Hey! After a delay longer than Dumbledore's beard, I've come to bring you more of this story. Enjoy!

There were no notes the following days. At first Gohan and Goten had tossed a ball around, trying to come up with who would possibly send them message like this. The theories ranged widely, from debt collectors to someone having intentions much darker. The day that the note had found its way into the store, Goten remarked that it was possible that the writer was after something in the thrift shop.

Gohan had hummed his consent of this train of thought, much too absorbed in his findings over the weekend to really consider it. He relayed his adventure to Goten as soon as the note had disappeared from sight and mind. At first Goten seemed miffed that Gohan hadn't asked him to come along, but when his brother pointed out that it had been strict archiving work, Goten dropped his protests.

"So did you find anything useful at all?" Goten asked during lunch. Half a bologna sandwich was being crushed between his molars as he spoke.

"Swallow your food, will you?" Gohan said, scrunching his nose. "But yes, actually. Quite a lot too."

"Oooh, juicy details!" Goten said, disregarding Gohan's instructions on proper table manners. "Do tell!"

Gohan rolled his eyes at this little bout of sarcasm, but told him nonetheless.

"So first of all, Master Roshi had a book in which he kept track of everything he sold or bought. Gramps and I had some trouble appraising some of his finer things, but I have the price points in writing now. Also I have a lot of names of people who we can possibly sell it to."

"Okay, so good news all around then. Anything else worth noting?"

"Now that you mention it..." Gohan took Master Roshi's cryptic note from his pocket and slid it across the table. Goten read it. lowered his eyebrows, then returned it.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well BB means Brown Book, which I have right here." Gohan showed it to Goten. "But page 227 is missing, I checked. Master Roshi was scared that someone would find out about whatever he wrote on there, so he hid it."

Goten was still frowning. "Say, do you think this has anything to do with that orange ball we found?"

Gohan smiled. Goten sometimes got down on himself for not being that quick-witted, but Gohan very much disagreed. "That's exactly what I think."

Goten's face lit up. "I knew it! But where could he have hidden it, though?"

That question would continue to plague them for at least another two weeks. Most of their time was consumed in trying to decipher Master Roshi's final gift to them, but the ideas weren't logical and they got no closer to cracking the code at all. So they forgot about one note and delved themselves into the other.

In the meanwhile Gohan contacted some of the people in Master Roshi little black book. Most of them were indeed art collectors and were quite happy to get to talk to Gohan, but the cheer with which they took him up on his offers left a sour taste in his mouth. These people were a little too pleased to hear that their respected friend had passed away. So after call number three Gohan decided to screw up the prices.

One of the more memorable conversations was with a woman who only wanted to be known as Violet. Rather than asking for contact by email, she requested whether or not she could swing by the thrift store to have a look at the collection in person. After that she would probably walk away with half of it, she confided in Gohan.

Violet appeared in the store on a Wednesday, almost three weeks after Master Roshi's burial. The name became clear instantly; the woman had a head full of purple hair. Gohan estimated her to be in her early to mid forties, but that didn't deter his little brother at all.

Gohan had just welcomed Violet into their store, pointing at the back office where they could further discuss their business. And that was where Goten swooped in.

He emerged from the office wiping at his brow, though Gohan knew perfectly well that he had been rehearsing his entrance line for at least a minute or ten.

"Phew!" Goten fake-sighed. "Gohan, we've got all the files back in order, but you won't believe how heavy some of those boxes were. I feel like I'm about to pop a-." He turned to Violet and acted as if he hadn't seen her. "Hello! You must be Violet."

She smirked and extended a hand. "And I guess you're Goten."

"Uh-huh." They shook hands. "So... where'd you get the name Violet?"

Her eyebrows almost disappeared into her hair. Gohan groaned and prayed that Goten would drop his attempts at womanizing, which was basically the same as praying for the sun to turn blue.

"Are you really asking me this?" Violet hid her smile behind her hand. She turned to Gohan. "I take it you're the brains behind this operation."

Goten sputtered and Gohan chuckled. "Not really, I'm just better at reading. Goten here is the one with the sales talk."

"That's right," Goten said, leaning his elbows on the counter. "I can sell you anything."

"Really?" Violet smirked at him. "Like what?"

"How about a dinner for two at Popo's?"

Gohan groaned again and this time Violet couldn't hide her laughter. "Sorry kid, but you're a little too young for me. I appreciate the offer though, but maybe you should try a girl your own age." She walked past Goten and patted him on the shoulder. Then she went into the office.

Gohan and Goten remained where they were for a moment. Gohan used this opportunity to make himself clear. "Will you not do that?"

"Do what?"

"Try to flirt with every woman who walks into your field of vision!"

"I wasn't flirting with her!"

"Yeah, and Master Roshi was a priest. Seriously Goten, this woman could be our most valuable buyer yet! Don't screw it up by coming on too strong."

Gohan left a dejected Goten to follow in his wake, going into the office to find Violet pouring herself a cup of coffee. "You guys want some?"

Gohan ignored the appropriation of his office and took one of the cups offered to him. He motioned towards the table and they took a seat. Goten joined them without any sound; the rejection had probably dented his normally talkative nature.

"Okay so where do we start on this?" Violet asked. "Not to sound greedy, but you really buttered me up over the phone." She took a swallow of coffee and followed up with "Not that I'm glad to hear that Master Roshi is dead. I'm very sorry for your loss."

Gohan inclined his head in a manner of thanks. "Well I have most of the items in that safe over there." It stood on the desk in the corner. "Some other things I still have at home, but I think you'll be more impressed at what we have here anyway. Are there any particular pieces that draw your interest?"

Goten said from next to him "Well I sure- Ouch!" After which he began to nurse the ribs into which Gohan had driven his elbow.

Violet laughed and pulled a note from her pocket. "As a matter of fact, I do. I recall you telling me about the Bansho Fan. To me that would be the biggest catch. Although I wouldn't want to miss out on some first presses either."

By that she meant the books Master Roshi had left to the brothers. A lot of them were classic literature and more than just a handful were original prints. They had almost literally flown out the store, but Gohan had made sure to keep the most valuable ones off the shelves.

"That can be arranged," Goten said. He planted his elbows on the table, cupping his face in his hands and giving Violet a dreamy stare.

"Let me guess," Violet said. "You want to take me out for dinner or ice cream or drinks, cause that is your idea of a professional setting."

"I certainly wouldn't say no."

"And when exactly would we talk about me buying your stuff?"

Goten smirked. "After dessert, of course."

Gohan buried his face in his hands; Goten was really unbelievable sometimes. He prayed for the day that his brother would actually succeed in his mediocre flirting, if only to save himself from embarrassment. Violet however seemed really taken by him.

"Well kid, I have to say I like your confidence. So how about this; you and I are going to have a talk about all the neat treasure that you are hiding in that safe over there. And if you can manage to make me smile like it's my birthday, I'll consider taking you up on your offer. How's that?"

Gohan sighed. "Oh Goten, please don't."

But he was already too late. He pulled his hands away from his face and saw that Goten had already opened the safe. His brother took out a box full of trinkets and books and brought it back to the table, setting it down in the middle and waving at it in a grand gesture. Violet pulled her eyebrows up in amusement and looked inside the box. Then her face changed from happy to flabbergasted.

"You're kidding me," she said, reaching inside. Gohan felt an urge to slap her hands away, but didn't. She might be their biggest buyer yet.

"Awesome, absolutely incredible," Violet breathed. Her hands came up and were holding two of Master Mutaito's figurines. "I can't believe you have these. I thought I had pretty much all of them. and if I don't after buying these, I clearly chose the wrong job."

"Then I guess our business together will be very rewarding," Goten said. "So how about you start thinking about what flavour ice cream you're gonna wanna get and I'll think of a nice selling price for these four babies." he took the other two figures out and placed them in front of Violet, turning their faces towards her so that she could admire them in their full glory.

Gohan felt his protests evaporate. He really did understate Goten's natural charm a lot of the times. And he would probably never stop underestimating how many older women enjoyed being hit on by a younger guy. Goten was the one with the sales talk for a reason.

"Easy," Violet said, not looking away from the ballerinas. "Vanilla and chocolate. I'm boring like that."

"Okay so one chocolate and vanilla ice cream," Goten said, drawing on a smile. "How about we weigh that off against a nice bargain? Whaddaya say about 750 apiece, 2200 for the whole set?'

Violet cracked a grin. "Just because I like how charming you are, doesn't mean I'm stupid, Goten. I know these won't go for more than 500."

"And I expected you to. But then again, you are only missing these four, right? You just have get your manicured hands on them to complete your collection and become the world's sole owner of Master Mutaito figurines, isn't that right?"

She whistled between her teeth. "Damn, talked a little too much there."

"That you did," Goten said. "But hey, if you think I'm being unreasonable, I suppose I might as well put them back. If you don't want them, that is." He took the two figurines on the table and placed them back in the box. Violet watched them disappear behind the cardboard with a look of defeat in her eyes.

Gohan regarded this exchange as if he were watching the world's most nerve-wracking tennis match. If Goten could sell Violet some more things he would make a call to Wukong Hospital that very afternoon. That and he would force their father to take a week or two off from work and get the man some well deserved rest.

"You sneaky bugger," Violet said, narrowing her eyes to slits. "You little demon. You're good, do you know that?"

"I know," Goten replied. "but by all means, tell me some more. I never get tired of hearing it."

"You're perfect, you're beautiful, you look like a model..."

"Hey! No need to get hurtful," Goten laughed. "Anyway, do we have a deal? Cause I can bundle you some prices on the books as well. Plus if you're still interested I can give you a soft price on that Bushi Fan that you seem to be so crazy about."

"I'll do it," Violet said. "but one one condition. You are coming with me to my house when we're done. Maybe you can cook for me; I'd like that way better than I would like ice cream."

"Can we have ice cream for dessert?"

"You betcha!"

And so it came to be that Goten sold Violet for over ten thousand worth in collectibles. With every bill that she dropped onto the table Gohan's feeling of excitement grew exponentially. If they kept this up they could send their mother to Wukong in a limousine.

He took a little time to try and decipher the chemistry between Violet and Goten, but threw his attempts out the window once he realized that he would probably never get it anyway. He himself was much too rusted in his ways; married life did that to a man. So het let them go on their merry way, trying not to think too much about what would transpire at Violet's home, and made the call to Wukong.

Chi-Chi was expected there a month from today.

Those brothers weren't exactly interesting, and Cell knew all about interesting. He broke seven foot, for crying out loud. And not to mention his impeccable sense of style. Frieza very much disagreed with him, but Cell didn't much care for that cretin's opinion. Sure, he was Cell's business partner, but only because the two of them had a synergy which couldn't be denied when they worked together. Cell had to admit that Frieza was terrifying.

The two of them were sitting on a park bench right across from the store. As per Frieza's requests Cell had left his green suit in his closet, opting for a casual grey one instead. His hair was concealed underneath a fedora. He had only kept the bowtie, cause he felt naked without that. Even more than when he was actually nude.

Today's goal was to get an idea of the coming and going of the two Son brothers, of whom they had learned were called Gohan and Goten. If given the opportunity, they would try to wire a few microphones and cameras around their store so they could spy on them from a distance. Cell already dreaded the task, because the two brothers didn't seem like they were up to a whole lot of exciting things. There was no doubt in his mind that they had the Dragon Ball, but they probably weren't aware of its value and supposed properties.

If they had, they would've been in hiding by now.

"Do you think they got the note?" Frieza asked to right.

"How should I know?" Cell scoffed. "You are always the one that has be so vague about it. If you want to know, figure it out for yourself."

"I'm working on that, my dear companion," Frieza said with a cold smile. "Starting tomorrow there isn't a thing they can do that will escape our sight."

"You mean except go home, sleep, eat, be with their families, perhaps screw a wife or girlfriend. Did you really think this through?"

"Of course I have!' Frieza snapped. "They are in this store forty hours a week. Even if they don't have the Dragon Ball there, I have no doubt that they will talk about where they hid it. All we have to do is be patient."

Patience wasn't Cell's strongest suit. He was more of a catch-em-and-kill-em kind of guy. That being said, Frieza did have a point. There was no way that Gohan and Goten would be as stupid as that Korrin collector who was now sleeping with the worms. This might actually turn out to lead somewhere and dammit, they could use some good fortune already. They had been chasing an echo of a myth for nigh on two years.

"And once we are done being patient, we take the Four Star and add it to the two we already have," Cell mused out loud.

"And then we kill them."

"Can't you think about anything else?"

"Ask your mother."

Cell pushed away the urge to backhand Frieza in his stupid, bejeweled face and turned his attention back to the store, where the bell overhead gave a tinkle. Goten stepped out of the store, but he wasn't alone.

A woman was by his side and they had their arms linked together. Cell, an aficionado of the strange things in life, smiled when he noted that she was twice they boy's age. The kid couldn't be a day over twenty. Yet he watched his lips move and saw how the woman responded with laughter, laying her free hands on Goten's shoulder and speaking close to his ear. Goten gave a clear response to whatever she was saying; it likely involved a prospect which he enjoyed. Cell had some ideas just what he was expecting.

And somehow the woman seemed familiar to him. He didn't know where from, but it would come to him. It always did. He never forgot things for very long.

But now there were other things to concern himself with first. Tonight he would break into the store and wire it to hell. After that he would lounge around some of the flat surfaces of his house and keep track of what the brothers were doing. After that he could let Frieza take the reins from there, cause as much as the bald pest annoyed him, Frieza had a knack for requiring information the old fashioned way.

Violet was beautiful. Goten could hardly believe that he was actually going to her house to cook for her. What was even more unbelievable was that she had started to return the flirting as soon as Gohan was out of earshot. Even before they had left the store she had hooked her arm in his, sending heat to his cheeks and turning his speech into a garbled mess. And instead of running like hell she had laughed at that and called it sweet and charming.

What the actual hell.

Cause if he were being fair with himself, which he tried to avoid as much as he could, most girls seemed undeterred by his advances. He couldn't chalk that up to his lack of effort, so for a while he had walked around with a feeling of annoyance. it wasn't that he was ugly, he was just clumsy and sometimes a little slow to get to the point. So having a woman return the attention he gave her was a very welcome change of pace, even if she was old enough to be his mother.

Like it was Violet's fault that she looked so freakin' smokin' at forty.

So they walked to her house and talked about the little things in life. Violet wanted to know what he liked the most about working in the store and if he was like this with all the women that crossed his path. On reflex he replied that he only did that with the pretty ones. And when he expected her to whack him in the back of the head for his ill manners, she only laughed and put a hand on his shoulder.

His face lit up like a road flare when her lips almost touched his ear.

"Am I really that pretty?"

"Gorgeous, even," he replied without thinking about it.

That made her smile; he could hear it in her voice. "Well, you're not too bad looking yourself either."

That was enough to have him flustered all the way to Violet's house. He managed to keep up the small talk, but as they wound their way through the streets he found his thoughts straying to unsavory places. Like dessert.

Gohan broke the connection with his father and tossed his phone away without giving it much thought. A smile had found its way onto his face without him consenting to it. Gohan had just told Goku about his call with Wukong. His father had cheered, yelled, shouted and after that he had cried. Gohan had joined him and now he was trying to get the moisture stains off his glasses.

It felt good to know that everything they had worked so hard for was about to pay off; their mother would get the care that she deserved and their father could finally take a moment to breathe.

Someone had been observing this from a distance and this person made himself known when Gohan pushed his glasses back up on his nose.

"Good news?"

Gohan looked up and saw Sharpener walking into the office, his keyring twirling around his finger. A smirk was plastered across his face. "Nah, just kiddin'. I was totally eavesdropping on you. Bring it in, man."

That was Sharpener's way of saying "Hug me already." Gohan was glad to take him up on the offer.

Once they released each other Gohan had to ask the obvious question. "What are you doing here, Sharp?"

Sharpener smiled even wider than before. "I have come to bring you even more treasure."

Goten wasn't lying when he said he would cook for Violet. For years he had followed his mother around the kitchen as she prepared meals and he had loved every second of it. This was another one of the major differences between him and Gohan; the latter could set the oven on fire just by looking at it.

So he had learned to cook and he had learned it well. Of course he had done it in part because it would convince the ladies that he was their prince on a white horse. But most of all he had taken it up so eagerly was because he loved food. It was as simple as that. Food brought him comfort when he felt sad and made a joyous day even better. However life had taken turns over the years and one of his hobbies had taken a forced shift into obligation.

Now that his mother was mostly bound to her bed, Goten had appointed himself the family chef. He would cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for him and his parents, always making sure to prepare something for Chi-Chi too, even if she didn't eat it most of the time. She had a bag of nourishing goo hanging right next to her IV drip to provide her with all the needed sustenance.

Still, he liked making food for people and seeing them relish in the taste; there was no greater compliment to him. Well maybe that he wasn't too bad looking, but that was a new one and still had to find its place in the ranking.

Violet's house was humongous, which in turn made her kitchen a paradise. Violet told him that she would be changing into something else; she had come to the store wearing a light jacket and jeans, but as the day progressed the sun had climbed into the sky and warmed up the city. In a span of three weeks the weather had gone from frosty to blazing hot. So she instructed Goten to take whatever he wanted from the pantry or the fridge and he took her up on that happily.

The menu consisted of a salad up front, which went without saying, followed by a lasagna made from scratch. Goten had found a bunch of tomatoes in the vegetable drawer of the fridge, so he sifted them out for sauce and added a nice dash of red wine, something he enjoyed a little too much in his food. There was also a lot of fresh whipped cream and ice lying around, so once he had put the lasagna in the oven he went about making two strawberry sundaes.

Just as he was pouring out the syrup Violet walked into the kitchen. Goten almost dropped the bottle when he saw the light blue sundress she had put on. It wrapped around her snuggly and accentuated in al the right places. He gulped and tried to make it look as if he were having a taste.

"Looks good!" Violet said, joining him by the counter and swiping a finger of whipped cream from one of the glasses. She put it in her mouth and made a sound that sent blood to all the wrong places. "Delicious!"

"T-thank you," Goten said, trying to get a grip on himself and to not look at the back of her, where that damned dress was pulling all the attention to. "It's my own secret recipe."

"Any chance I can get you to share your secrets?"

He acted as if he were considering this, then decided to hit her with a flat out 'no'.

"Aww, c'mon! Now I want to eat sundaes like this every day!"

"Sorry hon, a good magician never reveals his tricks and a good chef never shares his recipes."

A sirk split her face open. "Well then maybe i should just try to bribe you."

"And how were you planning on doing that?"

Violet kept a perfect poker face. "You still have some of that whipped cream left, don't you?"

This time he did drop the syrup bottle.

Violet looked at him from across her dinner table, a glass of red wine in her hands and a half-eaten plate of lasagna in front of her. She had thrown compliment after compliment at Goten about his cooking, chugging wine all the way through. Goten kept pace with her, because the more Violet drank, the more frank she became. Two glasses into the meal Goten felt like she was undressing him with her eyes.

In an attempt to steer the conversation into a more innocent direction he decided to ask her about her collection of Mutaito figurines.

"That is some level of dedication," he told her. "to get to be the only owner of an art collection in the world. To be honest, I'm not always the best with art, so I can't imagine how much effort you put into that."

"Loads and loads," Violet said. Her words were slurring as much as his. "But it was all worth it. Now I can move on to the next thing and pull those little ballerinas up whenever I feel the need to get sentimental."

"I can't imagine how pissed some people are going to be when they find out that you snagged literally everything away from under their noses."

Violet gave him a look then that made him freeze.

"You don't know the half of it," she said. She stared at her glass for a few seconds, then knocked what remained of her wine back in one swallow. She lifted the glass at Goten, who was quick on the uptake and poured himself another as well.

"Then tell me so I know it all." Goten returned the hard stare he received from across the table. She had piqued his interest and now he wanted to know what had gotten on her nerves so suddenly.

She held his eyes where they were for a few seconds more. "Are you sure about that?"

"Dead sure."

"Fine." She swigged more of her wine. "You probably haven't considered it, but being the owner of an entire collection can be dangerous. I know it sounds strange, but when you take into account how people have killed each other over something as small as a pair of boots, it's scary to imagine what they would do for art that is worth hundreds of thousands."

Goten considered this, then gave a nod. He nudged at Violet's plate, then took it away. He served her out her sundae and sat down to hear the rest.

"Have you ever heard of Korrin?" Violet asked him.

"Sure have," Goten said. "He was a furniture maker who died a century and a half ago."

"That's right," Violet said. "Well people have been collecting his work ever since then. A true artist only gets the recognition they deserve after they die. Korrin was no different. And much like with Mutaito there are people who have made it their mission to collect as much of Korrin's work as they can. I know about one of them. His name is Yajirobe."

"I've heard of him!" Goten almost yelled. "Gohan and I actually brought in a Korrin piece last year without realizing it. Our grandfather helped the lady who bought it cause she wanted to have it appraised. He told us that he had sent her to that Yajirobe guy."

"That sounds about right," Violet said. "Well anyway, some of Korrin pieces sell for millions of bucks. So all in all Yajirobe was sitting on about fifty million."

"Wow! Wait, what do you mean he was?"

Violet sighed. "He hasn't been seen in the last two weeks. When the police checked out his house they found nothing but a large bloodstain in his backyard."

"So you're saying he's..."

"Dead, yeah. Though I considered him a friend, that idiot was very much asking for it. He probably had a piece that someone wanted from him and they took it with violence. And they weren't subtle about it at all; they had been sending him cryptic notes about it for over a year. They kept telling him that they knew he had it."

Goten felt his blood freeze over. He had to speak to Gohan as soon as possible.

"Can we talk about something else, though?" Violet asked. "I've finished my sundae and I'm feeling all nice and fuzzy from the wine. I want to get up and do something."

Goten couldn't help from being amused. "And what would you want to do?"

Violet didn't say anything. She just jerked him across the table and kissed him so hard that his lips bruised.