A/N: Sorry Jester, dream meant nothing really. I just felt like adding it
at the end.
Thanks for all reviews, here's next chapter. Enjoy.
Oh yeah, sorry for the dodgy chapter title. I ran out of ideas.
Chapter 7: Pigs and chalk
Gohan woke with a start, a loud ringing in his ears. Next to him Benny lay with his hands over his ears, with a scrunched up face. The wake up bell loud enough to wake a deaf person. When it finally stopped, Gohan looked across at Benny. "Does that bell always ring so loud?" Gohan asked. "Yeah, of course." Benny groaned, sleepily. "Come on! Hurry up!" One of the older boys in the room urged. "We don't want Bob caning us for sleeping in again." "Alright, Joe. We're getting up." Benny answered, grinning at Gohan. "He's such a baby, is our Joe, twelve and still scared of the cane." He whispered to Gohan. "Oh!" Gohan mumbled as he climbed out of bed and pulled on his socks and shoes. "What do we do first today?" "It's morning exercise, for an hour, before breakfast. They like to keep us fit and healthy."
Ten minutes later, Bob and Jim led them outside, in their two lines. The boys didn't have their coats on, just shirts and trousers, and so were shivering in the cold, morning air. "Right, you little lay-abouts. Start with two laps of the field. No slacking!" Bob shouted in military fashion, glaring at the boys menacingly. Gohan started to run with the other boys. This wouldn't be too hard, he thought, he was always a good runner. He ran faster, keeping up with the older boys, completely forgetting the loss of his abilities. When he started his second lap of the large field, he found it slightly harder to breathe, as his energy left him. He started dropping back, and soon became one of the strugglers at the back. Benny dropped back and jogged alongside Gohan. "Your pretty fast, but you really ought to pace yourself on this large field." Benny advised quietly, between heavy breathes. "Thanks for letting me know." Gohan muttered, his breathing even heavier. "I'm a front runner, so see ya later." Benny called, as he went sprinting to the front of the group. Gohan watched in amazement, wondering how Benny could have the energy left to do that. He, personally, felt as if he had been in a round too many with Piccolo. He felt so tired, and this was just the warm up! As he was coming round to complete the lap, he felt a huge pain in the back of his head and fell over in the mud. He sat up groggily and was staring up into the evil eyes of Bob. "That was for being a slacker, you little urchin. Now go and do press-ups with the rest of the group." Bob shouted, pulling Gohan up by the hair. Gohan winced but kept quiet, vowing to get his own back on him one day.
After thirty press-ups, thirty sit-ups, and another two laps round the large field, Gohan wanted to fall into bed and sleep again. Instead he had to wash his hands and go to breakfast with the other boys. Breakfast consisted of porridge, which tasted like cardboard, and a cup of luke warm tea, which had watery milk in it. Gohan gulped his porridge down; burning his mouth, then drank the tea, wishing, with all his might, for one of his mom's bowls of rice.
After breakfast they had to go to the briefing room. Gohan and Benny sat side by side on the bench at the back again. "Is this morning chores?" Gohan asked, depressed. "Afraid so." Benny replied, equally depressed. Bob and Jim entered the room and stood in front of the benches. Bob took authority again. "Right, you little brats. Front bench to the tailor's shop. Back bench to the piggery." He ordered, smugly looking at Gohan, daring him to object. Gohan kept quiet, but inside he was fuming. This guy had a serious problem with him, and so was picking on him. Now he, Benny and the other four on their bench had to spend all morning looking after pigs.
As they made their way to the piggery, Gohan spoke quietly to Benny. "Bob's picking on me, isn't he?" "I dunno. He's pretty awful to all of us, but he is being extra mean to you." Benny replied. Gohan nodded and he and Benny ran to catch up with the other boys.
As they approached the piggery, the stench of manure took over the air. "Yuck! That's disgusting!" Gohan exclaimed, pinching his nose. "Get used to it. We've got two hours in here." Benny said, also pinching his nose. A man, who looked a bit like a pig, came out to greet them. He was probably in his late forties, medium height, with a pot belly. He smiled when he saw Benny. "Ahh! Young Benny. You helping me with my pigs again?" "Hi Pete. Yes I am." Benny replied, grinning. "Good, good. Go and get some shovels from the shed please, Benny." Pete said, before turning to Gohan. "Would you be the new boy I keep hearing about?" "Y.yes, sir." Gohan replied, uncertainly. "That's alright, youngin. Just call me Pete. You can go and help Benny if you want." Pete said, smiling. Gohan stumbled after Benny. He couldn't believe one of the adults here was being nice to them, to him. Benny passed Gohan six shovels. "What are these for?" Gohan asked, taking them from Benny. "We have to scoop up the mess." Benny replied. Gohan stared at him, a bemused look on his face. "We've got to clean up pig poo!" Gohan exclaimed. "Well duh! Oh course." Benny replied, rudely. "Come on! Back to the piggery."
They cleaned out the whole sty and laid out fresh water and feed. Then scrubbed the pigs down with stiff brushes. By the time they were done, Gohan felt exhausted all over again, and he and Benny stumbled off to lunch, after they had got cleaned up in the washroom.
Lunch was a thick bowl of broth (soup) and a glass of water. Gohan was starving and devoured the broth instantly, managing to burn his mouth again. He had to get home. The lack of proper, Saiyan-sized, meals was killing him. Also the loss of his abilities was grinding him down. He wanted to become a Super Saiyan like his dad, but he'd be lucky if he ever saw his dad again, let alone train with him. He finished his glass of water and followed the other boys out of the dining room.
Gohan thought they would be going to the briefing room again, but he followed Benny and the other boys down a different corridor. They came to a halt outside a wooden door, which was shut. Joe, the oldest of the boys, knocked on the door. "Enter!" On hearing the stern voice from within, Joe opened the door. All twelve boys filed into the little schoolroom and sat at the three rows of desks lined out. Gohan sat at a double desk with Benny. He couldn't believe how modern this schoolroom looked. He hadn't even expected this place to give an education, let alone one with good facilities. "Ahh! Our new addition." The male teacher gazed at Gohan. "I take it you've had no education before?" Gohan looked at the middle-aged man, bewilderment spreading across his features. "Um." he didn't know what to say. "Can you read and write?" The man literally shouted, as if he thought Gohan was deaf. "Eh, yes." Gohan replied, wondering if that was the right answer or not. "We'll see." The man said, doubt evident in his voice. " Everyone get your slates and chalk out of the desks." Gohan lifted his desk and found a slate and a piece of chalk in there. Did they really write using this stuff? He thought. "Okay. I want you to write about your day so far on your slate. Don't take too long." Their teacher, Mr Pooley, instructed, using his stern voice. Gohan picked up his chalk. He knew what he wanted to write: My morning sucked big time! But he thought he better write something a bit more friendly. So he put chalk to slate and started writing. It was a lot harder to write with chalk than he had anticipated. It squeaked on the slate and it was difficult to write in his usual small, neat manner. It was big, messy and smudged. Gohan sighed in exasperation. This was so frustrating! Plus Benny was writing immaculately on his slate, although his spelling left a lot to be desired. Mr Pooley walked around the classroom the classroom, checking the boys' work, smacking boys' hands with his wooden ruler, when he wasn't satisfied with their work. He approached Gohan and Benny, an irritated look on his face, having been disappointed with the work he had seen so far. He checked Benny's first. "Good handwriting, but your spelling is appalling, as usual." Mr Pooley said, scanning through Benny's work. "But, sir, I really tried this time." Benny protested, politely. He got the ruler treatment for his troubles, and immediately fell silent, holding his throbbing hand. Mr Pooley moved onto Gohan and picked up his slate. "What do you call this, boy?" He asked in a nasty tone. "It's barely readable." "It's not my fault, it's the chalk. It doesn't write properly." Gohan retorted, indignantly. "You insolent brat!" Mr Pooley shouted, outraged. He grabbed Gohan by the ear and pulled him to the front of the class. "I'll teach you not to answer back." He shouted down Gohan's ear. Gohan cringed as Mr Pooley let go of his ear and started snapping his ruler over Gohan's bare hand until the skin was red raw. He then pushed Gohan back into his seat and carried on the lesson, daring anyone else to get him angry.
After the lesson had finished, some three hours later, Gohan and Benny walked to the washroom to clean up before dinner. "How's your hand?" Benny asked, concern clear in his voice. "It's alright, I guess." Gohan replied, cradling the injured limb in question against his chest. "I've never seen Mr Pooley get so mad before." Benny stated in amazement. "What was going on with your brain back there? Speaking to him like that." "I dunno. He just annoyed me." Gohan replied, shrugging his shoulders. Benny stared at Gohan and then matched his shrug. "Come on. We better go to dinner." They left the washroom feeling refreshed.
Dinner was much the same as last night, apart from the meat being badly cooked fish tonight. This made Gohan even more depressed as he thought of his many fishing trips with his dad.
They all filed into the briefing room after dinner, as they did last night, and Gohan and Benny were sent to the kitchens. The cooks got them peeling potatoes for tomorrow night's dinner. Two hours of peeling later, Gohan thought his injured hand might drop off. He and Benny climbed into their beds, having kicked off their socks and shoes. "I don't want to see another potato again." Gohan complained, rubbing his throbbing hand. "You get used to it." Benny replied, trying to keep his voice cheerful. Gohan just shrugged and curled up into a ball, trying to warm up under the thin bed sheets. "Night Benny." "Night Gohan."
End Chapter.
Sorry no abilities yet but soon, I promise. Something will happen in the next chapter to move it along, but you'll just have to wait and see. Sorry. Hope you enjoyed this chapter (My longest yet, I think.) Plz r&r.
Chapter 7: Pigs and chalk
Gohan woke with a start, a loud ringing in his ears. Next to him Benny lay with his hands over his ears, with a scrunched up face. The wake up bell loud enough to wake a deaf person. When it finally stopped, Gohan looked across at Benny. "Does that bell always ring so loud?" Gohan asked. "Yeah, of course." Benny groaned, sleepily. "Come on! Hurry up!" One of the older boys in the room urged. "We don't want Bob caning us for sleeping in again." "Alright, Joe. We're getting up." Benny answered, grinning at Gohan. "He's such a baby, is our Joe, twelve and still scared of the cane." He whispered to Gohan. "Oh!" Gohan mumbled as he climbed out of bed and pulled on his socks and shoes. "What do we do first today?" "It's morning exercise, for an hour, before breakfast. They like to keep us fit and healthy."
Ten minutes later, Bob and Jim led them outside, in their two lines. The boys didn't have their coats on, just shirts and trousers, and so were shivering in the cold, morning air. "Right, you little lay-abouts. Start with two laps of the field. No slacking!" Bob shouted in military fashion, glaring at the boys menacingly. Gohan started to run with the other boys. This wouldn't be too hard, he thought, he was always a good runner. He ran faster, keeping up with the older boys, completely forgetting the loss of his abilities. When he started his second lap of the large field, he found it slightly harder to breathe, as his energy left him. He started dropping back, and soon became one of the strugglers at the back. Benny dropped back and jogged alongside Gohan. "Your pretty fast, but you really ought to pace yourself on this large field." Benny advised quietly, between heavy breathes. "Thanks for letting me know." Gohan muttered, his breathing even heavier. "I'm a front runner, so see ya later." Benny called, as he went sprinting to the front of the group. Gohan watched in amazement, wondering how Benny could have the energy left to do that. He, personally, felt as if he had been in a round too many with Piccolo. He felt so tired, and this was just the warm up! As he was coming round to complete the lap, he felt a huge pain in the back of his head and fell over in the mud. He sat up groggily and was staring up into the evil eyes of Bob. "That was for being a slacker, you little urchin. Now go and do press-ups with the rest of the group." Bob shouted, pulling Gohan up by the hair. Gohan winced but kept quiet, vowing to get his own back on him one day.
After thirty press-ups, thirty sit-ups, and another two laps round the large field, Gohan wanted to fall into bed and sleep again. Instead he had to wash his hands and go to breakfast with the other boys. Breakfast consisted of porridge, which tasted like cardboard, and a cup of luke warm tea, which had watery milk in it. Gohan gulped his porridge down; burning his mouth, then drank the tea, wishing, with all his might, for one of his mom's bowls of rice.
After breakfast they had to go to the briefing room. Gohan and Benny sat side by side on the bench at the back again. "Is this morning chores?" Gohan asked, depressed. "Afraid so." Benny replied, equally depressed. Bob and Jim entered the room and stood in front of the benches. Bob took authority again. "Right, you little brats. Front bench to the tailor's shop. Back bench to the piggery." He ordered, smugly looking at Gohan, daring him to object. Gohan kept quiet, but inside he was fuming. This guy had a serious problem with him, and so was picking on him. Now he, Benny and the other four on their bench had to spend all morning looking after pigs.
As they made their way to the piggery, Gohan spoke quietly to Benny. "Bob's picking on me, isn't he?" "I dunno. He's pretty awful to all of us, but he is being extra mean to you." Benny replied. Gohan nodded and he and Benny ran to catch up with the other boys.
As they approached the piggery, the stench of manure took over the air. "Yuck! That's disgusting!" Gohan exclaimed, pinching his nose. "Get used to it. We've got two hours in here." Benny said, also pinching his nose. A man, who looked a bit like a pig, came out to greet them. He was probably in his late forties, medium height, with a pot belly. He smiled when he saw Benny. "Ahh! Young Benny. You helping me with my pigs again?" "Hi Pete. Yes I am." Benny replied, grinning. "Good, good. Go and get some shovels from the shed please, Benny." Pete said, before turning to Gohan. "Would you be the new boy I keep hearing about?" "Y.yes, sir." Gohan replied, uncertainly. "That's alright, youngin. Just call me Pete. You can go and help Benny if you want." Pete said, smiling. Gohan stumbled after Benny. He couldn't believe one of the adults here was being nice to them, to him. Benny passed Gohan six shovels. "What are these for?" Gohan asked, taking them from Benny. "We have to scoop up the mess." Benny replied. Gohan stared at him, a bemused look on his face. "We've got to clean up pig poo!" Gohan exclaimed. "Well duh! Oh course." Benny replied, rudely. "Come on! Back to the piggery."
They cleaned out the whole sty and laid out fresh water and feed. Then scrubbed the pigs down with stiff brushes. By the time they were done, Gohan felt exhausted all over again, and he and Benny stumbled off to lunch, after they had got cleaned up in the washroom.
Lunch was a thick bowl of broth (soup) and a glass of water. Gohan was starving and devoured the broth instantly, managing to burn his mouth again. He had to get home. The lack of proper, Saiyan-sized, meals was killing him. Also the loss of his abilities was grinding him down. He wanted to become a Super Saiyan like his dad, but he'd be lucky if he ever saw his dad again, let alone train with him. He finished his glass of water and followed the other boys out of the dining room.
Gohan thought they would be going to the briefing room again, but he followed Benny and the other boys down a different corridor. They came to a halt outside a wooden door, which was shut. Joe, the oldest of the boys, knocked on the door. "Enter!" On hearing the stern voice from within, Joe opened the door. All twelve boys filed into the little schoolroom and sat at the three rows of desks lined out. Gohan sat at a double desk with Benny. He couldn't believe how modern this schoolroom looked. He hadn't even expected this place to give an education, let alone one with good facilities. "Ahh! Our new addition." The male teacher gazed at Gohan. "I take it you've had no education before?" Gohan looked at the middle-aged man, bewilderment spreading across his features. "Um." he didn't know what to say. "Can you read and write?" The man literally shouted, as if he thought Gohan was deaf. "Eh, yes." Gohan replied, wondering if that was the right answer or not. "We'll see." The man said, doubt evident in his voice. " Everyone get your slates and chalk out of the desks." Gohan lifted his desk and found a slate and a piece of chalk in there. Did they really write using this stuff? He thought. "Okay. I want you to write about your day so far on your slate. Don't take too long." Their teacher, Mr Pooley, instructed, using his stern voice. Gohan picked up his chalk. He knew what he wanted to write: My morning sucked big time! But he thought he better write something a bit more friendly. So he put chalk to slate and started writing. It was a lot harder to write with chalk than he had anticipated. It squeaked on the slate and it was difficult to write in his usual small, neat manner. It was big, messy and smudged. Gohan sighed in exasperation. This was so frustrating! Plus Benny was writing immaculately on his slate, although his spelling left a lot to be desired. Mr Pooley walked around the classroom the classroom, checking the boys' work, smacking boys' hands with his wooden ruler, when he wasn't satisfied with their work. He approached Gohan and Benny, an irritated look on his face, having been disappointed with the work he had seen so far. He checked Benny's first. "Good handwriting, but your spelling is appalling, as usual." Mr Pooley said, scanning through Benny's work. "But, sir, I really tried this time." Benny protested, politely. He got the ruler treatment for his troubles, and immediately fell silent, holding his throbbing hand. Mr Pooley moved onto Gohan and picked up his slate. "What do you call this, boy?" He asked in a nasty tone. "It's barely readable." "It's not my fault, it's the chalk. It doesn't write properly." Gohan retorted, indignantly. "You insolent brat!" Mr Pooley shouted, outraged. He grabbed Gohan by the ear and pulled him to the front of the class. "I'll teach you not to answer back." He shouted down Gohan's ear. Gohan cringed as Mr Pooley let go of his ear and started snapping his ruler over Gohan's bare hand until the skin was red raw. He then pushed Gohan back into his seat and carried on the lesson, daring anyone else to get him angry.
After the lesson had finished, some three hours later, Gohan and Benny walked to the washroom to clean up before dinner. "How's your hand?" Benny asked, concern clear in his voice. "It's alright, I guess." Gohan replied, cradling the injured limb in question against his chest. "I've never seen Mr Pooley get so mad before." Benny stated in amazement. "What was going on with your brain back there? Speaking to him like that." "I dunno. He just annoyed me." Gohan replied, shrugging his shoulders. Benny stared at Gohan and then matched his shrug. "Come on. We better go to dinner." They left the washroom feeling refreshed.
Dinner was much the same as last night, apart from the meat being badly cooked fish tonight. This made Gohan even more depressed as he thought of his many fishing trips with his dad.
They all filed into the briefing room after dinner, as they did last night, and Gohan and Benny were sent to the kitchens. The cooks got them peeling potatoes for tomorrow night's dinner. Two hours of peeling later, Gohan thought his injured hand might drop off. He and Benny climbed into their beds, having kicked off their socks and shoes. "I don't want to see another potato again." Gohan complained, rubbing his throbbing hand. "You get used to it." Benny replied, trying to keep his voice cheerful. Gohan just shrugged and curled up into a ball, trying to warm up under the thin bed sheets. "Night Benny." "Night Gohan."
End Chapter.
Sorry no abilities yet but soon, I promise. Something will happen in the next chapter to move it along, but you'll just have to wait and see. Sorry. Hope you enjoyed this chapter (My longest yet, I think.) Plz r&r.
