"A Saiyanjin Lullaby"

Chapter 1

Walking down the hall with whispers echoing in his ears, the sound of entwined gossip that hurt more than any knife could as they sliced through the air. It had been a few weeks and no matter how he tried the whispers stayed. No amount of covering or how much he tried, the sound of painful lies spread throughout the school grounds, they talked about the fag, the poof, the gay with the older lover. It hurt, it cut. "Look at him he's so weird."

Lies that cut one's confidence about who you are, who you want to be, who you will become. The polluted sounds circling like a pack of wolves pulling you down with more lies as they tell you how queer, so different… look at you. How can you be like this? So strange, so out of place.

You find yourself asking the same question, how can you be so weird and if the truth was told, then what? Will you have to hide? Bury yourself from the world from them, from the one you love to stop the onslaught of pain to save another, one that is so innocent to be tainted by lies and frightened by fear from a collage made up of mindless gossip and closed minds.

Can you do it? Be strong to be labelled a freak to bring another in this world, so much more to fear than one's own demons. The demons of others are so much worse. If you let them they can rip you apart just with their venomous tongues. What then? No power in the universe can stop fear from gripping one's soul, not if it's there to start with. Uncertainties scream out mistake, life, the unknown, the path we take. It's a thin line between pain and happiness.

A mind so full of worry and torment and so full of secrets trying to hide it all, push it aside behind a beautiful smile and those rich dark pools no one can see any fear as those pearls light up the room when he enters. A friendly wave and he has captured everyone. Everyone is fooled into believing that all is fine with the world not unless you can see behind, beyond that hidden door that he locks so well.

"Hi guys." Gohan smiled as he moved up towards his chair in the crowded classroom.

"Hi Gohan how are you?" Videl called as she sat on her desk next to his.

"I'm fine." He let his heavy bag slip off his shoulders and allowed it slide on to the floor.

"Where were you last lesson?" Sharpener called from his place on the other side of Eraser.

"I got held up at the office." Gohan said, leaning back on his chair wearing his baggy denims and t-shirt, he wiped away his pain that threatened to escape from his eyes.

"Why? What happened?" They all asked.

"The principle wanted a word with me that's all." He said without looking at them while reaching for his bag wishing that the subject was dropped.

"Gosh, what did you do?" Eraser asked.

"Nothing, forget it." He said as he placed his gear on the table waving the comment off.

"Hey it must have been something. Are you sure you're fine Gohan? I mean you have been sick off and on for some time?" Eraser stated as she leant forward to see him around Videl.

"Hey guys cool it. I'm fine." Gohan was feeling uncomfortable. His dark pools looked elsewhere, not liking the attention he was receiving.

"If you say so man, but there is talk going around about you're getting kicked out." Sharpener called as he leant forward bringing his chair back on all fours legs.

"Who said?" Gohan frowned as he too moved forward around Videl.

"It's all over campus about you and your older lover. That and other things." Sharpener explained motioning with his eyes to the crowd of teens in front of him.

"Yeah well some people should learn to keep their mouths shut." Gohan snapped as he sat back frowning as his eyes scanned the class watching others looking away and whisper. Today, like any other day for the last couple of weeks, things had just gone from bad to worse and he wasn't feeling up to fighting this. Not today.

"Is that what the principle wanted to see you about?" Videl asked as she looked down at the frowning teen as his sights looked elsewhere, not wanting to hear any of this.

Gohan rubbed his hands over his face trying to wipe away his frustration mixed with worry. "Hey guys please just drop it."

Videl hopped off the table and stood in front of his desk making Gohan look at her. She looked into his midnight pearls that were looking trapped as they shifted elsewhere. "Gohan, if you are having trouble with your boyfriend…"

Gohan snapped and looked straight into her eyes with a little aggression slipping. "Please just leave it Videl."

"Hey! I'm worry about you. I'm your friend. If you want to talk I'm here." Videl snapped still keeping eye contact.

With a heavy sighed and a weak smile. "Thanks Videl."

They all turned to the sound of their teacher calling for them to sit and turn to one of the pages from their uneventful text books that held no answers about the real world. Well it felt that way for one Saiyanjin teen as he turned to the page mindlessly looking over the dull black ink, wishing he could be else where so far away that no one could find him.

"Right who will read for us to day? How about you… Mr Son?" Gohan's cheerless dark pools shifted from the page down at his teacher waiting expectantly for her prize pupil to start.

Without a word he grabbed his stuff and threw it all back into his bag. As he pushed away from his chair everyone's eyes were upon him. "Mr Son?"

Gohan said nothing as he slipped the bag over his shoulder and hurried out of the room past the whispers, past his teacher as she called for him. The Saiyanjin rushed down the stairs and through the abandoned halls and out into the grounds where his pace picked up heading for the boy's toilets. He threw his bag down not caring where it landed allowing it to echo in the concrete walls with a thud; his mind determined to reach the bowl before he had to hurl.

In the quiet a teen rested against the bland wall sitting on the cold concrete floor of the boys' room with his head hung low between his knees with his fingers raking through his dark rich locks. "I can't do this."

He allowed his head to loll back as he's sights looked up, his black pearls in search for an escape from all of this. "Gohan, hey man. Are you all right?"

His sights shifted to the door that was now replaced with a shadow. "Yeah just great." His sights shifted back to the wall with its row of sinks, not caring to look as his friend warily approaching.

"The girls got worried and sent me in. They thought you might be here." Sharpener said as his concerned brown pools looked down at the boy looking so abandoned and lost in his thoughts. With a sigh he turned around allowing his body to slide down next to his friend.

Gohan's sights shifted back up to the fluorescent light with its straight line on the cracked ceiling. "Yeah it's my favourite place to be."

"Hey man do you want to talk? You know, like man to man." The blonde friend asked as he rested his wrists on his knees.

Gohan smirked with his sights shifting to his friend next to him. "Man to man, huh? I doubt you could help me out on this one Sharpener."

"Does it have to do with gay stuff because I'm at a loss there." He raised a brow at Gohan.

The dark hair teen shook his head as he let one leg slide out in front of him and rested his wrist on his other bent knee. "No. More to do with Saiyanjin thing." He said as his sights rested on the ground.

"Saiyanjin? What's that? A club." Sharpener frowned he hadn't heard of that club before as he looked away in thought.

"You could say that it is an exclusive one. Only few can join this club."

"It sounds like you have to be pretty special to be part of it." Sharpener raised a brow as Gohan smirked at him.

"Not special, just have to have the right blood type."

"And you have?" Sharpener asked.

Gohan smirks as he looked back in front of him. "Yeah, lucky me."

"You don't sound too happy about it?"

"At the moment I don't know what to think." Gohan said as he looked at his friend letting his head rest back on the wall.

"What about that boyfriend of yours?" Sharpener asked warily.

"What about him?" Gohan frowned as he looked at the other teen who was looking somewhat uncomfortable.

"Hey man. You know I'm not good with stuff but, are you having trouble?"

"Geta and I having trouble?" Gohan looks up at the ceiling and with a sigh he turned back to his friend. "No, no we're not. It's me. Always me."

"Hey I'm all ears. Talk to me. Does it have anything to do with all this crap that has been going around school, the gay jokes and stuff, and the sick pranks they have been pulling ever since word got out about you being gay?" The blonde teen asked trying to help even though it was difficult for him to talk to people without them believing him to be a mindless body builder.

"Yeah something like that and the Principle wants me to find a new place to live if I'm to continue at their respectable school." He said in a monotone voice.

"Shit no!" Sharpener's jaw was ajar eyes wide with the news.

"Yeah they found out about Geta and now they want me to leave him." Gohan's dark pools were feeling so empty and lost. All he wanted to do was cry.

"They can't do that?"

"Well that's not what they're saying. Apparently it's in my best interests that I leave him." Gohan said letting his hands wipe away the tears that were threatening escape.

"They can't do this." Sharpener was shocked that this would happen to his friend.

"But they can. I'm under age and they told me that they could easily send him to jail for being with a minor."

"No shit?" This was bad news. Sharpener's mind was racing with ideas on how to help him.

"They told me I have until the end of the week to find a new place or I'm out and they will tell the authorities." Gohan said trying to regain some control.

"Shit what are you going to do?" Sharpener asked.

"I can't have Geta go to jail. It wouldn't agree with him." Gohan said with a knot in his throat that threatened to cut its way out.

"What about going to a different school, where they don't know you?"

"This is the only high school around here and they would still tell authorities." He explained to his blonde friend.

"What about another city?" Sharpener asked. He was at loss as he rubbed his hand over his chin in thought.

"I can't ask Geta to move. He's not one for crowds. This is his home now and I can't take it from him. He never really had a home when he was young." Gohan explained looking in front of him.

"There must be thousands of other options Gohan, other than leaving your boyfriend because of these idiots?" Sharpener growled frowning at his friend who gave him a weak smile.

"Probably, but I have a week and I can't seem to think clearly and we have our damn exams in two days, I don't need this shit." His voice was tired and he could feel the stress building as he spoke it out loud.

Sharpener turned to face him with his browns lit with an idea. "Look if you want you can stay with me. It's not much."

"Didn't your folks kick you out?" Gohan frowned as he studied his friend's eyes.

The teen shook his head as the idea built inside of how he could help his friend built and formed in his head. "Yeah but I have a one bedroom flat at the back off my grandma's place. Its cheap board I just have to mow lawns and stuff for her, you know stuff like that, and I still get to go to school as much as I hate it."

Gohan pulled himself up and looked at his friend doing the same. "You know I might take you up on this, at least until I can work this all out. That would be great. I don't want to upset any of my friends or my brother. He doesn't need any more stress in moving. He, more or less, lives over at CC now with me back at school and everything. Plus I couldn't ask Bulma for any more help she does plenty with helping me out with Goten."

"I have no problem. You can stay as long as you want. We can work out some sort of sleeping arrangement."

"I just wanted to be with him and be a family but it is just not meant to be." Gohan's midnight pearls looked at him. Gohan couldn't hide his feelings on this but he knew he will have too. His Saiyanjin mate won't understand all the ningen problems. It was always on his mind about what if they decided to separate him from his brother. He never thought they would try to take him away from his prince.

With Bulma having Goten under her wing he was fairly safe. But how long would that last once the authorities got a hold of this whole mess? It was up to him. He had to fix this. Too many things could be lost, too many secrets that wouldn't be understood, all hell could break out once the news escaped that there is a pregnant teen, a boy, a Saiyanjin… aliens, and then what would the world be like for his cub, for his and Vegeta's child.

He couldn't start this, it would never end. It would have to be stopped now before it gets out of control and into the wrong hands. His biggest fears were being alone and have his cub taken away and not to be able to see his mate again. It could lead to Vegeta going on the war path. No! This will would have to be kept a secret from the people that love him, that he loves the most. Until he can find a way out of this mess he will have to abide by their requests to leave his mate. They are ningens. They will never understand their ways, of a Saiyanjin.

Sharpener called snapping Gohan from his thoughts. "Hey your brother is welcome any time. He could sleep over you can have the sofa. What are you going to tell your boyfriend?"

"I can't tell him the truth. He'll just destroy something or kill someone."

"Yeah right… funny. I mean it what are you going to say?" Gohan just smirked at his friend and how naïve he was. He wouldn't be able to understand the Saiyanjin elite going on the war path, a warrior who has been without family for so long, someone who had been under the hash rule of an tyrant a creature, Frieza.

No-one would be ready for what the prince of Saiyans, Vegeta, could do to them for taking his family, his mate from him, and Gohan knew he couldn't allow this to happen, not to the people of earth that his father, Goku, didn't spend a life time saving it to have them destroyed by his own son in-law.

Gohan gave weak smile. "I have to work on something. I don't want him to know about this, please don't tell."

"Hey my lips are sealed." Sharpener smiled back pleased he could help in some way.

"Thanks Sharpener, you surprise me sometimes." He smiled and patted him on the back.

"Yeah well it shows you there is more to others than just what you see on the outside." Sharpener smirked nervously not used to praise.

"You got that right." Gohan knew that too well. What with the biggest secret yet still hidden under a t-shirt behind the safety walls of someone that was still getting used to the idea. Maybe a little lost at times, but it always came back to a smile as he looked into his mate's dark pools, and the miracle of love that they have alone created, a part of them, a mix of their love.

"Come on we still have three more lessons before we are out of here." Sharpener went over and picked up Gohan's bag and handed it to him.

"Thanks sharpener."

Sharpener nodded. "Hey man its fine with me. I'm just concerned on how your boyfriend will take this."

"I know. So am I."

TBC…