
"Er, good morning." Gohan said, sleepily.
"Come on! We gotta go get some food." The boy ordered in reply.
Gohan pulled himself to his feet and followed, rubbing his sleepy eyes as he walked.
As they descended the drainpipe, the boy shouted up to him.
"By the way, I'm William, but you can call me Will."
"Okay." Gohan managed a reply as he concentrated on getting safely to the floor.
When they reached the bottom, Will motioned for Gohan to follow him down a narrow alleyway. He looked down it, uncertainly. It was very dark. He put his brave face on again and followed Will into the dingy beyond.
The alley was lined with gutters either side. They were of muddy water, as Gohan found out when he got a foot full.
"Yuck!" Gohan shook his soggy foot.
"Oh yeah. Um watch the gutters, Gohan." William warned, a bit too late.
As they made it to the other side of the long, dark alleyway, the first thing that hit Gohan was the blinding light of the October sun. As his eyes adjusted, he saw a huge market place, bustling with people.
Gohan followed Will down one of the aisles in the huge market. The stalls were full of fruit and veg.
"The roof-top gang has to separate into twos to get breakfast." Will explained, quietly to Gohan.
"Oh, and, er, how do you get breakfast?" Gohan asked, hoping he wouldn't hear the answer he predicted.
"Watch and learn, kid." The scruffy but handsome teenager replied.
Will moved in step with the moving crowd. Gohan watched, carefully, as Will became one with everybody else. His eyes widened as Will's hand whipped like lightening, across a fruit stall, gripped an apple and then vanished into the crowd again. Gohan quickly surveyed all the bystanders; no one appeared to have seen. Will suddenly tapped his shoulder, Gohan spun round. Will stood there, coolly taking a bite out of his stolen apple. Gohan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Real time, Japan.
Goku appeared in Capsule Corp in an instant. Bulma looked up from her computer, startled.
"Oh, it's you Goku." She said, relieved. "What can I do for you?"
"I need to borrow the dragon radar please, Bulma." Goku replied, his face very serious once again.
"Oh okay, sure." Bulma said, a confused expression in her eyes. "What's wrong, Goku?"
"Sorry Bulma. No time to explain." Goku said hurriedly, accepting the radar. "Thanks for this, Bulma."
Goku waved the radar at her and then instant translocated away.
London, 1900.
"So you see, Gohan, stealing's the only way for us to survive, if we don't want to go to the workhouse."
Gohan looked at Will, still very unsure. Stealing was a bad thing to do. His mom said even begging was better than stealing. The thought of his mother forced Gohan to blink back a tear.
The problem was, Gohan was starving. He couldn't have eaten for 20 hours now, and being a saiyan, eating was a big priority.
"So! What are ya gonna do, Gohan? The workhouse is a hell no. I've heard they make kids eat raw mice. I'd rather die than go there."
Will looked expectantly at the small boy, stuck in his morale decision. Gohan slowly looked up.
"Okay. I'll do it. I'll steal an apple."
Will clapped Gohan on the back.
"Good boy. Follow me."
They walked down the same market aisle. Will leading Gohan, whose head drooped, dejectedly.
"Now, just do as I showed you and you'll be fine." Will whispered in Gohan's ear.
Gohan took a deep breath and moved into the crowd. He felt hot, and claustrophobic, the crowd closed in around him. The stall felt light years away. He tried to keep his expressions neutral and look as inconspicuous as possible. This couldn't be hard, could it? His stomach growled, making him move to his target stall faster.
Before he knew it he was walking past the stall. He raised his hand, seized an apple and quickly brought his hand down to his side. He then, as casually as he could manage, doubled back and rejoined Will.
"That was really well done." Will applauded, quietly.
Gohan lowered his head once more. He felt so ashamed and Will was just singing his praises.
They left the market, both boys munching their apples.
"Cor, you're a really fast learner, Gohan." Will complimented. "Not even Jack could have been that smooth on his first go."
"Oh." Gohan replied. He didn't like Will going on about it. He felt so ashamed.
Will gave Gohan a side-ways glance, took his expression for embarrassment and carried on walking.
The drainpipe seemed to appear much sooner than Gohan thought it would. As they ascended, Will asked Gohan how long he'd been in London.
"Not long." Gohan replied, truefully, as he carefully climbed the slowly rotting pipe.
"When did you learn English? Will asked, looking slightly confused.
Gohan thought fast.
"I've lived in England most my life. My family migrated here when I was four."
Gohan squeezed his hand into a fist. He hated to lie so deliberately.
"Oh! Um, where'd you live before this?" Will asked, as he levered himself onto the rooftop.
Gohan quickly racked his brains, trying to remember another city in England. His mom had made him copy the British Isles down once, when he was studying, but that seemed like a lifetime ago.
A city came to him as he joined Will on the rooftop.
"I lived in Birmingham." Gohan said finally.
Will was about to further his friendly interrogation, when he was interrupted by Jack.
"How did it go?" He asked, nodding slightly towards Gohan.
"Really well! The kid's a natural." Will replied, enthusiastically to the older boy.
Gohan blushed and looked down at his feet. For some reason he felt really shy in front of Jack today, and the reminder of what he'd just done brought the shameful expression back into his black eyes.
"Nice one, Gohan!" Jack said, clapping the boy on the back. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the gang."
Gohan followed Jack to meet the younger members of the gang.
Author Note: Well there you are chapter 3 is up. I hope you like it. Chapter 4 will be
along soon. Read and review, please.
