Rewrite: A Half-breed's Life 1

by Xj9

New Version: At age four, Gohan is taken by Raditz and brought to a camp where Gohan is taught how to fight. Five years later, Vegeta, Raditz and Nappa are back to take Gohan away again, and they expect the half-saiyan to help them purge planets. Gohan resists from the beginning, but as time progresses he finds out that playing by his comrades' rules is the only way to survive.

5. Chapter 5: The Unwanted Surprise

Hey!

Thanks for the reviews on the previous chapter! I really appreciate them ^^

Previously on A Half-breed's Life:

Vegeta looked at Raditz. "He gets stronger when he gets angry." The man looked at Gohan again. After this he started laughing, earning confused glances from Nappa and Raditz. "Great." Vegeta smirked as he reached out and gently pushed against Gohan's chin with his fist. "You are definitely going to that camp. The specialists and the cadets there will push you to your limits every day and once you're ready I will shape you into my perfect little soldier."

"You just saved your own life, half-breed." Nappa said cheerfully. "Now we're sure we don't have to kill you."

"No, keeping you alive will be much more rewarding." Vegeta added, still smirking.

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"You have two options, Gohan." Headmaster started when he noticed the rather scared expression on Gohan's face. "One. We can protect you, train you and give you your own room. All you have to do in return is obey our orders and do your chores. The second option is that we leave you right here to fend for yourself and you'll have nobody to protect you from those warriors down there."

Gohan looked down at the cafeteria again before glancing up at the headmaster. The decision wasn't that difficult to make. "Okay." He said softly. "I'll do what you say."

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His father's screams rang through his head. Raditz's laugh as he tortured his father. Vegeta's last words before he left…

"If he can't survive, he's not worth our time."

Fine. They wanted him to toughen up? He would toughen up. Those specialists wanted him to work and train? Fine. He would do just that and he would become the strongest warrior in this camp and once those three saiyans returned…

Gohan narrowed his eyes at the wall in front of him as he leaned on the sink.

"I'm going to kill them."

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"I will join the training session you have with Crimon this afternoon." Hitora stated as his long black hair fell over his shoulder. The man realized that Gohan made a rather thoughtful face, placing his hand against his chin to complete the picture. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing. I just…. I'm trying to remember what I have done to deserve something like that..." Gohan said innocently.

Hitora laughed. "Be prepared." He said before he stood straight and grabbed his papers. "You're dismissed."

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The half-saiyan eyed the beautiful blue sky. "Maybe we could go out and swim in the lake this evening." He suggested as he looked at his two friends. "The weather is beautiful."

Oriko and Judin exchanged glances, somewhat uncomfortable. Gohan noticed the silence and he sent them a questioning glance. "What?"

"We… ehh… It's group night tonight." Oriko said hesitantly.

"Oh…" Gohan nodded. "Right. Sorry. I forgot."

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"Why don't you come over and spent the evening in our lounge." Crimon suggested.

"I have plans." Gohan replied automatically. It's not that he hated the specialists but spending time in their lounge often made other cadets think that he got special treatment. He wanted to stop those rumors, which is one of the reasons why he stopped going over to their quarters lately.

"It's group night." Crimon raised an eyebrow. "You're probably the only cadet who does not have plans tonight."

Enjoy ^^

Chapter 5. The Unwanted Surprise

Judin and Oriko found Gohan not much later and they all decided to be good students and attend the drills. Nobody was happy to attend the drill classes. They were basically there to challenge the students. Even though the class was taught in groups, Duriro, the specialist, kept notes on every cadet and always knew how much drills the particular student could do. He set personal goals for every student. If a cadet managed to do fifty push-ups within a certain amount of time on Monday, Duriro would tell that cadet to do fifty-five push-ups in the same amount of time during the following class.

Gohan got extra classes from Duriro because Duririo's class was only three times a week and Gohan wanted to progress faster, get stronger in less time and make sure that he would continue to push his limits every day and now he had far exceeded the limits of the other cadets so the classes could get rather boring for the boy.

The first drill of that day was push-ups, earning a sigh from the half-saiyan. This was a rather boring drill. Only the grass to look at. No sky or surroundings. Boring.

So the boy found himself talking to Oriko rather quickly. They whispered to each other while they did their push-ups. Duriro did not like it when students talked during the drills. In his opinion, students who had the energy to talk were not putting enough energy in their exercises.

"Be quiet." Justin hissed right before a heavy force landed on Gohan's back, pushing him right to the ground.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but I could swear I could hear someone talking." Duriro asked as he leaned over the half-saiyan, still having his boot on Gohan's back. "Now Saiyan. I'm disappointed in you. If this is too easy for you, you should have told me so. I'm eager to make it more of a challenge for you." He mocked.

Gohan glared at him over his shoulder. "I wasn't the only one who was talking." He complained.

"No, but you need two to talk so as long as I keep one of you occupied, it will work out just fine." The man pressed down on Gohan's back. "Now. Continue your push-ups, Saiyan."

"I would but there is something fairly heavy leaning on my back."

A smirk appeared on Duriro's face. "I'll give you fifty extra." He threatened, but Gohan only snorted. "Sixty…. Seventy…"

Gohan let out a heavy sigh before he pushed up his body, groaning in the effort now that Duriro was pushing down on his back. "Come on, Saiyan. I know you're stronger than this. All those extra classes and for what?"

The half-saiyan sent his teacher an annoyed glance over his shoulder but did not say anything. After all these years, he learned that silence was the smartest remark. Then again, Gohan had never been smart.

Gohan's tail curled around Duriro's lower leg and shoved the man's leg off his back. Duriro was just looking at some other cadets, who seemed to be talking as well, and he didn't notice Gohan's movements. The man gasped as he stumbled back, almost stepping on another cadet.

"Much better." Gohan muttered, a smirk on his face as he continued the push-ups.

Duriro let out a growl and he reached down to grab the back of Gohan's purple uniform. Pulling the boy right up in standing position, Duriro reached for his whip and was surprised when Gohan started to pull off his silver-colored armor. This certainly wasn't the first time one of the specialists whipped him for an offence.

Gohan dropped the armor on the ground and turned his back on Duriro, making sure his black hair was falling over his shoulder and not his back. Duriro realized that the other cadets were watching them and he put his whip back on his belt. "Did I tell you all to stop?" He yelled at them.

The cadets quickly continued their push-ups. "Get back to your drills, Saiyan." Duriro ordered before he walked away, planning on punishing the other talking students. Gohan sent the man a surprised glance but he decided not to fight this decision and grabbed his armor again.

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Gohan entered the large training room and realized the two specialists were already there. They were stretching their legs and talking to each other.

"Saiyan!" Crimon called when he noticed Gohan. "You're late. As usual."

The half-saiyan bit back a retort. No reason to make Crimon angry on a moment like this. He approached the two teachers. "I just had a drill class." He said. "I don't have to stretch. So I could afford to be late."

"Stretching is important." Crimon replied as his wagged his lilac finger at the half-saiyan. "So you are going to do the entire stretching routine again. Just to be safe." Gohan opened his mouth to complain. "Or," Crimon continued, raising his voice, "I can make you do them. I bet with my help you can get very good results."

Gohan put up his hands in defeat. "No. No. No. I'm fine by myself." He stated. "I'm never taking that bullet again." He muttered in a softer voice before he sat down on the ground. "Besides, I am more flexible than all of you combined."

"That's because you're still a child." Crimon countered as he stepped closer. "A child with a very big mouth." His fully black eyes studied the half-saiyan as Gohan stretched.

"Hey, I haven't done anything bad today." Gohan said, frowning at the man.

"You started a fight in the hallway."

"He did?" Hitora asked, looking up from his own stretches. "You know better than that, Saiyan."

Gohan stretched out his legs in front of him, making them stretch entirely and leaned forwards to grab his feet. The boy chose to remain silent at this point.

"No response." Crimon teased. "Now that's something to put in the local newspaper."

"I know the rules of this prison." Gohan replied as he made his right leg bend and placed his right foot against his left knee, leaning over again to stretch the muscles in his left leg. "He provoked me."

"Of course he did." Crimon knelt down next to Gohan. "You're provoked easily, but that's okay because your anger only makes you stronger, which makes you the perfect warrior." The man could not help but smirk when he realized that Gohan was keeping an eye on him, the boy's body ready for any attack. "So I have a valid reason to beat you up."

"I think it's time I started to beat you up." Gohan replied as he shifted his legs so he could stretch his right leg.

"I agree." Crimon got up fully. "Sadly, you're not there yet and you won't be for a very very very long time."

"Just you wait." Gohan called after the man who was walking away from him.

Hitora and Crimon seized each other up. "Are you ready?" Crimon asked, smirking at his comrade.

"I'm all yours." Hitora seemed just as excited to start this fight as Crimon. Hitora threw the first punch, which Crimon dodged easily. Hitora followed his comrade and tried to throw another punch.

Crimon flew up and Hitora followed him up. "It's been a while since we fought." Crimon stated as he blocked another punch. The man tried to kick Hitora.

This kick was blocked. "You've gotten stronger." Hitora threw another punch, and this one came through.

Crimon placed a hand on his cheek. "I can say the same about you."

Gohan watched the fight from the ground. He was eager to jump in but he needed to complete his stretches. Crimon had a way of knowing when Gohan did not do something he told him to do.

Those two specialists were strong. He could see all their moves, which is something that happened over time. When he was younger he could hardly see them at all, but now he could even see the sweat drops on their faces.

Gohan jumped up. All done. Now it was time to start the fun part.

The half-saiyan looked up and studied their movements. Right there. Gohan bent through his knees and used his power to shoot up. He pulled back a fist and tried to punch Crimon. The man did not see this coming and he was hit full-on.

Gohan gasped. "I hit you!" He said, grinning fully.

Hitora laughed in response to Gohan's exclamation. Crimon placed a hand on his cheek once more. "Yes, you hit me. Now I'll hit you." He swung a fist at Gohan but the half-saiyan dove under it.

The fight continued while Hitora watched. It did not take the man long to join the other two though and soon they were all at it fully. Punching, kicking, attacking, catching punches. Sweat dripped down their foreheads. Their knuckles were red and bloody from punching so often, hitting solid objects or less solid, more fleshy objects, that their own flesh gave in.

After a while, Gohan was panting heavily. The other two were panting as well. Maybe not as heavily as Gohan, but they showed signs of exhaustion. It made Gohan feel better about himself. He was at the stage that they were pretty much equally exhausted. He could keep up with them.

Though at one point, Crimon seemed to find something very amusing. It is true they managed to land a lot of punches today, but Gohan was distracted. A bit. He kept feeling those strange power levels… That restless sensation inside his body. Still, this was not a reason to think that they could defeat Gohan easily today.

However…

Crimon disappeared from in front of him and Gohan looked around. Where did he go? Hitora was still there, throwing punches at the half-saiyan and making it difficult for the boy to focus on Crimon.

A sharp pain in his back was his first warning. The boy felt his entire body going weak. His shaking knees fell to the ground, dragging the rest of his body with them.

"Come on…" Gohan groaned as he managed to get on his hands and knees. "Give me a break."

Crimon smirked down at the half-saiyan as he tightened his grip of the boy's tail. "After all these years, you still don't guard your back enough." He taunted. "I keep telling you to make sure nobody can grab your tail but you never listen. Well, then you'll have to feel it."

Hitora made his way to the other two and was waiting for Crimon to finish his speech while he was studying the half-saiyan. He was actually surprised that Gohan did not notice Crimon sneaking up on him. The boy was usually very vigilant when it came to protecting his tail. Crimon nodded to Hitora and the man pulled back a leg.

Gohan looked up at him just as Hitora kicked against his cheek as if he was kicking a football. Gohan's face was knocked sideways and the two specialists were distracted by a small object that flew right out of Gohan's mouth.

"I've got a tooth!" Hitora cheered as he ran over to where the small white tooth had fallen and picked it up. Gohan automatically used his tongue to feel where the newly made gap was.

When the specialists found out that Gohan's race was one of those races who had baby teeth, they started collecting Gohan's teeth as if they were precious prizes. It was all a game to them to see if they could knock out one of Gohan's loose teeth during the lessons or trainings. Gohan had lost one tooth while he was alone in his room and he kept it under his pillow. He knew about the tooth fairy but his tooth had always been under his pillow when he woke up. No money. No nothing. He figured tooth fairies only lived on planet Earth and not here. Gohan decided that he liked to keep his own tooth. The specialists stole all the others and since everything had been taken away from him lately, this one small piece of his own was more important to him than anything else.

"Is it a primary tooth or a permanent one?" Crimon asked curiously as he watched Hitora walk closer.

"It's small. I think primary." Hitora showed the tooth as he walked back to the two warriors.

Crimon looked back down at Gohan. "Good. That means you'll grow it back." He mentioned to the half-saiyan as he tightened his grip on Gohan's tail.

"Let me go, Crimon." Gohan said, sighing.

Hitora put the tooth in his armor and he cracked his knuckles. The half-saiyan glanced up at him. "Now, where were we..." Hitora said thoughtfully. "Oh right!" The man pulled back his leg and kicked Gohan once more.

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"Talk about fighting dirty." Judin complained as he frowned at the half-saiyan. The boy watched as Gohan dabbed a piece of cloth against his bloody nose. "Grabbing your tail is just not fair."

"He just wants me to be vigilant. He is right. I can't let the enemy catch my tail." Gohan replied as he placed the cloth back on the sink.

"Still," Oriko leaned against the doorway. "It's not fair."

"Well, if there is one thing that I have learned over the years, that is that life isn't fair." Gohan's tail was carrying his clothes as he walked around. "I'm fine. I just need a quick shower." Gohan looked at the bruises on his legs and arms as he said this. "Nothing serious. Shouldn't you two be getting to your group activities?"

"I still have some time." Oriko checked the clock on the wall.

"Our activity just started. I should probably get going." Judin hesitated. "Are you two going to be fine?"

Gohan smiled at his friend. "We'll be fine. Go and indulge in the r-rated movies and alcoholic beverages." He said as he waved his friend away. Judin excused himself and left.

"What about you?" Gohan asked, looking at Oriko.

Oriko shrugged. "I still have about an hour." He replied.

"Which means that some of the guys are already at the place of your activity." Gohan concluded. "Go, Oriko. They like it when you arrive early."

Oriko shrugged. "I'll go in a second."

Gohan wrapped a towel around his waist, making sure it was secure. "You don't have to babysit me. I can take care of myself." He turned to Oriko fully now. "Shoo."

"Thunder started their activity two hours ago and they have been getting quite drunk. I just… I don't want you to run into any of them." Oriko said, looking out the hallway to make sure nobody was there.

"Nothing is going to happen." Gohan crossed his arms over each other. "I'm going to take a shower and then I'm going right back to the specialist lounge. They want me to clean their windows or something."

Oriko sent another hesitant look down the hallway and Gohan walked closer to his friend. Placing a hand on Oriko's shoulder, Gohan leaned forward and said: "Go."

"Fine, but…" Oriko sighed as he stepped away from the doorway, brushing a hand through his short black hair. "Okay. I'm going. You'd better not be getting in any trouble."

"I'll definitely try." Gohan said with a grin. The boy watched Oriko walk away before turning to the showers. The boy shook his head as he pulled the towel from his hips and turned on the shower. His friends were way too overprotective in his opinion.

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"Don't worry." Headmaster said as he looked in Gohan's open mouth. "It's a primary tooth. I can already see the next one coming up." The man watched as Gohan closed his mouth. "It will be fine." The patted Gohan's head. "Go do your chores."

The half-saiyan nodded and walked to the kitchen. There had been a food fight earlier that day in the cafeteria and the windows of the specialists were damaged by it so they called Gohan in to clean the windows.

Headmaster sighed as he sat down on the couch. "A food fight." He complained. "Where was everyone?"

"Teaching. Working. Training." Crimon said. He was training with Hitora and Gohan when it happened. "The guards couldn't keep them all."

"Do we have too many students? Are they getting too much for us?" Duriro asked, looking at the others specialists. "We have never put a limit on the amount of students in our camp, but maybe we should."

"I agree." Kapo looked up from his files. He was reading the papers of the students of his class. "Things have been rather difficult lately. Escape attempts, fights out of classes, bullying, destroyed property.. We can't handle them anymore."

"Yes, we can. The guards just need to step up their game. We have to hire some more guards and train the others betters." Crimon looked out the window to the cafeteria. "And we'll give harder punishments."

Gohan was carrying a bucket with water. "If you want to reduce the numbers, I know a group of students who would love to get out of here."

Headmaster laughed. "I bet you do." He replied without looking at the half-saiyan.

"I'm just saying, you don't have to allow everyone in here and you can easily let some of the current students go." Gohan persisted.

Crimon, who was standing near Gohan, turned to the half-saiyan fully and knelt down in front of him. "Even if we will have to send every single cadet away, we will make sure to keep you right here." He stated, smirking at the young warrior. "Besides, who would scrub our toilets if you're not here?" The man's smirk broadened when Gohan glared at him. Gohan might come in every day to do the chores without too much complaining, but the fact they were forcing Gohan to do chores and clean up after them was still a touchy subject for the half-saiyan.

"You will find out someday, won't you?" Gohan replied angrily. "Either the saiyans will come to pick me up or I will manage to escape from this hellhole but someday I will definitely be out of here and then you'll have to kneel down on the ground to scrub your own damn toilets." The boy's glare intensified as leaned a little closer. "That thought keeps me going."

Headmaster had gotten up by now and walked closer. "But that time hasn't come just yet." He pushed against Gohan's shoulder. "Go do your task or you won't get any dinner today." Gohan held Crimon's gaze for a moment but then turned to the balcony and walked out.

Headmaster let out a breath while Crimon got up. "You shouldn't taunt him like that." Headmaster chastised. "The only reason why he hasn't escaped yet is because he refuses to fight us whenever we catch them. If you keep riling him up like that he'll change his mind someday."

Crimon waved this away. "I can handle the brat."

"Can you?" Headmaster's gaze moved away from the half-saiyan, who was now cleaning the other side of the windows, to Crimon. "His most recent tantrum knocked out fifty guards at once. Fifty!" The man took a deep breath as his gaze moved back to Gohan. "That boy is going to be more powerful than all of us soon.

"If you're afraid he's going to use that power against us, we'll just have to make sure he won't even consider something like that by limiting his confidence. Beat him up." Crimon crossed his arms over each other. "In order to keep a brat down, you have to beat him down every time he tries to get up until he stops trying. I know that and I'll bet Vegeta knows that too. The first thing that boy will do is beat saiyan up. Trust me on that." The specialist nodded wisely. "He talked back to me just now. He swore. Reason enough to punish him."

Headmaster slowly shook his head. "I don't think that is necessary. He is obeying our orders isn't he?"

The two specialists watched as Gohan noticed their glances and stuck out his tongue to them before he flew up to clean one of the higher corners of the windows. "Yeah.." Crimon muttered. "But it's that attitude that is bugging me."

Headmaster laughed in response. "Boys will be boys." He stated before turning away from the window.

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"So, talk to me." Crimon stated as he looked at the half-saiyan.

After supper, Crimon took Gohan to the kitchen and closed the door behind them to give them some privacy. Gohan did not feel like sitting or talking but after a short argument, Gohan sat down on the counter near the large window. Crimon leaned against the wall opposite Gohan and gave the boy a studying glance.

"What's bothering you, boy?"

"Nothing." Gohan looked down. "I'm fine." He shifted back until he could lean against the wall, pulling his legs up on the counter and placing his feet on it. This counter had been out of commission for a very long time. There used to be a small cage standing on top of it. A crib they put upside down in order to trap the young Saiyan when he was naughty. They used to lock him up in the kitchen, in his little makeshift cage, for hours back when he was too young to be punished with physical punishment. That was until Gohan destroyed it during one of his tantrums.

"You don't want to tell me?"

"There is nothing to tell."

"Alright." Crimon detached himself from the wall and stepped closer to the half-saiyan. Gohan looked up when Crimon appeared in front of him and placed his hands on the counter. Towering over the half-saiyan, the man sent the boy a threatening glare.

"What are you doing?" Gohan asked, not impressed.

"I'm intimidating you."

A smile appeared on Gohan's face. "Did that work when I was younger?"

"It did actually." Crimon was struggling to keep a straight face right now. Obviously, it did not work anymore.

"Hmmm…" Gohan uttered as he looked down again, the smile slowly fading.

Crimon moved back to give Gohan some more space. "Is this about the groups?"

Gohan's gaze moved to the empty cafeteria. "No."

"Liar."

"Why won't they accept me?" Gohan looked up at the specialist. "What is wrong with me?"

Crimon chose his words carefully. "It has nothing to do with you personally. Thunder has a tendency to be difficult. You just came here at the wrong time. You met the wrong people when you first arrived. It's all coincidences. "

"The whole camp is having fun and I'm just sitting here." Even though this place used to be where his cage was, he had the tendency to sit down here whenever he was sent to the kitchen to cool off. It was a comfortable place to sit. He looked up again. "Why do they hate me so much?"

"You're stronger than they are. That's why they are so hard on you." Crimon replied, shrugging. "It's how this world works. The stronger you get, the more horrible your opponents become."

"I didn't even want to be here." Gohan complained.

Crimon reached out and placed a hand on Gohan's head, rubbing his thumb against Gohan's forehead gently. "Come on. We've had some tough times over the years, right?" Gohan looked up at him. "And you managed to pull yourself out of every dark hole. Don't tell me that you're going to give up now?"

"It would make my life a lot easier." Crimon's hand lowered to Gohan's ear and pinched in it. "Auch! Hey!" Gohan complained.

"What are you?"

"Are we really doing this?" Gohan asked, sighing.

"Yes. Tell me."

"I'm a saiyan." Gohan replied in a monotone voice. "Though if I would have been a full-blood human I wouldn't have been in this mess.."

"And Saiyans are…?" Crimon asked, ignoring Gohan's comments.

"The strongest warriors in the universe." Gohan rolled his eyes.

"So?"

"So I am strong and I cannot let anyone put me down." A small smile appeared on Gohan's face when Crimon tousled his hair roughly.

"That's my boy." Crimon said cheerfully. "Us being the exception of course."

Gohan made a face at his teacher. "That doesn't make any sense!" He exclaimed.

"I don't have to make sense. I am always right." Crimon replied.

"That makes even less sense." Gohan shook his head.

When they left the kitchen, Duriro looked up and called Gohan over. "Saiyan! Come here and tell Aiku he is wrong."

Crimon gently pushed against Gohan's shoulder to send him on his way and the boy ran closer to the other specialist. Hitora approached Crimon.

"What was the problem?" Hitora asked as he stopped next to Crimon.

Crimon crossed his arms over each other, his gaze on the half-saiyan. "It's nothing serious. He just needed a pep talk." The man explained. "We all need one of those once in a while."

Later that evening Gohan was back in his bed. Slowly, cadets started to get in too. They all fell in their beds, tired. The half-saiyan smiled when he saw the first friendly face of the evening.

"Good night." Gohan whispered to Judin.

The older cadet froze and turned to Gohan. "Hey," He knelt down next to Gohan's bed. "I figured you were asleep." He whispered back.

Gohan slowly shook his head as he turned on his side so he could look at Judin easier. "I can't sleep. Everyone is making too much noise."

Judin yawned. "Please don't wake us up early tomorrow." He pleaded.

Gohan snickered. "I'll try to remember that." He teased in response. Judin petted Gohan's head before whispering good night and leaving for his own bed.

The boy watched as Judin clumsy crawled into his bed. The lights were out. It was pitch black at times like these. Gohan could still see in the dark. His night vision was very good compared to some races, like Judin, who was practically blind in this darkness.

Once Oriko was safely in his bed as well, Gohan could close his eyes and rest. He knew that his friends could take care of themselves, but knowing that they were safe in their beds made Gohan feel more comfortable and allowed him to sleep.

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True to his word, Gohan allowed Judin and Oriko to sleep the following morning. The boy got up early and walked through the silent building. He liked the camp on times like these. Nobody was up yet. Everyone was still in the world of their dreams.

The half-saiyan did what he did almost every morning. He entered the specialists' lounge by entering his special code in the electronic lock, and got the cleaning supplies from the kitchen. Finding a spot near the entrance to the private rooms of the specialists, Gohan started to clean the floor. He always started near the entrance so that the floor there would be dry when the specialists woke up.

He'd been working for a whilewhen the door to the specialists' private rooms opened and revealed Erupa, the specialist who taught specific types of martial arts and gave extra classes to the students who could not keep up with the regular classes. He was basically a private tutor.

"Good morning." Gohan stated when Erupa walked in the room. The man yawned as he walked, showing off his long black teeth. His scary teeth, dark blue skin with brown spots and two horns on his head made him look quite monstrous. Gohan used to be terrified of him when he first arrived at the camp. This fear went away quite quickly when Gohan realized that Erupa was the most gentle teacher in the camp and the least dangerous one. "You're up early."

"Couldn't sleep." Erupa walked straight to the kitchen. "How long have you been working?" He called.

"Couple of hours." Gohan looked at the clock. "Almost done."

Erupa nodded as he turned on the coffee machine. Letting Gohan do the chores was headmaster's idea and Erupa found it rather convenient as well. In the beginning, Gohan had the tendency to whine and he was rather slow because he could not reach the higher areas of the windows and closets. As he got older, his pace progressed and now he usually finished all his chores before they even woke up.

While waiting for his coffee, the man heated up the stove and let some milk pour into a pan. Gohan dipped the cloth in the water before continuing to rub the floor. He usually used this time to think over his latest lessons. Aside from his normal combat, strategy and history classes, he had his extra training sessions with Crimon and Hitora. Headmaster taught him math and other subjects. Gohan wanted to be smarter than the average soldier and he actually liked learning new things. All this and his chores, made him a rather busy cadet, but he did not mind being busy. He liked being busy. It took his mind off his home planet and his mother. Topics he did not want to think about.

Suddenly, Gohan looked up when he smelled something rather nice. Erupa was sitting at the table and he was reading a hologram of the universal newspaper while sipping from his coffee. On the other side of the table Gohan noticed a small cup of warm milk which was accompanied by a silver package.

"That wouldn't happen to be for me, would it?" Gohan was already standing next to the table, licking his lips in anticipation.

In this camp, the cadets could only drink water and nothing else. Of course, the specialists did not bother intercepting any smuggling in of other beverages. Simply because they did not care. The specialists themselves had certain privileges that the cadets didn't have so they could actually drink other beverages. Warm milk was something that Gohan discovered in camp. One of the specialists bought it but nobody, including the person who bought it, liked it. Gohan was allowed to take a sip and he loved it. The half-saiyan often wondered why they continued to buy the milk seeing as they did not like it and only tended to feed it to Gohan, but he was not going to complain.

"Hurry up and eat it before someone else does." Erupa said, a small smile on his face.

Gohan grabbed the glass with both hands and quickly started to drink from it. His eyes landed on the small package and he placed the glass on the table. Chocolate! Well… That's what he called it. The real name of the product was rather hard to pronounce and it reminded Gohan of the chocolate bars he ate on planet earth. That's why he called it chocolate.

"Do you want some?" Gohan offered as he held out the chocolate bar. Erupa shook his head in response and Gohan quickly ate the whole thing. After this he drank the rest of the milk, licking his lips afterwards.

"Thanks." The half-saiyan said before he walked back to the bucket.

"No problem, kiddo." Erupa continued to read his newspaper while Gohan grabbed the bucket and moved it so he could continue cleaning another area of the lounge.

**** DBZ **** DBZ ****

Gohan studied the math book, sighing when he realized he did not understand the explanation at all. He would have to visit Hitora for this. The boy was so emerged in his book that he did not even notice the bell for breakfast.

"There you are!" Judin ran closer to the half-saiyan.

Gohan looked over his shoulder and watched his friend walk closer. "What's wrong?"

"We couldn't find you." Judin responded as he sat down on one of the chairs. "Didn't you hear the breakfast bell?"

The half-saiyan gasped. "Oh no. Please tell me that breakfast isn't over yet."

"Sorry."

"Ah man.." Gohan complained as he closed his book.

"I did bring you breakfast though."

Gohan eyed the package Judin was holding and held out his hands. "You're a lifesaver! I owe you one."

"You definitely do." Judin chuckled as he handed Gohan the package. He knew it was not enough to still Gohan's appetite but it would have to do. It was all he had.

The two warriors had known each other for a while now. Their first meeting was not even all that promising considering the friendship that grew out of it. Then again, what kind of friendly meeting was to be expected on a warrior camp…

**** Flashback ****

Gohan was heading down the hallway, thinking deeply about his last training session with Hitora. He still had a lot to learn. Hitora was so much stronger than he was.

The seven-year-old looked up when someone called him. "Saiyan!" Gohan looked over his shoulder and watched as Crimon ran closer. "I want you to come with me."

"Why?"

"I didn't tell you to ask questions." Crimon responded briefly. Gohan rolled his eyes when Crimon turned away from him and started walking. The boy decided to follow the man and find out what Crimon had in store for him.

The two entered Headmaster's office where Hitora was already present. Headmaster looked up when the two arrived. "You brought Gohan?" He asked Crimon.

"Yup. I bet these two will have a lot in common." Crimon replied cheerfully. "They're practically soulmates."

Gohan walked around the chair so he could look at the person who was sitting there. It turned out to be a rather young boy. Younger than most warriors. The boy glared back at Gohan. His dark green eyes angry. The boy's long purple hair was wavy, as if it usually was tied up in a braid.

"Judin here was just telling us how quickly he is going to get out of here." Headmaster said, smiling.

"This here," Crimon placed both hands on Gohan's shoulders, "is saiyan. He wants to get out of here as badly as you do."

"You two should get together and hold hands and meditate in your hopeless eagerness to leave this place." Hitora teased as he leaned on against of the smaller cabinets.

"You wouldn't believe it, but this boy has actually tried to escape." Crimon tightened his grip on Gohan's shoulder, putting more force into it than necessary. The half-saiyan widened his eyes somewhat in response to this and he could not help but reach up to try to peel Crimon's fingers off his shoulder, but the man only pressed his fingers into Gohan's shoulders.

"Why don't you tell the new kid how hard it is to actually escape from this facility?" Hitora asked, smirking at the boy. "You never failed to amaze us with your creativity."

"Why don't you tell him about the punishments we gave you?" Crimon added cruelly as he leaned forward. Gohan had given up on peeling the man's fingers off his shoulders but now elbowed backwards, hitting Crimon in the stomach, forcing the man to release his shoulders.

The boy disappeared from his position and reappeared next to Headmaster. Crimon growled as he glared at the half-saiyan. "Saiyan. Come here." He ordered, obviously planning on paying the boy back.

"I'm fine here." Gohan replied innocently, placing his hands on Headmaster's desk. The man smirked as he petted Gohan's head. The half-saiyan turned to the new boy. "Congratulations. As you can see, you just landed in the worst place you could possibly land in. Why did you decide to come here?"

"I didn't." The boy growled back. "My master brought me here and is forcing me to stay here."

"You have a cruel master." Gohan stated, nodding.

Headmaster leaned back on his seat. "Crimon. Hitora. You two can leave while we finish everything up here."

Crimon looked over his shoulder as he stood in the doorway. "I'm looking forward to our training session today, Saiyan. Especially since this meeting will still be fresh in my mind." He stated ominously before leaving the room.

Gohan scoffed but did not respond verbally.

"Training session?" Judin asked, looking over at Gohan.

The half-saiyan shrugged. "We train together because he's one of the strongest warriors here." He explained.

"So… Why is he looking forward to fighting you?" Judin questioned, frowning a bit.

"He's stronger than me." Gohan said cheerfully. "They tend to beat me up when I get sassy." He added as he pointed to headmaster with his thumb. Judin's expression only got worried. He did not know Gohan but hearing that grown men liked to beat up children just made Judin feel queasy. "Don't worry. I get stronger every time and one day I'll beat them up."

"Children and their fantasies." Headmaster muttered as he wrote a last note down.

"Your name is Judin, right?" Gohan asked, earning a nod from Judin. "I'm Gohan."

"Didn't that guy call you saiyan?"

Headmaster snickered when Gohan growled in annoyance. "They just call me that because I don't like it. I'm half-saiyan. It's my race. I just tended to deny that I am a saiyan and they try to remind me of it by calling me saiyan." He explained. "My uncle and his friends dumped me here a couple of years ago. I've tried to get away from here but they won't let me go."

"That's because we're very fond of you, Gohan." Headmaster muttered as he closed the document.

Gohan scoffed. "Yeah right." He replied sarcastically. Turning to Judin, he snatched the key out of Headmaster's hands and jumped over the desk. "Want me to show you to your room?" He suggested. "I figure you'll be wanting to get rid of those old geezers."

"Don't forget your training session with Crimon." Headmaster warned.

"I won't. Why does everyone keep reminding me of that?" Gohan complained as he opened the door. The boy turned sideways so he could look at Headmaster.

"You tend to forget it on purpose."

"You can't forget something on purpose."

"Normal people can't, but you can."

Gohan sent Headmaster a glare and promptly left, Judin trailing after him. The older warrior glanced at the half-saiyan. "Do you still want to get out of here?" He asked. Gohan nodded without saying anything. "Did you stop trying to escape?"

Gohan grinned at him. "Of course not. Why? Do you want to join me on my journey to freedom?"

"I would do anything to get out of here."

"Good. So we're partners in crime." Gohan stated, pumping his fist in the air.

Judin could not help but smile. "I guess we are."

**** End of Flashback ****

"Where's Oriko?" Gohan asked around his mouthful of food.

"I lost him somewhere." Judin said thoughtfully. The boy reached down his uniform and pulled out some pieces of clothing. "You left your pajamas on your bed this morning." He watched as Gohan grabbed the folded pieces of clothing and put it in his uniform. "Isn't that the same outfit you've been wearing for the past years?"

"Hey," Gohan complained, "Some of us do not have a generous master who sends us a new set of pajamas and Sunday clothes every six months." The boy got up. "Besides, I'm still growing into these old clothes the specialists gave me." He started for the doorway. "Come on. Class is starting."

Judin shook his head. "We don't have any classes today." He replied as he got up too.

"No classes? Why not?"

"Someone is getting picked up today." Judin responded, shrugging. "They might want to give the person time to say goodbye to his group."

"Lucky guy." Gohan muttered as he looked ahead. "Let's head for the training rooms."

"Do I detect jealousy?" Judin teased as he appeared next to Gohan.

"Do I detect foolishness?" Gohan countered, raising an eyebrow at his friend. "You know how I think about those goons. I don't want them to pick me up."

"But you don't like that they haven't picked you up either."

"When they pick me up, I will kill them." Gohan replied, nodding once.

"You make it sound so easy." Judin muttered, placing his hands on his hips. "Crimon said that he would rather fight Freeza himself than face Vegeta. He advised you to keep your head down and do what Vegeta says. What makes you think you can kill them like that? You can't even defeat Crimon and Vegeta's supposed to be even stronger."

"The specialists don't know what they're talking about. They're just trying to scare me by saying things like that." Gohan shook his head. "But I'm not falling for it."

"Just… Try to stay alive." Judin muttered.

"I will. Trust me. I was destined to kill them." Gohan shrugged. "Alright. Which room are we going for? Let's see if we can get the biggest one."

"Room 5." Judin opened the door. "At your service." He motioned for Gohan to get in and the half-saiyan played along.

They got their warmups out of the way and were ready and eager to get the real fighting going. The two charged at each other, trying each other out and fighting their hardest.

Gohan smirked when he managed to land a punch on his friend. "How are you holding up, Judin?" He asked. He sounded genuine but there was some amusement in his voice.

"I'm doing just fine." Judin snarled back. The older warrior managed to catch Gohan's next punch, and he tightened his grip on Gohan's fist. The half-saiyan only got the time to make a surprised face before Judin pulled on Gohan's fist, pulling the boy and forcing Gohan to whirled around and around until Judin let him go and let gravity take over.

Gohan managed to turn around in the air and pushed off of the wall, launching back at his friend and punching him in his stomach. Judin gasped in pain and floated back as he clutched his stomach with his hands.

"Let's end this, shall we?" Gohan yelled as he floated back. The half-saiyan moved his hands forwards, holding one arm above the other before bringing both of them to his hip, cupping his hands. A smirk appeared on Gohan's face when a look of fear appeared on Judin's face.

"You're in a terrific mood today." Judin yelled back as he powered up. He put his hands together and started to create his own blast, knowing full well that his own attack would not last against Gohan's.

Gohan bent through his knees somewhat and concentrated his energy. "Ka…Me…Ha…" The boy realized how much power Judin was putting in his attack and he chuckled silently. Even Crimon had trouble deflecting this attack. "Me…HAAA."

The two blasts reached each other in the middle of the room. The walls were energy absorbent so the blasts would not do any damage to the building itself. The students could go all out. Judin's blast did not match up to Gohan's blast and the boy was overtaken, thrown back to the ground.

Gohan was panting a little as he landed on the ground. He stepped closer to his friend and held out his hand. "I'm sorry. I overdid it a little." He muttered, smiling sheepishly.

"A little? Damn it, Half-breed. Remind me never to enter a training room when you're in a bad mood again." He muttered. "I keep letting you trick me into these beatings." Judin accepted Gohan's hand and let the boy help him up. "Headmaster is going to kill me when I ask for yet another new uniform."

Gohan shrugged. "It will give him something to do." Once Judin was fully standing, the two walked to the entry. Gohan suddenly tensed and looked behind him. He felt like someone was watching him. The boy's gaze ran over the entire room for a moment but when he did not notice anything strange, Gohan turned back to his friend.

"What does my eye see?" The two boys looked up when they heard a familiar voice. Oriko and a couple of others cadets walked closer. "Someone got his butt kicked by a child." Oriko teased as he eyed Judin's injuries.

"He used the kameha thing on me. What do you expect?" Judin complained, elbowing Gohan when the boy snickered.

"The kameha thing?" Oriko repeated, his gaze landing on Gohan. "Someone is in a bad mood."

"And eager to take it out on you. Giving both of you a beating makes my day a lot better." Gohan countered as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Well then. Instead of standing around all day, why don't we get in that training room?" One of the other cadets urged. "I want to get this fight started."

"I agree." Gohan motioned for the others to follow them and they started for the training room. "Does anyone know who is getting picked up today?" Gohan asked, glancing at his friends. "Is it someone of our group?"

"Nobody really knows." Oriko replied, frowning a little. "It's a secret."

Gohan sported a mischievous expression. "We could sneak into headmaster's office and see if we can find out who is leaving." He suggested.

"I don't think that's necessary." Oriko was looking at something in front of them. Gohan was looking at Judin when Oriko spoke and the boy glance at his older friend, who was still staring ahead. Everyone suddenly fell silent and looked ahead.

"Why not?" Gohan asked before finally looking ahead to see what made everyone look so surprised.

The boy's mouth fell open as his eyes landed on the people in front of him. The color drained from his face and the boy stepped back.

"Good day, half-saiyan. Long time no see."

**** DBZ *** DBZ ****

I hope you like it! Please review and let me know what you think!

Until next time!