I went so much further into that conversation than I originally meant to. Like to the point where if someone wants to complain, fair enough. But once I got going I could not bring myself to stop.

Also despite being the longer half it took way less time to write.

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I took a breath before falling into my prepared speech.

"Like, how long to you expect this to last? And what will you do when things go wrong? Stealing food might work in the short term but, it's not sustainable. Honestly I'm surprised you've lasted two years." I paused, eyes falling back on him, he didn't say anything so I continued.

"These buildings are falling apart, what if a kid gets injured? Or sick? Do you know where the nearest hospital is? How would you get them there? And what of when you're caught stealing? Do you think you'll get away with it forever? Kids need a more stable environment than this." I was running through examples a bit quicker than I intended but considering half my energy here was being spent on trying to look confident, it's lucky I was only talking a little too fast.

"You don't know, you don't know what it's like to be an orphan, to have everything you've ever known be stolen from you," his voice sounded forced, but he still didn't raise it at me.

"You're right, I don't know. I've never lived in a world without parents," technically a lie, but Goku will be brought back in a few months so only slightly, "but I do know is if kids cannot have their own parents, they should at least have the chance at a simulated recreation of said environment. You are a good person, you care about these kids, but sometimes, that just isn't enough.

"And, how old are you?"

"Far older than you are, I don't see what-"

"Please, just, answer the question."

"15, I'm 15." A solid ten years older than my physical age. Well over half a decade younger than my actual age. A full decade if you add on the years I've spent in this world.

"You are also a child. Legally. You should not have to care for other children while you are still a child.

"And if, no when, because it is inevitable, these kids do end up going to an orphanage you should as well. They know you. They trust you. If you're not there, be it willingly or not, then they will be confused and scared, at least, more than they would regardless."

He didn't respond, just stared. His eyes narrowed as he seemed to search for, something.

"Surely this is not the first time you've thought of this?" I asked, tilting my head and widening my eyes as I noticed they had narrowed as well.

"No its…how old are you?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm five." or at least, almost.

"I…don't think I believe you."

"I mean, if you ever meet my mother she can confirm it for you, I don't really have much proof to offer." I shrugged, hoping the movement would distract from the second of panic.

"Right, well, what about you? How does a five year old," he emphasized the age, "with two assumably caring parents end up with a caretaker that leaves her alone for days on end?" Weeks on end, but I wasn't exactly going to correct that point.

"It's, kinda complicated…" I trailed off hoping he'd drop it.

He did not.

"I don't think I could even begin to consider taking my kids somewhere safe but leaving another with someone, at the very least neglectful, but I assume more than that since I doubt that sword of yours is for show considering how sharp it is."

I half glared half pouted as I considered how to respond. Well, the best lies are based on truth, so-

"A few months ago I was taken by a bad man who hurt my father. The bad man said that his friends were gonna come and hurt us so while dad recovers I've been with an acquaintance of his, who's really into the whole "survivalist training,"" I made air quotes with my fingers, rolling my eyes, "thing. Once the threat of the bad men are gone I'll be going back to my parents."

"That's…is that everything?" His eyes were still narrowed, trying to make sense of what I'd said.

"Everything I know at least. It's not like they tell me much." I pouted, looking off to the side.

"You're lying."

"Huh?"

"You're lying about, something. I'm not sure what, but you're definitely not telling the whole truth."

"I don't know what to tell you," I shrugged, "that's all I've been told."

He crossed his arms, tapping his fingers against his arms as he leaned back.

"Why can't you go back to your mother now?"

"Uh, I dunno. Something about it not being safe for both of us being in the same place or something."

"Lie."

I pouted. This was not where this conversation was supposed to go.

"Look, I am perfectly safe with my caretaker. He's not the most friendly person but he's secretly a softy. Promise."

He sat back, still tapping his fingers, "why haven't you named your caretaker?"

"Huh? Oh…well it's not like I've been avoiding it…" which was true, I never considered anything on saying his name or not.

"Then what is it?"

I opened my mouth. I closed my mouth.

Oh. That's…

And he's already more than proven lying won't work

I laughed slightly.

He raised an eyebrow.

My tail flicked behind me.

"Ok so…" I glanced off to the side, an amused smile breaking through my facade, "his name is Piccolo but it's not the one you're thinking of I promise."

I glanced back only to see his eyebrows had disappeared into his hair line.

"As in….Demon King Piccolo…?"

"No. Not that guy. I specifically said."

"I can't imagine anyone naming someone after the Demon King."

"Yeah well….I haven't exactly been told the full story."

"Well if I wasn't concerned before-"

"Well….I don't know what to tell you…that's just how it is."

"Ok, so, if the issue is that you cannot with you mother why don't you go to the orphanage if, theoretically, the rest of the children go."

"Uh, that…no that wouldn't work…"

"Why?"

"It's…well uh, Piccolo's strong you know? So he can protect me if something happens."

"Which he does by leaving you on your own."

"Yeah well, he's never too far away. I can all but guarantee he'd be aware if anything happened."

"So he's not Demon King Piccolo…but he's strong enough to be certain he can protect you even from, at least decently far distances."

"Uh yeah. My Piccolo is way stronger than the supposed Demon King." I leaned my chin on my hand.

"…"

"…"

"How…how can you be sure…?"

"Well, he and my dad are roughly the same strength, and my dad was the one who killed Mr. Spoopy Scary when he was like, 15 I think," I scanned through the Dragon Ball timeline in my head, "yeah, 15."

"…"

"…"

"…you're joking."

"No."

"That…that can't be true."

I just shrugged in response.

"Ok. So. You're father, when he was my age, defeated the Demon King Piccolo. Now there is, coincidentally, another person named Piccolo who is about as strong as him, of whom he has trusted the care of his child." He looked at me waiting for a response.

"Uh, yeah, that about sums it up."

"Lie."

"Darn."

"So what in my summary was incorrect?"

"…"

"We are long past the point of leaving this conversation."

"Wait hold on, if you're this good at telling truth from lies you'd easily be able to tell if that woman was telling the truth."

"Answer my question."

"Answer mine."

"You answer mine I'll answer yours."

I scanned over the area, futilely searching for an escape.

There was none.

"Ok so, funny thing, it's…not… a coincidence he has the same name…"

I glanced up in case Pigero wanted to interject. He didn't.

"So, he's definitely not the Demon King Piccolo…he's, his son…"

I glanced back up. Pigero's eyebrows were back in his hairline.

"…so," he laughed humorlessly, fingers meeting his forehead, "how in the world, does the son of the Demon King, come to be the caretaker of the child of the person who killed his father?"

"This is not where this conversation was supposed to go." I pouted. Pigero was unmoved.

"Well here we are."

"Well, uhm, well I first described Piccolo as an acquaintance because they were definitely not friends, because, well obviously. But the bad man was stronger than both of them so they were forced to work together, and well, the bad man's friends are stronger than he was so the truce remains."

"So, he can't protect you then."

"He can, better than anyone else on the planet at least." I defended my kidnapper. Which, to be fair, was probably only due to my canon knowledge of how he turns out.

"…for the sake of my sanity I am going to ignore that implication."

"Huh? Oh, haha whoops." The planet comment was probably a tad too much.

"I, don't even know where to begin in responding to this."

"Well then don't? We are entirely off topic."

"Off your chosen topic."

"Well, yes."

"Well there's one possible explanation to why you're such a weird kid," He sighed, "or several really. Look it's late, why don't we, continue this conversation in the morning."

"Sure." I conceded. Turning to leave the windowsill.

I swung my legs a few times before jumping off. Pigero raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"Goodnights." I turned to leave.

"Yeah, goodnight kid."

I woke up late the next morning to Vixi licking my cheek. Before I was fully awake I was already being dragged out by Chico to spend time with the other kids.

I just about felt socially dead when I made my way to the side.

"Hey what's you're full name exactly?"

I looked up to see Pigero leaning against the wall.

"Huh? Oh, uh, Son Gohan."

"Right. Of course it is." He sighed, "just to be sure, I went into town this earlier morning to look up who defeated Demon King Piccolo. It was a boy with a tail named Son Goku. So I guess that part of your story checks out."

I didn't respond, waiting for what he had to say.

"I, do not want any more elaboration."

"I don't have much more to give."

"…look I can't guarantee anything but I'll talk to the kids about the orphanage."

I smiled, "great! You'll be going too, right?"

"…I, don't like it but you made a fair point in that they'd be better off with me there too."

"You never did answer my question why you couldn't tell if the woman was lying or not."

"I never spoke to her up close," he shrugged, "besides, you have really easy tells when you're caught off guard."

"No I don't."

"Yeah you do."

He glanced at me a couple times before asking his next question, "so why did the son of the Demon King even agree to watch over you?"

"I thought you didn't want more elaboration."

"I don't."

"Hey didn't you say you'd talk to the other kids?"

"Answer the question."

"Since my dad is as strong as he is Piccolo wanted to train me a bit so I wouldn't be completely helpless."

"So you could fight the bad men."

"…"

He sighed.

"And why, should I allow you to go back to the son of the Demon King," he kept emphasizing that. Couldn't imagine why, "to train to fight someone-"

"Two people," I corrected.

"Not helpful. Two people strong enough to beat someone who defeated the actual Demon King as a child, and said King's son who is apparently stronger than the one who took claim over the world less than a decade ago."

"Well. It's not like you could stop me."

"Really?"

"Really."

"What's stopping me, exactly, from literally just picking me up and dragging you along."

"My dad beat up the Demon King."

"I'm fairly confident in my ability to pick up a five year old child."

"Hey well that seems like a decent test."

"What does?"

"Wanna spar?"

"What? No. I'm not going to fight a child."

"Not fight. Spar. Besides, in less than a year I'll be up against people very willing to fight me."

He glared down at me.

"Fine. Draw a circle in the dirt and if I push you out you either come to the orphanage or return to your mother."

"I mean, there's nothing to guarantee that Piccolo won't come to get me but sure." I shrugged.

I ran out to draw a circle in the dirt with my foot big enough for the two enough to have space to move.

Pigero sighed, hands in his pockets as he walked over. All the other kids paused their goings on to watch.

We stood on opposite ends of the circle. I tossed my bag and sword out of the circle. Pigero paused, probably to figure out how to remove me from the circle without hurting me.

He walked over to me. I swept his legs from under his feet.

He sat for a couple seconds. Blinking.

"Ok then. I will admit, you caught me off guard."

He moved to stand back up only to pause when I nodded down at his hand. His hand that had fallen out of the circle.

"What? That's not-" he cut him self off, "that's not really-" he found himself unable to finish his statement, frustrated.

"It didn't really matter. Even if you had won Piccolo probably would have found me and taken me back anyway," I casually shrugged as he stood back up.

"Why'd you even offer a spar if you were just going to end it so simply?"

"I dunno, to prove a point or something. Didn't really think much about it," I put back on my sword and bag.

Pigero stood helplessly for a moment, looking frustrated.

"To be honest, if I told him I wasn't willing to fight he'd probably just bring me back home, figuring me to be a lost cause," I glanced off to the side, knowing from the anime that this area was relatively close to home, if I really wanted to I could return.

Pigero's eyes lit up, "they why don't you just-"

"Because I can't. Piccolo's not forcing me. No one is. But I have to fight. It's…just something. I have to do," I don't have a choice, not really. Canon would be crippled without Gohan in place. Even if most, some, a few plot points would be fine, maybe, the starting point of the Sayain Saga could not be won without the Oozaru only accessible to Gohan here on Earth.

"No you do not. You should leave the fighting to the adults."

"Adults fell to Demon King Piccolo. A child beat him."

"A child a decade older than you."

"Who had been training since he was my age." I shrugged, trying to pass it off as though I didn't really care.

"Besides, Piccolo's been helping me with something I couldn't really do on my own, or with the help of dad and any of his friends," there is no way I'd ever be comfortable letting go to be a mindless ape in any real danger situation.

"Wow that was so cool!" Our conversation was thankfully interrupted but Rom running over.

"I've never seen anyone catch Pigero off guard like that! Even the bad adults are no match for him!"

"Ah, right…" I glanced over at Pigero, who sighed and walked over.

"About that…we need to talk," he rose his voice, "Actually everyone come down here please. We need to talk about something."

Unable to watch without feeling like I was intruding on something I went back to lie down in the actual, real bed for probably the last time for several months.

It was well after noon by the time I had returned just as did the Social Workers. They were surprised that instead of going in to search they found the kids warily standing in front of the building with Pigero in front, arms crossed standing firm.

"I will speak to the woman alone." He stated clear an concise, with no room for argument.

The two spoke alone, they came to an agreement after about an hour.

"Well, it's decided then." Pigero walked over to me, ruffling his hand through my hair, and crouching down so he was eye level.

"You're actually going to leave?"

"Yeah."

"You're gonna make me stay awake at night worried."

"Over a kid you met two days ago?"

"'Course."

"I'll be fine."

"I'll expect you to visit then. Alive and in one piece."

Instead of responding I reached into my backpack to show the pamphlet given to me the other day.

"Right. Just, be safe."

"Sure."

If he could tell I wasn't confident in that assertion he didn't comment on it. Only sighed and stood back up.

He could probably tell.

…

"Oh one more thing! Chico!" I ran over to the girl.

"Take care of Vixi for me."

The girl blinked at me, "what?"

"I probably won't be able to take care of her soon so you guys take care of her until I come pick her up. That way I'll have to come visit." I picked up Vixi and held her out, "I already asked to make sure she was allowed."

"Why won't you be able to take care of her?" I turned to see Pigero standing over my shoulder.

"Well while my dearest caretaker has tolerated holding on to her for small amounts of time, I doubt he'd be quite so enthusiastic in longer doses."

"You know, they say you can tell a lot about a person by how they treat animals."

"Yeah, I've asked him to make sure Vixi stays safe and he has."

"I will absolutely take the bestest care of Vixi!" Chico smiled brightly as she carefully took the fox from my arms.

"There's nothing I can say to change your mind?" Pigero tried again.

"Nope."

"Then there's nothing left for me to say."

He walked past and joined the rest of the kids by the cars.

And I stood alone.

"Bye! See you soon!" Chico called as she and Rom waved at me. Pigero nodded back at me.

"See you…"

And I turned to leave.

Only to be interrupted by child shaped tackle hugs.

"You almost forgot your hug silly!"

I managed to turn to see the group hug fronted by Rom and Chico.

"…right…how stupid of me," I couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't until Pigero pulled me into one last hug that I was finally allowed to leave.

"Well that was a waste of time."

As I made my way further from the buildings and beach I turned to see Piccolo hovering above me.

"I don't think so." I continued walking.

"Well I hope you're satisfied, because your real training starts now."