A/N: I said I wouldn't update SOS today, now didn't I? XD Well, I obviously went against that. I DID update Dangerous Thoughts, but, since I still have enough creative juice in me, I might as well update this story, too. I'm going to try to take the fic slow, even though I'm anxious to get to the more dramatic and adventurous part of the fic. cough
Thanks so much for reviewing chapter three, DBZ Chick1, n1c0le, Shadow of dusk, DBZAngelX (who just had her sixteenth birthday hugs Angel-chan), and The Almighty Rule of Dragons. You guys are sosososososososososooooooo awesome! Love ya!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z. If I did, Gohan would have commit suicide and became a shinigami…! (:
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Goten fell onto the ground from exhaustion. "Wow, I'm so tired." The child had been transformed into his sixteen year old form.
Yuurei, who had turned back into his shinigami form along with Aiko, looked down at him. "You have been training almost all day, you know."
"I know!" Goten smiled. "I'm so happy! I've never been able to do this much before! Thanks again, Yuurei-oniichan!"
Aiko glared. "Don't' I get any recognition?"
"You didn't do anything, Aiko." Yuurei rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I did!" She twirled around. "I blessed him with being able to see my absolutely beautiful face!"
Yuurei and Goten just sweat dropped. "Sure, Aiko."
She smiled. "You know, names really do define a person! My name means "little love" or "beloved." It fits me, doesn't it?"
"Okay." Yuurei said.
"Yuurei means "ghost."" She sighed. "That sucks as a name to have."
"HEY!"
"Goten means palace. Maybe that means you're going to be rich someday, Goten-chan!" She laughed. (A/N: I've checked the meaning of "gotten" in several Japanese dictionaries. They all say it means "palace.")
She smiled. "Reizo, my old partner, his name means "cool." She snorted. "He's anything BUT cool!"
"Agreed." Yuurei said.
Goten smiled as the two shinigami gossiped about some other shinigami. He hadn't known them that long, but he already knew that he'd be crushed if they left him. They were great friends.
Yuurei and Aiko suddenly stopped talking and looked up in the sky. There, flying above them…was a green man. He was wearing a dark purple gi, a white turban and a white cape with large shoulder pads.
"Who…is…that…?" Aiko asked in fear.
Yuurei just stared. That green man…looked so familiar. He KNEW he'd seen him somewhere. He just didn't know where.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here in the middle of no where?" The green man yelled down to Goten.
Goten realized that he was still in his older form, so he'd have to make an excuse. Not many humans came out in this area after all. He knew his ki was different when he was like this, but Piccolo probably felt that he had a ki that was too strong to be human.
"My name is…Maro! I just flew out here in my plane to see the lake!" He pointed at the large lake near him.
"Maro?" Yuurei asked. "You named yourself, "myself." You've got to be kidding!"
"I couldn't think of anything else!" He told Yuurei.
Piccolo raised an eyebrow…or…the skin where he should have an eyebrow (Piccolo doesn't have eyebrows, but that's besides the point). Who was that guy talking to? There was no one there.
"Who are you talking to?" Piccolo asked.
"I was talking to-"
"GOTEN! You're the only person who can see us, remember! To that green guy, you're yelling at air!" Yuurei yelled as Aiko finally broke out of her stupor from seeing a green man.
"I was talking to myself." Goten, or "Maro," said.
Piccolo flew down to the ground next to the guy. This "Maro" was suspicious.
"So you came here to look at the lake, huh?" Piccolo asked.
"Yeah! That's right, Piccolo-san!" Maro said.
Piccolo glared at him. "How do you know my name?"
"I….I…"
"Why do you have such a high ki?" Piccolo yelled.
"I…"
"You're awfully suspicious!" Piccolo grabbed the teenager by his collar.
"HEY! Let him go!" Piccolo turned around and immediately let go of the boy from shock. Standing there, was a boy who looked to be no more than sixteen. He had spiky black hair that went in all directions and coal black eyes. It looked exactly like…
"Gohan."
Piccolo slowly walked towards the shinigami and brought his hand up to the boy's face, only to have it slapped away.
"I don't know anyone with that name. Sorry."
Piccolo sadly looked down.
"Of course. Gohan's been dead for years."
Yuurei walked over to Goten and grabbed him.
"Let's go back to your home, kid." He said. Aiko followed behind them, eyes wide from the feat that Yuurei had just pulled.
Goten looked at Yuurei with wide eyes. The shinigami looked…human. The dog ears and tail were gone, as well as the wings. He just looked like any normal sixteen year old guy.
"Yuurei…how…?"
Yuurei smirked. "I'll tell you later."
"WAIT!" Piccolo yelled. "Who are you two?"
Yuurei was about to respond that it was none of his business, but Goten interrupted.
"Yuurei-oniisan…I want to tell Piccolo-san. We can trust him. I promise!"
Yuurei looked down at Goten. With that look Goten was giving him, he couldn't possibly resist.
"Fine."
Goten walked up to Piccolo and waved.
"Hi, Piccolo-san! It's me! Goten!"
Piccolo's eyes went wide. "Goten?" He just stared. "Goten's only seven years old."
Goten nodded. "That's where Yuurei-oniisan comes in!" Goten looked over at Aiko, who cleared her throat. "Oh! And Aiko-san!"
"…How…?"
"It's simple, green man. Aiko and I are shinigami. I'm just using my powers to make Goten older. I can transform him back, if you want proof."
"SHINIGAMI?" Piccolo yelled. "Shinigami are spirits that take the dead to the afterlife! Why are YOU here!"
"Piccolo-san…" Goten started. "I'm going to die in a year."
Piccolo's eyes widened and he took a step back. This was impossible. He had already lost Gohan. He didn't want to lose Goten, too. He knew that if Gohan was here, he would fight off this shinigami and go against fate.
"I don't' believe that. Even if it IS true, I'm not going to let you die, Goten." Piccolo glared. "IF you're really who you say you are, that is."
"Yuurei, let's show Piccolo-san." He smiled.
"Okay." Yuurei turned back into his shinigami form.
"Where'd that guy go?" Piccolo asked.
Goten smiled. "He's right here!" He put his hand on Yuurei's shoulder. "He says that you just can't see him 'cause living people aren't supposed to see shinigami. Anyway, transform me, Yuurei-oniisan!"
Yuurei snapped his fingers, and instantly, Goten was covered in light. As soon as the light faded, Goten was back to being seven years old.
Goten's smile widened. "It's it so cool, Piccolo-san?"
Piccolo slowly nodded. This was one of the odder things he'd seen in his life.
"Anything's possible, I guess." Piccolo said. "You shouldn't be training, Goten! With health like yours, it's bad for you!"
"When I'm in my older form, my tumor isn't there! Yuurei-san made it disappear when I'm like that!"
Piccolo just stared. "O…kay. I'd better get you back home, Goten. The harpy will send out a search party if you're not home soon."
Goten nodded. "You're right." He turned to Yuurei and Aiko. "Let's go!"
Yuurei turned into his plushie form and walked up to Piccolo. "You wouldn't mind carrying me, would you? I just want to explain a few things to you. I know you're probably worried about Goten. I could see you're a bit skeptical about this."
"Whatever." Piccolo grabbed the plushie and flew into the sky with Goten and Aiko (who was still in her shinigami form) following.
"We shinigami don't set fate, Piccolo." Yuurei started. "Our master, Death, does that. We simply have to carry out his will."
"I understand that. Can't you change fate so Goten won't die though?"
Yuurei looked at the ground that rapidly passed below them. "That…I don't know."
"I don't want you taking his life."
"I don't want to." Yuurei looked up at Piccolo. "I promise to protect him as long as I can."
"YUUREI!" Aiko yelled.
"It's our duty to protect him until his time, Aiko. We can't let him die sooner than he's supposed to."
Aiko sighed. "I guess that's true."
"Promises are easily broken, Yuurei." Piccolo looked down. "I broke a promise a few years ago, and I regret it more than anything."
"What promise did you break?"
"I promised a friend, Goten's older brother, that I'd always protect him. I couldn't protect him. He killed himself."
Yuurei looked at Piccolo. "That isn't your fault, Piccolo."
"I know. I'm just guilty for breaking that promise."
"Looks like we're home!" Goten yelled as he, Piccolo, and Aiko all descended.
"GOTEN-CHAN!" Chichi yelled as she ran out of the house. "You came home later than you said you would! No dinner tonight!"
"Okaaaaaasan!"
"NO! You have to learn your lesson!" She then looked at Piccolo. Yuurei had already jumped out of his hands and turned into his shinigami form.
"YOU! Why didn't you bring him back sooner!"
Piccolo glared. "I wasn't with him the whole time! I was the one who told him to come back!"
Chichi just glared. "Leave my baby alone!" She then slammed the door.
Yuurei looked annoyed. "I wonder if she's always like that."
"I sure hope not."
"She's still mad at me for not protecting Gohan." Piccolo said to himself. He couldn't see or hear Yuurei or Aiko when they were shinigami, after all. Piccolo sighed and flew off.
"I can't help but feel a bit sorry for the guy. He looked so sad."
"Yeah." Yuurei responded. For some reason, it hurt him to see the man so sad. He wasn't sure why.
Don't be sad for me, Piccolo-san.
Yuurei shook his head, ignoring the strange voice that filled his head. He was too tired. He was obviously hearing things.
"I'm going to watch the sunset. You can go inside, if you want."
"Okay." Yuurei flew into Goten's bedroom, and sat on the floor. Goten was currently in another room watching cartoons with his father, so he was all alone.
"Gohan. That name seems so familiar to me." Yuurei sighed. "That green guy, Piccolo, did, too."
He slammed his fists onto the ground. "Who are they? Why can't I remember!"
Suddenly, he heard voices and saw flashes of images.
Otousan…I'm coming. I'll see you again soon.
Are you okay, kid? You look pale.
I'm going back the the house now. Sayonara!
What did you do to yourself? Why? Why did you do this?
Lemme die!
He fell onto the ground and clutched his head in pain. What was he hearing and seeing? He was so confused!
I ran away. I don't want to run away again. I WON'T run away again! A child with spiky black hair yelled.
Yuurei withered on the floor. Was that child him when he was alive? Were those part of his memories?
The memories suddenly stopped coming, and Yuurei sat up and tried to catch his breath. He didn't want to remember anymore.
"Yuurei-oniisan?" Goten came in to the room. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Nothing's wrong."
"Stop lying to me."
"What?"
Goten glared. "I know you're lying to me, Oniisan."
"It's okay, Goten." Yuurei smiled. "I just remembered something from when I was alive. It hurts us shinigami to remember our lives. If we remember everything, we become ghosts."
Goten looked scared. "You mean…you're going to become a ghost?"
"No, no! Of course not! It's normal for us to have small flashbacks of our memories."
Goten hugged him. "Good. I don't wanna lose you, 'niisan."
Yuurei ruffled Goten's head. "I know, kid."
Goten smiled. "You weren't scared of Piccolo-san today! Most people are!"
"Should I be scared? He looked like a big teddy bear to me." Yuurei joked.
"He IS!" Goten joked. "He tries to act like he doesn't like people showing him attention, but it's just an act."
"So, Goten….what do you want to do?"
Goten smiled. "Lets play with my action figures!"
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Aiko sat on top of an abandoned barn on the countryside. It had been a while since she'd seen a sunset on Earth. She missed coming here.
"I see you still like sunsets, huh, Ai-chan." A voice called from behind her. Aiko turned around to be faced with a blond haired shinigami, who was wearing a white shirt, a leather jacket and leather pants. He had his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't have an animal mascot because he wasn't assigned to the pediatric division. The pediatric division shinigami had to have animal mascots in order to appeal to children.
"Reizo."
"I've missed you, Ai-chan." He pulled her in for a hug, but she quickly pushed him away.
"What are you doing here, Reizo!"
Reizo smiled. "I came here to save you from that low-life shinigami, Yuurei. I'm sure you miss being with such an amazing shinigami such as myself."
She growled. "In your dreams, Reizo! Yuurei's millions of times better than you are!"
"Aw. I thought you were in love with me."
She pushed him even farther away. "I may have been in love with you back then, but I'm sure not in love with you anymore. You're such an idiot. You get rid of me as a partner, then come back begging for me to be your "girl" again."
Reizo smiled. "I'm asking you to be my partner again."
"Give it up. I like being with Yuurei."
"You said that about me before, too." He pulled himself closer.
Aiko yet again, pushed him away. "Get away from me, Reizo."
"Reizo-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" A pitiful voice droned. Both Aiko and Reizo looked up to see a ghost-looking shinigami named Mijime.
"Go away, Mijime." Reizo ordered.
Aiko sweat dropped. "Who's HE?"
"My new partner."
Aiko just stared at Mijime. "I can understand now why you want me back, but I still refuse."
"Aiko-chaaaan, you're being stupid for refusing…!" Mijime went up to her and circled around her head.
"Go away, Mijime!" Aiko yelled.
"Neveeeeeeeer!"
Reizo glared. "Stop picking on Ai-chan, Mijime." He took out a needle and pocked Mijime. Mijime deflated like a balloon and began to fly all over the place.
"You're so mean, Reizo-saaaan!"
"Shut up."
"Reizo-saaaaaaan!"
As the pair argued, Aiko quickly made a run for it. She flew to the Son house and found Goten and Yuurei playing with Goten's action figures.
"Yuurei-chan, you'd make such a good older brother."
Yuurei looked up at her. "Really?"
Just as she was about to respond, Reizo and Mijime came through the roof. Maybe she didn't ditch them well enough.
"YUU-KUN! GET AWAY FROM MY GIRL!"
"I don't want your girl!"
Reizo smirked. "If Aiko doesn't come with me, I'll tell the master about how you're helping out a human boy." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Not much of a good ending to the chapter, but oh well. I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading!
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