Chapter 11- Training
Gohan breathed in sharply as Goten came close to kicking him in the face once again. His roundhouse kicks had improved exponentially over the last month, it was getting hard to predict them accurately all the time. While it would be embarrassing if his younger by ten years managed to land a hit on him in sparring, it would also be relieving to know he had an effective defensive option available.
He was confident that Goten and Trunks would be able to hold their own in just a month's time. Too bad if they couldn't because that was all the time they had left to train. Trunks dived out of the bushes he had been hiding in for the past twenty seconds and attempted to take out Gohan's knees. If Goten's Ki blast had been fired a moment sooner, it might have been a good enough distraction to allow him to succeed.
As it was, Gohan was still impressed by the way the boys were able to synchronise, even though they didn't have any form of mental link to consult each other.
"You have to do it faster next time!" Trunks called as he took up a defensive stance next to his fighting partner.
"It's not like I can read your mind…" Goten replied, childish pout in place.
They both suddenly tensed as though they were about to start fighting each other again. "That's enough," Gohan called as he shifted out of his own fighting stance.
They had to learn to get along a little better. He wouldn't put it past them to start fighting each other at a critical moment if something went wrong.
"Stop blaming each other when you're the one who has to improve something! You have to learn to work together all the time and compensate for each other's mistakes. When you can do that properly, you'll be able to beat me." He added, hinting at a challenge so they would be motivated to follow his advice.
By the time the day was out, the boys had managed to get Gohan to lose his footing and burn a sizeable welt into his forearm. It looked bad, but he thought it would be ok again by tomorrow. His Saiyan recovery rate was easily enough to deal with these kinds of wounds overnight. It was only broken bones and severe internal damage they really had to worry about.
"Good job today, I'm proud of you. Since you're starting to work together now, we can go see Piccolo and Junior tomorrow. We need to get used to fighting alongside each other." Gohan said as they all sat around panting in an attempt to get their breath back. "Try to take deep breaths when you're recovering…" He added, rubbing his arm.
After Gohan had assured his mother for the hundredth time that his arm was perfectly fine, just a little red, he and Goten flew towards the desert training ground. He could feel the Ki of two waiting Nameks as they approached. Trunks was also on his way.
Goten landed next to Junior, who was currently using his claw-like nails to remove the scales from a fish he had caught. "Ugh, don't eat it raw!" Goten exclaimed as his brother landed a few meters away, next to the older Namek.
"I know you accelerated his growth, but I still can't believe he's nearly as big as Goten already!" Gohan exclaimed. The young one was looking more and more like his sire every day.
"I'm surprised too… I didn't think it would be accelerated this much, but now I'm kind of glad it has been. A month, that's all." He looked truly saddened by this.
"Piccolo, it's not like you to roll over and accept what you've been told. Come on, every bit of training counts, right?" He challenged. He stood with his feet slightly apart, fists raised.
Piccolo rolled his eyes. 'Of course not, but this is a gut instinct, not some doomsday prediction.' He couldn't resist going up against his student anyway.
However, he found he could barely keep up with him anymore. Gohan's speed had jumped up again; even his base form was too difficult to contend with. "This is just getting ridiculous now." He spoke as they broke apart for a brief rest. Piccolo looked around to see his son kick Goten in the stomach and Trunks yelling advice too late to be helpful.
"Yeah, so, we should stick together during the fight, right? We should take advantage of the mind link to work together." Gohan tried to reason with him.
But ultimately it failed. "Wouldn't it be more advantageous if one of us stayed with the non-fighters and the other with the fighters so that communication is guaranteed between both parties?"
"…No." Gohan replied, even though he knew Piccolo was right. "Who is going to stay with them then? I'm not!"
"I don't want to either. I guess that's where sensible plans fail and selfishness takes over. Fine, I'll stay with you if it makes you stop pestering me." As soon as he said this and meant it, the weight of his own convictions seemed to lift. Did that mean he wouldn't die if they stayed together? Or was it just that he was focussing less on his psychic abilities right now?
"I dunno Piccolo; you must be getting pretty old if you can't even keep up with my base form anymore." Gohan teased. He was also able to feel the way Piccolo's gut instincts had changed. "Don't tell me I have to protect you this ti-"
He was cut off as Piccolo landed a punch in his unprotected gut. "Don't tell me we have to go back to basics and teach you to see what's in front of you again." He answered, angered by Gohan's blatant disrespect, even though it was just harmless teasing.
Luckily his punches were now considered fairly harmless by Gohan's body, as well. Even unprotected he'd only been winded for a few moments.
"Ow… seriously though, please don't do anything reckless. I know we can all make it out alive this time. Everyone's ready!" He looked down to see Goten and Trunks arguing very heatedly once more. "Well, if we can get those two to stop arguing with each other long enough to fight the enemy, that is."
"Hmm, it must be about time we taught them something today. Teamwork is as good a lesson as any." Piccolo conceded, beginning to head toward them.
"Hey, do you two want to learn something cool?" Gohan called down when they were close enough to be heard. Both of them looked up keenly as Junior continued his kata behind them.
"Yeah!" They both called and flew up to meet them.
"Ok, if you can learn this you'll both get a lot stronger. We're both going to fight you. If you can't keep up, you fail!" Gohan explained briefly as he and Piccolo stood side on to them and back to back.
Trunks and Goten nodded at each other before splitting up. Trunks stayed in front and Goten moved behind. Gohan and Piccolo darted forward together. While the boys had the right idea about strategizing based on power levels and surrounding targets, they had moved too far apart. By the time Goten started attacking from behind, Trunks had already been overwhelmed.
Piccolo kicked him away and they gave the boys time to reunite and rethink. "Remember the enemy probably isn't going to be this lenient!" Gohan called. He and Piccolo turned so that Piccolo was the one facing their opponents. Gohan seemed to be useless at the moment since they still had their backs pressed together.
The boys saw this as an opening; they knew Piccolo was the weaker one of the two. If it was just him they'd probably be able to take him down together relatively easily.
Trunks formed a kick and Goten a punch, and Piccolo ducked at the last second. Gohan, who had already turned around, blocked both hits at the same time. Piccolo simultaneously performed a foot sweep. The boys both lost their balance and turned over in mid-air as they tried to right themselves. Both Piccolo and Gohan sent a weak Ki blast into each of the boys' backs.
"We are just as aware of our weaknesses as you are!" Piccolo said roughly as the boys inspected each other's wound. "Figure out your own strengths and each other's. Use them when our weakness is truly exposed."
They backed off further and huddled together, whispering. "I can hear you!" Piccolo added, rolling his eyes.
The boys stopped talking and frowned at each other. All of a sudden Goten threw a roundhouse kick at Trunks, which was blocked. He retaliated with a Ki blast, which Goten seemed to deflect with ease.
Gohan sighed in frustration, "You're supposed to be fighting us, not each other!" He reminded.
This seemed to be enough of a reminder, for they immediately parted and tried to pincer attack again. However, this time Goten flew directly at Gohan, and Trunks at Piccolo. Trunks managed to get Piccolo on the defensive, since he was still clad in training weights. Goten kept Gohan fairly preoccupied with a series of quick and powerful kicks.
Gohan's mental discipline still wasn't good enough to maintain a coherent connection in this situation, so he had to physically check on Piccolo somehow. But as soon as he took a quick peek over his shoulder, Goten sent a roundhouse kick into his temple. His vision blurred for a moment, but he was still able to feel his brother's whereabouts and push him away with a Ki blast.
The next thing he knew, a surprisingly large mass of Ki was hurtling down towards them. Piccolo and Gohan quickly broke formation to let the blast pass between them, but they couldn't snap back into place because Goten was between them.
"Hah!" He yelled and went to kick his brother in the ribs.
Before the kick could connect, Piccolo hauled Goten away by the collar and sent him plummeting to the ground. "Interesting," he smirked. "There are brains rattling around in there somewhere after all. They weren't really arguing just then, you know."
Gohan just smiled and shrugged as his brother righted himself in the air. "I guess they know each other better than they think."
Trunks floated down to hover next to them and Goten soon made his way back up again. "Well? Can we learn the cool thing now?" Trunks demanded, backed up by Goten's vigorous nodding.
"What? Turns out you already know it!" Gohan exclaimed, unable to keep himself from smirking at the looks on their faces.
They both groaned at the theatrics Gohan insisted on, not admitting they wouldn't have believed they could have done what they just had, otherwise.
As the day came closer, Gohan took the last three weeks off school, feigning a serious illness. Videl came to check up on him when she heard, claiming she was just worried about him being too ill to compete in their match properly. Chi-Chi smiled knowingly and left them in the front yard. It was evening, so Gohan and Goten had just come back from yet another rough training session with Vegeta.
"W-why haven't you been at school?" She asked, not completely acting like herself. Gohan was usually so adamant about attendance; it had her worried when he let something keep him away for so long.
"Um, well… it's kind of hard to explain," he stalled, wondering if he should tell the truth and whether or not she would believe it.
"Try me," she said folding her arms and leaning forward. She was in his personal space, looking directly into his eyes. For some reason it embarrassed him to no end.
He found his face heating up as he stammered, searching for an excuse. "You remember what Cell was like, right? Well, something even more powerful is coming during the next tournament. We all have to train to defeat it." He blurted.
"I'm sure Dad can defeat it… How do you know it's coming anyway?" She asked, stepping forward and glaring at him in suspicion.
He brought his hand to the back of his head before answering, "I've got a few, erm, psychic friends…"
He could tell she was about to yell about that being impossible, but she seemed to pause and consider this carefully. "Well, I thought flying was impossible until I learnt how… I guess I'll see you at the tournament?" She questioned, looking straight down before bringing her eyes back up to his. He noticed she was turning red. Did she actually… like him?
"Yup, I guess I'll see you there."
She smiled and left, returning home to study for the mid-year exams. But Gohan was troubled by his realisation. Did he return the feelings? Wasn't he attracted to Piccolo?
'Yes Gohan, aren't you attracted to me?' Piccolo added, making fun of him rather than asking a serious question. 'Shouldn't you mate with someone of the same species and opposite gender?'
'I, well, if I want to have kids…' He sighed and tilted his head. 'I don't know… I'm just going to focus on the fight for now.'
'That is probably wise.' Piccolo replied, in a tone that was a shade gentler than usual. 'Just don't forget that one day we need to leave people behind to defend Earth in our place. Trunks, Goten and Piccolo are just the beginning.'
'I'll think about it.' He promised before walking inside. His stomach rumbled. Food was more important to him than breeding, for now at least.
Well, I hope that turned out alright. I can't bear to read it again, but I guess that's what happens when you do all the editing yourself... Next update should be early March. Then I'll be back to study mode (aka. completely irregular posting commitments) :P