Chapter 2: You Again
It was just another early morning at the shrine. The raven haired priestess was in the middle of her duties, sweeping up the entrance like always. It had rained the night before, leaving behind a lot of puddles and fallen wet leaves. Yet the one thing that stuck out was said priestess's temperament. She was internally steaming as her mind played back the events from the day before over and over again.
"Should have kicked him in the groin, too." She growled to herself.
Never had she been so angry and embarrassed. As if things weren't already stressful enough in her life. Now she has to deal with the thought of her wardrobe malfunction supplying a strange pervert material for all sorts of lewd fantasies. Her fingers clenched onto the broomstick, knuckles turning white. She wished she had him right in front of her just to kick him all over again. She didn't have the nerve to tell the girls what had really happened; just that she merely got caught in some branches, walking away with some scrapes. She just couldn't help feeling like she had been taken for a fool. Did he save her just to cop a feel? Were men really that low!? She had been so preoccupied with this she couldn't even bring herself to meditate this morning.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a string of sickly coughs could be heard from inside the house by the temple. She relinquished her tight hold on the broomstick as her lips fell to a concerned frown.
"Grandpa," she mumbled to herself as she was brought back to the unfortunate situation she had been worrying about all summer.
That's right, Grandpa was still sick. Last time she checked, his prescription was low as well. She sighed and set the broom against the wall before heading down the stairs to go pick up his refill at the pharmacy. She had already turned the corner, out of sight, by the time a group of motorcycles stopped in front of the shrine steps.
Goten scratched his head as he had been everywhere the newspaper ads directed him. So far everything had been taken by the time he got there. So this is what the news meant by the economy being terrible. He hung his head while trudging down the sidewalk. He had to find something. He really didn't want to go home a failure. An overlapping piece of the sidewalk stood against his foot, causing him to trip forward and slam face first into a telephone pole.
"Ouch!" The half saiyan grimaced and held his nose in pain. His eyes met a sheet of paper nailed to the post. "Help Wanted at the Hikawa Shrine." He read out loud.
Maybe this was a sign! Uh, well it was a sign. But a way to tell him this could be the break he was looking for! He dusted himself off and began to march forward before stopping. Just how could he get to the Hikawa Shrine?
A flood of familiar video game noises flew out of the entrance door to the Crown Arcade as a blonde man around his age stepped out with a broom. He looked friendly; maybe he'd be able to give him directions.
"Excuse me," he spoke up as he stepped towards him.
The blonde man looked up and gave him his full attention.
"Could you tell me how to get to Hikawa Shrine from here? I'm totally lost," Goten said bluntly.
The blonde smiled in response. "Certainly," he said cheerfully, "you just head down this sidewalk until you see a stop sign, make a left, and then keep going straight until you see a bus stop. The steps to the shrine are right there, you can't miss them." The man explained while motioning with his hand.
Goten nodded in understanding, simple enough. "Thank you." He bowed his head.
"What business do you have going to the shrine anyway? If you don't mind me asking, that is," The blonde man scratched his cheek while leaning against his broomstick.
"I'm hoping to get a job there. I've been pretty unlucky on finding one so far," Goten answered sheepishly.
The other man nodded in response. "I see. Well maybe you should take it up with my friend there. Ask for Rei. I'm sure Rei will understand."
Goten smiled from ear to ear. A total stranger had given him a helpful tip. Maybe this was the one he was waiting on!
"Thanks, I'll do that!" He said and waved him goodbye as he headed down the sidewalk.
"And be sure to tell Rei that Motoki says hi!" The blonde called out to him.
"I will; thanks again!" Goten shouted before he dashed out of earshot.
Today could finally be the day things started looking up for him. With a spring in his step, he followed the directions Motoki gave him until he came to the shrine steps.
"This is it. It's time to put my game face on." He took a deep breath and lightly slapped his cheeks with both hands. "Ready," he stated out loud and hurried up the steps.
"I'm not fond of repeating myself, old man. You push sixty percent of your temple donations to us and we'll guarantee you total protection. Seems like a nice deal. Wouldn't you agree?" A man in a well-tailored suit with an odd pattern asked; his posse of thugs around him snickered.
The short old man in front of them coughed. "You woke me up for this? The donations are strictly for the temple. What do you need so much money for anyway, buying more of those awful suits? Kids today have such terrible taste." The bald priest shook his head.
Some of the thugs laughed at their leader's expense.
"You think you're smart, old man?!" He fumed and signaled his goons. "Rough him up!" He barked at the men.
The trio closed in on the priest. Unbeknownst to them, this old man wasn't going to take a beating lying down and kicked one in the groin before punching another in the gut. The third one dodged his punch and kicked him in the head.
"Hold him down!" One yelled as two grabbed him by the arms. The third one gave him another rough kick, this time to the gut.
"Not so tough now, are you?" The leader mocked.
The old man glared daggers at him, no fear in his eyes.
"He doesn't look like he'll crack, boss," one goon spoke up.
"Yeah, why would he? Fighting like he is, it doesn't matter if he loses. He's already got one foot in the grave and all," the leader said while lighting up a cigarette. "So here's my new deal. You pay us protection or else we'll hold your sweet little granddaughter for ransom. Being a politician's daughter, I imagine she'll fetch a good price. If not, well, I guess I could use someone to clean my floors," he said smugly, taking a puff of the lit cigarette.
The elderly man growled in contempt. "If you dare lay a finger on my granddaughter," he warned their superior.
"Who's going to stop me?" The guy sneered and lightly tapped the cigarette so the excess ash would fall. He took one more puff before kicking the old man again. "It certainly isn't going to be you."
He used his free hand to straighten out his suit jacket as he stomped his cigarette to put it out. The old man fell to his knees in pain and let out a yelp and a cough. The two men holding his arms relinquished their hold, letting him collapse.
"Hey!" An unfamiliar voice screamed at the group of delinquents, getting their attention. "Anyone ever taught you dirt bags to respect your elders?" Goten clenched his fists at the sight of the injustice he had just witnessed.
"It looks like we have ourselves a hero, boss!" One thug hooted.
"Damn, I hate them hero types," the leader scoffed and snapped his fingers. "Break his legs," he ordered.
Goten's black eyes narrowed in determination, blood boiling. Not if he didn't break theirs first! The first came at him with the intent to grab him. The spikey-haired teen slickly sidestepped out of the way and caught his arm, bringing his elbow down on it. A pain-filled cry escaped the first henchman's lips as he held his arm in pain. The second made an attempt to kick him but he caught his leg and pulled, whirling him around only to let go and send him flying to the first one, like a ragdoll. The two goons rammed heads and fell to the floor.
The old man, struggling to sit up, rubbed his eyes at what he was witnessing. This young man was taking out thugs who could bench press his weight with incredible ease. The third one pulled out a switchblade and lunged for him. No matter how fast the felon would thrust, Goten would always be on the lateral of his attack. Goten caught the blade in between his middle and index fingers and bent it so it was coiled instead of straight, startling a gasp from his opponent. Goten merely flashed him a smile before greeting his fist with the thug's chin in the form of an uppercut. The third flew back and landed on top of the other conquered hoodlums.
The leader stood in shock with his jaw nearly hitting the floor. They are in no way a match for him.
"T-This isn't over. We'll be back! You'll see!" He threatened before running off.
"Boss, wait for us!" The thugs cried out as they picked themselves up and ran off with their tails between their legs.
Goten cockily brushed the dust off his shoulder. "That takes care of that," he said, feeling accomplished.
His stomach then growled loudly. Looks like that little warm up worked up his appetite.
The old man tried to rise to his feet. "You saved me," he stated before breaking out into a coughing fit.
Goten's expression changed to that of concern. "Hey, let me help you there," he said as he hurried to get him.
In his haste, he slipped on a puddle and lost his balance, the back of his head colliding with the stone bench. He landed on the floor with his face down.
Rei had already reached the corner coming back to see a group of fearful crooks run down the steps and scurry away on their motorcycles. She let out a gasp as her mind went into panic over who was up there.
"Grandpa!" She shrieked and ran up the steps in desperation.
'Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay,' her mind pleaded repeatedly for his safety. She panted once she came to the final step and her violet eyes searched for him frantically. A small, relieved smile graced her lips as she saw the short old man on his feet.
"Grandpa..!" She shouted as she hurried to him.
Grandpa Hino strained with trying to lift the limp body of his savior up with means to get him in the house. Rei flung her arms around her grandfather and embraced him.
"I saw a group of gang members leave and got so worried," she said and looked him over. "Did they hurt you?" She asked anxiously as she noticed that he looked dirty, clothes wet and stained from the floor puddles.
"I'm okay, Rei. But it could've been much worse if that young lad hadn't saved me," Grandpa assured her. "Help me get him inside. He hit his head." He coughed once more as he strained to pull the unconscious man up by the arm.
"Grandpa, let me handle it. You're still sick!" Rei insisted and hoisted the young man up from behind.
Her grandfather's savior groaned at the sudden amount of force.
"Are you awake?" She asked gently and reached a slender hand to turn his head to get a better look at his face.
Goten was currently seeing stars from the hit to the head and drained from hunger. A lovely voice brought him back to reality along with a soft touch on his cheek. Only, he was sure he'd heard it before. His eyes slowly opened to meet the same gorgeous eyes he'd seen yesterday.
"Hey, it's you…" He whispered.
Rei's eyes widened in shock once she realized she was staring at the same face of the stranger that saved her and he recognized her.
"Y-You!" Rei shook in anger before letting go of him and introducing his skull with her foot in the form of a roundhouse kick.