Chapter Four: The Turtle Hermit
After the initial shock had worn off, Toshinori was trying to figure out what made the turtle tick. The only animal with a Quirk he had ever heard of was Yuuei's principal, Nezu. So unless there was another Quirked animal walking around Japan without anyone realizing it, this was something else entirely.
"Hi!" Goku greeted cheerfully, not seeming too bothered by the turtle's ability to talk. "I'm Son Goku, what's your name?"
The turtle made a weird face, as if he didn't know how to answer. "You can just call me Turtle."
The other three introduced themselves, clearly uncomfortable with the situation at hand. Toshinori certainly hadn't expected to talk to a turtle on his journey with his new friends, and now he was wondering what other odd things they would encounter along the way.
Turtle nodded, committing the names to memory. "I need your help!" he implored, looking rather sad. "I can't find my way back to the ocean!"
"The ocean is miles away," Bulma said, looking confused. "Why are you so far from water?"
It was a fair question, Toshinori had never heard of a turtle this far out from their habitat.
"My friend asked me to search for food in his stead, and not only could I not find anything to eat but now I can't find the way back to him!" Turtle explained, turning more distraught as he spoke.
"Calm down," Toshinori soothed, his voice as smooth and gentle as he could manage. "We'll help you find your way back."
"We will?" Bulma asked. Before she could protest further, Toshinori cut her off.
"We will," Toshinori repeated, to which Goku seemed to agree with. "I help anyone in need, and if you have a problem with that, you can go on without me."
"I wanna help too," Goku added. "It's the right thing to do!" Toshinori silently thanked the young boy for taking his side, which seemed to convince Bulma.
"Let's get going," Inko encouraged. "No time like the present." Turtle sputtered out many forms of thank you rapidly as Goku picked him up. Stunned, Turtle accidentally fought against his grasp for a moment but he soon relaxed.
Bulma sighed, turning off the stove. The eggs were done, yet they now had no time to eat. "Here, I'll eat them on the run," Toshinori decided, to which Bulma handed them to him, seeming rather nervous. "Now, let's go."
"Hold on!" Bulma said. "I gotta put everything back in it's place!" Bulma shooed them all outside and searched her purse for the capsule case. With the click of a button, the house was gone, leaving Toshinori in the perpetual awe of the technology. It never really got old. "Okay, we're good to go!" Bulma chirped as she threw down the capsule containing her sports car.
Bulma entered the driver side door and Inko came with her. "Please go slow," Turtle pleaded. "I can't handle high speeds without getting sick to my stomach."
"Oh, okay," Goku said, nodding. The engine of the car roared to life, exhaust coming in light clouds of smoke.
"You guys just follow me!" Bulma called over the loud engine. "I know the way!" Toshinori didn't think he needed the guidance, but for Goku's sake he would follow her.
The car took off, kicking up dust that Goku and Toshinori ran through. Leaping into the air, Toshinori began to glide through the air above them. "Woah!" Goku exclaimed. "You can fly?"
"Not really!" Toshinori shouted back, the wind whipping against his face. "It's more like falling in style!" he joked, though it seemed lost on Goku. It wasn't the first time he had forgotten Goku had never seen nor even heard of movies.
Goku seemed impressed nonetheless, seeming starstruck by him. Toshinori hoped that one day every citizen would look at him the way Goku was.
It wasn't long before they arrived at a beach, the sun sitting just above the horizon. Bulma was the first to get there, if only because Toshinori and Goku trailed behind to converse along the trip. By the time she shut her door, both Toshinori and Goku were there, looking rather pleased to have helped Turtle.
"Don't you feel good?" Toshinori asked while Goku set Turtle down on the beach. Bulma sighed as she watched Turtle thank them repeatedly.
"It does make me feel all tingly inside," Bulma admitted, causing Inko to smile widely.
"I don't know how many times I've told you doing nice things makes you feel nice," Inko said. "Maybe you'll be less rude to people from now on."
"You think I'm rude?" Bulma repeated, sounding slightly offended.
"As your best friend in the entire world I'm the only one who can say this, but yes, you can be rude at times," Inko confirmed. Bulma huffed and crossed her arms though she didn't argue further, perhaps realizing Inko was right.
Toshinori agreed with Inko though he didn't voice his opinion. Bulma not arguing against a negative opinion about herself seemed too incredible to screw up by making her more mad.
"Can you four wait here?" Turtle asked. "I'm sure my friend will want to reward you for helping me."
"There's no need," Toshinori denied. "Doing good is it's own reward." He sounded cheesy, even to himself.
"No, I insist." Before Toshinori could object further, Turtle crawled into the ocean and swam away.
"I'm guessing we're gonna wait for him to get back?" Bulma prompted, to which Toshinori nodded, his will not allowing him to compromise. Bulma sighed but resigned to sitting on the grassy knoll nearby.
Toshinori decided to join her and Inko, though Goku seemed more interested in swimming the water. However, when he removed his clothes, Toshinori could unfortunately everything he never wanted to see.
Using his quick reflexes, he covered both Bulma and Inko's eyes with his sizable hands. "What?" Bulma and Inko questioned together, though Toshinori couldn't bring himself to say a word.
"I'm gonna need some bleach," he eventually managed. Toshinori closed his eyes, yet the image of Goku's unmentionables remained stained into his eyelids. He hated life sometimes.
"Oh my God," Bulma said, coming to the realization of what had happened. "Goku doesn't wear underwear, does he?"
"Nope," Toshinori answered, wincing at the image that was permanently burned into his mind. "Bare as a baby's butt."
Bulma cackled at Toshinori's suffering, causing him to turn the color of a tomato. Oddly enough, he could feel Inko growing warm as well, though he didn't think much of it.
Trying to get Goku out of his mind, Toshinori changed the subject. "So these Dragon Balls, how many of them do you have?"
"Counting the one Goku keeps with him? Three," Bulma answered. "And before you ask, yes, the wish we're gonna make is a good one."
Toshinori couldn't possibly think of something Bulma would want being worthy of a quest to find seven objects. "What would that be?"
"The perfect boyfriend," Bulma said as Toshinori finally decided to lower his arms. "Though I might find him along the way," she said, blushing slightly as she looked at him, making him feel rather awkward.
"So, say you did find the perfect boyfriend, what would you wish for?" Toshinori asked, looking out to the rising sun.
"Inko and I made the perfect backup plan!" Bulma said, sounding rather excited.
Inko nodded, a smile forming on her face. "Yeah! We're gonna get a lifetime supply of strawberries!" she exclaimed. Toshinori would rather Bulma use her wish to get strawberries as opposed to the perfect boyfriend. For all they knew, they would completely steal someone from their life if they made a wish like that and Toshinori wouldn't like that being on his conscience.
"Hold on," Toshinori said, pointing to the horizon, where he saw something odd. "Look!" he shouted upon fully realizing what it was.
Riding on Turtle was an old man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts. Sunglasses kept his eyes secluded from the bright sun, which reflected off of his bald head. He seemed rather relaxed despite being precariously balanced on the apex of Turtle's shell.
The duo approached the shoreline and the man hopped off of Turtle, landing with a soft thud. It was now that Toshinori realized that the man was also wearing a purple shell on his back. "Are you the ones who helped my friend?" asked the strange man, to which Toshinori nodded.
"It was me and that boy over there," Toshinori said, gesturing towards Goku, who left the water to join them. Toshinori didn't dare look down until he changed into his clothes once more.
"Not one to steal credit, eh? Good, it's unbefitting of anyone," the hermit muttered. Toshinori's gaze fell to the necklace around the man's necklace, where another Dragon Ball sat. What were the odds?
"Hey, old man! You're Turtle's friend ain't ya?" Goku asked, not noticing that he had been a tad rude.
"You can call me Muten Roshi," he said. Toshinori had never heard of him as far as he knew yet the name sounded vaguely familiar. "I have come to give a gift. The immortal phoenix!"
"No, he died of food poisoning," Turtle reminded, making Toshinori question the legitimacy of the bird's title.
"Never mind that then!" Roshi shouted. He raised a thumb to his chin, humming. "Oh wait! Nimbus!" he called, his old voice straining from the loud yell.
Bulma looked at the old man like he was a psychopath, though Toshinori's enhanced senses picked up the sound of something whirring, getting nearer and nearer. Goku too seemed to notice, looking in the direction the noise was coming from.
Much to Toshinori's bewilderment, a yellow cloud descended from the heavens, lowering down until it was right in front of them, a foot off the ground. It sputtered quietly, much like a car's engine, only on a much higher pitch. "That is the Flying Nimbus," Roshi said. "Only those with a pure heart can ride atop it, so don't be too disappointed if you can't-" Goku jumped on top of the Nimbus, landing on the cloud as if it were solid ground.
Roshi seemed a little disgruntled. "Okay let me see something. Back in my day I could ride this old boy better than anyone!" Roshi exclaimed, doing a little hop and then falling straight through the Nimbus, landing on his butt.
Bulma burst out laughing, and Toshinori too couldn't help but chuckle. "Like I said, that was in my prime," he repeated, sounding a little embarrassed.
Goku jumped back on the Nimbus, and Toshinori had to admit he was at least a little curious to see if he was pure of heart as well. He stepped up, walking on the cloud as if it were a step.
On contact with his foot, the Nimbus magically expanded to accommodate the extra person it was meant to carry. Toshinori sat down, as did his little friend. Sensing Toshinori and Goku's intentions, the Nimbus took off.
Bulma laughed as she watched Toshinori and Goku fly away. Goku looked like he was having the time of his life. Inko too seemed transfixed upon the Nimbus, and the two riding it. "That's amazing," Inko muttered, never breaking eye contact with the yellow cloud.
"Isn't it?" Bulma said, her gaze soon settling once more on solid ground. Looking at Roshi, she noticed something odd. Around his neck was a Dragon Ball! "Hey Mister Roshi," she began, doing her best to be polite, "That thing around your neck, is that a Dragon Ball?"
Roshi raised an eyebrow, his wrinkled face contorting with confusion. "How do you know about the Dragon Balls?" he asked, to which Bulma told the whole story, omitting the meeting of Goku and Toshinori. "So, you've got two?" he asked, to which Bulma shook her head.
"That boy, Goku's his name, has one as well. His grandpa's," Bulma said. Roshi seemed to only become more perplexed by that statement.
"What's his grandpa's name?" Roshi asked, giving Bulma reason to think. She couldn't quite recall.
"Gohan," Inko chimed in, finally returning to the situation that was developing around her. Roshi's confusion changed to a nostalgic joy.
"I should've known as soon as I heard his name. They're far too similar to be coincidental," Roshi said, looking up to Goku and Toshinori, who were slowly descended. "What's it that you're wishing for?"
Upon hearing their desire, Roshi chuckled lightly. "Ah, the innocence of youth! It's a shame age corrupts," he said, staring rather creepily at Bulma, and certain parts of her. "So I'm guessing you'll be wanting mine then?"
Bulma nodded, feeling rather horrified as a creepy smile formed on Roshi's face. "I can't just give away the Dragon Ball for free, not to some stranger..."
Toshinori didn't know why, but Bulma and Inko both seemed rather eager to leave by the time that they returned to the beach. "Come on, let's take this Nimbus thing and find the rest of the Balls!" Bulma exclaimed, jumping as high as she could. Much like Roshi, she fell through and hit the sand beneath it, the anger on her face being clouded by the Nimbus' yellow hue.
Inko, however, was fully capable of sitting on the Nimbus. Bulma seemed to be upset that she was the only one of the four who couldn't use the Nimbus. "How about you just sit in one of our laps? You shouldn't be able to fall through us."
Bulma soon gained a coy smile, nodding to the plan. As soon as Toshinori took his place on the Nimbus, Bulma hopped into his lap. Groaning, Toshinori felt an immense pain and pressure right in his pelvic area. Bulma apologized, though she seemed rather happy to be in his lap.
"Okay, let's hit the road then!" Goku exclaimed. The Nimbus rocketed forward, and now they travelled through the sky far faster than they ever would've managed to with a car. This was even faster than Toshinori could ever dream of going, leaving him rather happy he had decided to help Turtle today.
"See? Aren't you glad we did a good thing?" Toshinori asked to the girl sitting in his lap, who nodded.
"I guess it was worth it. This'll make hunting down the Dragon Balls so much easier!" Bulma agreed, although clearly begrudgingly. Bulma backed up even closer to Toshinori, making it hard for him to breathe.
"Okay, where to now?" Inko asked, looking at Goku, who was staring out towards the setting sun. Goku seemed to still be in awe of the Nimbus, enjoying flying even more than Toshinori or the others were.
Bulma pulled the Dragon Radar out of her satchel, pressing the button on top. The radar blinked to life, and the nearest dot appeared a couple hundred miles away. "Alright, Nimbus, take us to where we need to go!" she shouted, though the Nimbus didn't listen.
"Nimbus, take us to our desired destination!" Toshinori yelled, and this time the cloud obeyed, rocketing off at the fastest speed it had displayed yet.
Tomorrow would be a new day, and Toshinori would be glad to face it head on.
