Risk
Chapter 31
Slowly, Chi-chi's eyes opened and when she realized that she was in an unfamiliar setting, she sat up in bed before noticing she was in a pure white nightgown. The room she was in looked like she was sleeping in a royal guest suite; however, those thoughts were brushed aside when Kirin entered the room.
"Did you sleep well last night, Chi-chi?" Kirin questioned.
"I don't remember saying I would stay," Chi-chi looked at Kirin in a confused manner.
"You fell asleep before you were going to leave," Kirin lied; not telling her of the sleeping spell he placed upon her.
"Well, I need to get going," Chi-chi started to get out of bed.
"How about after breakfast," Kirin smiled softly. "After all, you can't go home without something to eat…"
"You're right," Chi-chi smiled back softly.
"Come with me then," Kirin held out a hand. Chi-chi took it and he gently pulled the woman to her feet.
After breakfast, Chi-chi picked up Gohan and Goten before arriving home. There, they saw Piccolo standing there with a serious expression on his face.
"Piccolo, why are you here?" Chi-chi questioned.
"Haven't you forgotten the weekly sparring we were supposed to do?" Piccolo growled at Chi-chi. "Where have you been?"
"Like it's any of your business," Chi-chi rebuked. Piccolo's eyes widened at the spark that she had regained somehow. She surely hadn't shown this side in a while; especially after… "Give me a few minutes to make sure I have Goten's things packed."
"Very well, but make it snappy." Piccolo growled at the female warrior. Chi-chi carried Goten inside of the house to prepare for their sparring session.
"Hey Piccolo!" Gohan exclaimed.
"Hey kid," Piccolo greeted Gohan. "Why is your mother acting so different?"
"She's seeing a counselor." Gohan grinned like there was nothing wrong.
A furrowed look seemed to grace Piccolo's face. He seemed more serious now. "When did she start seeing one?"
"Just yesterday. Why? Is something wrong?" Gohan questioned; wondering why the Namekian would ask such a question.
"I'm sure it's just a phase," Piccolo commented; however, a nagging feeling seemed to nibble at the back of his mind. 'I better talk to her about this…'
"Gohan said you were seeing some sort of counselor," Piccolo asked Chi-chi while he and the female warrior were alone later that evening. Gohan and Goten were already asleep and the human was reading a romance novel of some sort.
"When did he say this?" Chi-chi asked while looking up from her book.
"Earlier when you refused to answer me," Piccolo snorted. "Why are you going through the trouble talking to some complete stranger?"
"Kirin's not really a stranger…" Chi-chi began.
"What is he then?" Piccolo interjected; not really comfortable with the idea of her talking to an Earthling about her problems.
"A… a neighbor…"
"You ever met him before yesterday?"
"No, but why should it matter? He's kind enough to help."
"For what price though?"
"You know, I never discussed that with him…" Chi-chi suddenly realized that he never brought up the idea of paying for these sessions.
"And is he even certified?"
"I'm sure he is."
"You should check to be on the safe side. Sometimes, people tend to claim this and turn out to be lying."
"I'll do that."
"And I wouldn't sleep over at his house."
"You're not my dad!" Chi-chi snapped; easily offended by the Namekian's words.
"I didn't say I was! The way you go to him completely trusting is probably making Goku or Kakarrot want to kill this guy if he tries to take advantage of you!" Piccolo defended himself. The Namekian warrior knew if the Earth-raised Saiya-jin were alive, he would condemn the whole idea of her going over there in the first place. "The way you went there was irresponsible!"
"Get out," Chi-chi growled; her energy rising. Piccolo, not wanting to cause a commotion, turned to the door.
"If you don't open your eyes, you're going to lose more than just your husband," Piccolo warned before storming out of the house; slamming the door behind him.
A heavy sigh of irritation escaped Chi-chi's throat. For the moment, she didn't feel like dealing with Goku's former arch-nemesis; especially when she assumed that Kirin had nothing to hide.
It was early the next morning when the phone rang. Chi-chi grabbed it while feeding Goten breakfast as usual.
"Hello?" Chi-chi answered the phone.
"Hello Chi-chi, it's good to speak to you again," Kirin's soothing voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Kirin, what is it?" Chi-chi began. She still had a headache from the verbal spar she had with Piccolo the night before and was hoping it wasn't anything serious.
"I wanted to ask you to come by early tomorrow for your next appointment," Kirin told Chi-chi. "I have a completely open schedule if you want to get something off your chest."
"Actually, there are a few more things I wanted to talk about…"
"Brilliant, mind stopping by at 9:30 tomorrow morning?"
"Of course." Chi-chi wrote it down on the calendar. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Very good. Have a nice afternoon."
"You too." After hanging up, Chi-chi finished feeding Goten. Once the child was temporarily content, she went up to her room to write in her journal again.
9 September 767
I have another appointment with Kirin tomorrow.
I'm still a bit uneasy about going back to his office after I woke up in a guest room of his, but maybe I did fall asleep before leaving. Maybe I feel this way because I'm worried that Goten will start to see him as his father one day instead of a counselor. In time, I might end up having to take him there when he's old enough to understand what's going on.
Even now, I still wonder how I will I be able to tell my youngest son the truth about his father's death at Cell's hands. I don't think I would be able to do it. He might assume that his father doesn't love him.
The only person who's against me seeing Kirin so far is Piccolo. I'm sure Kirin's a wonderful counselor and has degrees from some of the best colleges. If he wasn't certified, he would be sure to tell me right?
Kirin had waited for Chi-chi to come over again the next day. Their session had been just as long as the last one.
"Chi-chi, you should stay the night again," Kirin suggested.
"I'm fi…" Chi-chi suddenly felt the same tiring feeling she felt before and fainted. Kirin caught her before she hit the ground.
"With each night, may she become mine more and more," Kirin chanted a spell, "and lose affection to the one that had left her out of death."
Chi-chi was running through a field when she saw Goku standing there. As she tried to reach for her, he slapped her; knocking her to the ground. His eyes were filled with hatred and disgust.
"G-Goku?" Chi-chi looked up at her husband before she noticed Kakarrot standing behind him.
"I hate you," both Goku and Kakarrot said at the same time; almost though they were acting as one with their misplaced hatred. The very words were like a knife stabbing her in the heart.
"W-what?" Chi-chi stared at them in aghast.
"You broke your vow…"
"…for richer or poorer…"
"…in sickness and health…"
"…till death do we part…"
"…this is why you betrayed us," both of them said once more before two blasts merged into one and flew at Chi-chi.
"Gah!" The very scream awakened Chi-chi. She found herself once more in the bed in the same beautiful nightgown she was wearing.
"Are you alright?" Kirin asked when he came in the room with worry on his face.
"I'm fine, but I should be getting home…" Chi-chi admitted. She absentmindedly touched the ring that she wore around her neck on the golden chain.
'That ring holds sentimental value… I'm sure I can enchant it somehow…' Kirin thought to himself. "How about I take you home after breakfast? It's a wonderful day and I'm sure you wouldn't mind having a ride home right."
"Y-yes… th-that would be a great idea." Chi-chi smiled. She followed him out; completely unaware of Kirin's plans. "I do have one question though."
"What's that?" Kirin asked.
"Do you have any certificates or degrees?" Chi-chi questioned.
"Of course," Kirin gestured to the wall and on the wall hung a dozen or so degrees from various colleges and universities.
"Wow… you must have taken your studies seriously…"
"Indeed. Do you mind if I look at your ring?"
"You can…" Chi-chi slid the necklace off from around her neck.
"It's rather pretty…" Kirin examined the ring from all angles and noticed the names etched in the ring. A faint red aura flickered around the ring; however, Chi-chi did not see it at all. "Here you go."
"Thanks. Goku promised to give it to me after the incident."
"Ah yes, with Cell am I right?"
"Correct."
"I'm sure he values you so much he imagines you wearing it all the time."
"I never take it off unless I'm sleeping, bathing or cleaning."
"You are truly devoted to your husband. I'm sure he's proud of you." Chi-chi blushed again before she heard her stomach rumble. "Now let's head to the kitchen shall we?"
She followed Kirin to the kitchen; not knowing of the trap that he had just woven.
"Goku! What's the meaning of this?" King Kai yelled at the Earth-raised Saiya-jin's destructive behavior that had leveled at least a thousandth of Grand Kai's planet. It wasn't long before he noticed a tail lashing behind the Earth-raised Saiya-jin as the growl became more apparent. "Gah! I thought that thing was cut off!"
"First off, Goku's not in control," Kakarrot spat at the Lord of Worlds his list of reasons for clearing most of the fauna and flora within a five mile radius. "Second, my tail tends to grow back when I'm pissed off. And third, I'm pissed off because someone's after my mate and Goku doesn't believe me!"
"That doesn't mean you have to come close to blowing up the planet!" King Kai verbally jousted against the darker persona. The golden aura flickered wildly around Kakarrot while he glared at the catfish man with utter annoyance. His patience looked like it had been worn down heavily from the resistance he had with Goku accepting that something was wrong.
"You try to explain it to him then!" Kakarrot yelled before the raging aura diminished; leaving Goku back in his normal form looking confused.
"Did I miss something?" Goku questioned; wondering how he wound up transformed in the first place and the area around him being disfigured.
"Kakarrot's been trying to warn you something about your wife and you ask me what's wrong?" King Kai yelled at the naïve Saiya-jin warrior. "You should at least listen to him before he ends up destroying this planet!"
"But I haven't felt anything happen," Goku admitted.
'Some things can't really be felt if you ignore them,' Kakarrot mentally growled in irritation.
"Kakarrot, what's…?" Goku felt Kakarrot block him completely. The chance to find out what was going on was missed because the Earth-raised Saiya-jin assumed that everything was going well on Earth.
"I'm going to assume he doesn't trust you anymore," King Kai guessed at the pout on Goku's face that Kakarrot wasn't speaking to him.
"What should I do? I can't go back without endangering Earth," Goku closed his eyes and released a heavy breath he had been holding.
"Check up on them," King Kai turned around and exposed his back to Goku. The Earth-raised Saiya-jin pressed his hand against King Kai's back before he suddenly felt reddish bolts run up his arm. Alarmed, Goku pulled his hand away from the Kai's back almost though he had been burned by a raging flame. "What's wrong?"
"I… I don't know…" Goku was stunned. This had never happened before when he attempted to talk to someone on Earth. His arm felt numb from the attempt.
"Maybe you should try meditating for awhile. We can try again later," King Kai reassured Goku.
'Kakarrot, please tell me what's going on…' Goku pleaded to his darker persona.
'…' Kakarrot still didn't respond to Goku's mental rapport; discouraging Goku even further.
The ride home seemed surreal and by the time she returned home, she didn't really want the moment to end.
"How much do I owe you anyway?" Chi-chi asked.
"Owe me? You don't owe me anything, except for your beautiful smile and a date."
The word date seemed to ring a warning bell within Chi-chi.
"R-really?" Chi-chi blushed. "I don't really want anything to develop between us…"
"Why not? You're available, so why not give it a shot. If it doesn't work, then we won't ever do it again…"
"Alright, just one date."
"Good, I'll come by Friday night around 7:30. See you later Chi-chi." Kirin kissed her hand rather softly before walking back to the car and driving off. From behind the corner of the house, a figure growled angrily in discomfort; knowing there was something amiss going on.
To Be Continued…