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CHAPTER 8:
Motive
Blue Hal High School was a prestigious Western-style preparatory academy which was known for being a magnet school for Super League universities. It was known for its Western standard of 9th - 12th grades, and most of its students came from affluent families and names of stature.
Goten always felt like a black sheep in some ways because he only had a loose association to wealth or glory. His family had a trust fund that was set up by his grandfather, the Ox King, but nowadays, it was mainly depleted of its cash, and mostly still existed to hold assets such as real estate, and to delegate its official beneficiaries.
Most students were not familiar with the Ox King, as his reign over Mt. Paozu ended back when Goten's father, Goku, was still a child. That was in the way early years, before his dad even married his mom.
Goten's bigger "claim to fame" was his loose association with Hercule Satan, Champion of the World, through his brother's marriage. In a school full of kids who subtly judged each other based on social class, it was a good ice breaker for Goten to fall back on his relation to Mr. Satan when introducing himself. It was a good segue into how he was also "descended from royalty," and then the kids would stop asking questions, and welcome Goten into the crowd.
It was easy for Goten to make friends. He just instinctively knew the words that people wanted to hear, and people liked talking to him because of it. He also had a lot of practice with it because he often channeled his supportive side around his best friend, Trunks Briefs.
He unfortunately was also assumed to have the financial capital to keep up with Trunks Briefs. Because Goten was able to use all of Trunks' gadgets and toys, he gained a reputation as also being a rich kid.
That assumption was far from the truth, though.
In reality, Goten's family had run out of their trust money long ago, and Chi Chi was able to afford maintaining her home through a stipend that Gohan had set up for his family, from the Satan Trust. They were comfortable, but not rich.
There was money, but because it was through the Satan Trust, accessing any additional money always involved having to get permission , and would involve several people over a matter of days in order to source it.
Chi Chi was only able to afford Goten's expensive academy because Gohan was paying for Goten's education, from his own salary, completely bypassing the Satan Trust entirely. Gohan also provided Goten with a small allowance so that he could afford lunch and could save up some cash to buy himself a new game every now and then.
Most of the kids didn't realize that most of Goten's fancy things, such as his headphones and his GamePad, were either hand-me-downs, or gifts from Trunks and Bulma.
For most of his life, Goten didn't really need much to entertain him. He enjoyed meditating through playing video games, and he preferred to have someone by his side mostly because he enjoyed just being in someone else's company.
Things were going to be different with Trunks in college. Goten had to plan how he wanted to live his life for a year now that the superhero duo would be disbanded for a bit.
He needed a life away from his mom. He needed to be out of the house, so he could feel some sense of freedom. He didn't want to be alone while out, so he thought the answer was to join a club and socialize.
But then it hit him that even a club didn't satisfy him. The truth was that Goten wanted to feel like he was supportive of someone. He wanted to feel like he was appreciated and loved, like how Trunks made him feel. He didn't really need much more.
He didn't even need to have much in common with someone in order to get along great with them. He actually found it fun when someone was very different from him, because then he could learn new perspectives, and could see the world from a new lens.
Now with Trunks away, with Goten almost eighteen, he knew from his experience with Trunks that he was ready to feel those feelings.
He knew the answer to everything was to get a girlfriend.
His mom, Chi Chi, had a violent temper, and one of the big issues that riled her up was Goten's grades. She had no true reason to always doubt him, since his grades were always quite good; he was not an A+ student, but he was still in the top 10% percentile, with a few A-s dragging down his grades.
Because he had such an example to live up to, though, Chi Chi took Goten's studies very personally and would often be triggered by anything that would lead away from Goten's focus on getting into a top university.
Trunks getting into Orange Star University only made it worse for Goten, because now he had to live up to the prospect of getting into a Super League school, and worse - the most prestigious private school of its league.
Goten admittedly felt tremendous pressure at home, which was exacerbated by the mayhem of having Pan in the house. She was hyperactive as a mostly-human child with Saiyan-level energy, and it manifested through Pan physically where she'd always be running and being loud, and invasive, and think that she was being funny, while all she did was get into trouble.
When Goten was home, he risked having to babysit her. He often got stuck with her, and things were better because Trunks would come over and hang out so he could pass the time better. But, now that Trunks would be in college, Goten was going to be stuck with Pan alone.
Goten didn't hate Pan. She was funny, and she had a loud personality. But Goten just kinda… wished she weren't there. He liked his life better before Pan was around stealing everyone's attention. Trunks was the only person who made Goten still feel seen when around Pan.
At home, if Goten wasn't actively babysitting Pan, then he was expected to be studying. And if he didn't do exactly what she said, then she would be triggered.
It took very little to trigger her, and her episodes would leave Goten shaken.
Most people outside of the Son family were aware of Chi Chi's temper, but never saw the full brunt of how violent she could get.
During few times when Goten's dad, Goku, was around, he tended to be the source of her emotional outbursts, and he would absorb all of her negative energy as an unintended shield for his sons. Goku laughed off all of her verbal attacks and when she threw items at him, he laughed because he couldn't feel it, and it all felt like a game. Goku never really understood how Chi Chi's outbursts impacted her family, especially Goten.
When Goku was gone, which was most of the time, Chi Chi's energy was diverted to other family members, and since Chi Chi didn't want to target Gohan or Videl, she focused almost all of it on Goten.
To shield himself from the shouting episodes, Goten would retreat in on himself and just play games to try to shut it all out.
Games were Goten's safe space. It's where he worked out his thoughts, and his feelings, and recollected himself when he either felt alone, or targeted, such as when his mom was super angry and would chase him with objects she'd throw.
Goten was ready to branch out from games, though. With a girlfriend, he'd have a new reason to get out of the house. He also saved up enough allowance to take some girls out, at least for a time.
Goten knew that the girls from his school came from money, and expected lavish dates. Goten just needed the money to treat his girl to a great date.
And, unbeknownst to most people, winds of change began to blow Goten's sails.
Now that Goten was turning eighteen, money was coming.
––––––––
When Goten was five years old, his grandfather, the Ox King, passed away from a heart attack.
Prior to his death, the Ox King had set up a Revocable Will and Trust, assigning Goten's mother, Chi Chi, as its executor. As the executor, Chi Chi managed all the money and had authority to change it up, as needed.
One of the Trust fund items explicitly stated that "the youngest child," or Goten, would inherit a "small legacy" CD upon his 18th birthday.
At the time of the Ox King's passing, the "small legacy" was a CD that had been gifted to him by his own father with a long maturity date. The CD at the time was only valued as its face value, since, at the time, it was prior to its maturity date. It was valued at its initial value of $8,000 zeni.
It was a marginal sum compared to the larger Trust inheritance that was in the millions, and so it was largely overlooked.
Since Goten was five, however, the CD matured on its own, held by Bank Paozu, and it accrued compounding interest each year.
Since the initial amount had been so little, it had slipped Chi Chi's mind as a priority to consider as Goten turned eighteen.
Goten didn't forget about it, though.
On his 18th birthday, Goten would finally have control of his CD account, which he could finally cash out at $800,000 zeni, a far cry from its initial $8,000 valuation.
The small fortune was certainly not enough to retire on, but it was a solid chunk of cash, and a significant life-changer for his sense of freedom. It left him fairly rich - not anything near as rich as his classmates' families, and certainly nowhere near that of his billionaire brother, but certainly able to be autonomous and make decisions for his own life.
Goten purposely played down his 18th birthday with his mother to try to help her forget about the existence of the CD. He was afraid of anything getting in the way of his inheritance, especially since his mother had the ability to cash out the trust in her own name as its executor.
As his eighteenth birthday approached, Goten didn't even remind Trunks about it. He didn't want anyone to get in the way of it, and figured the fewer people who remembered about it, the better.
In fact, only Havana knew about it.
Funnily enough, it's actually how they met.
At the time, Goten was joking to Havana in Badminton Club about wanting to run away, which piqued her interest. She started to pitch the idea of pirating in Caribou to him.
They had discussed his travel dreams, in which he confessed he'd "flown most places" in the world, and that his true dream would be the next frontier - going into space.
She laughed about it and told him that it'd be too expensive a trip. He laughed and told her it might be possible with his new inheritance.
She asked how much, and he told her the amount.
Goten at the time viewed her as a stranger and therefore easy to trust. She didn't know his family, so there was low risk to being open with her. Most of his classmates came from money, anyway.
Later that same day, Havana started to stroke his arm when she'd talk to him, and her advances on him only grew.
Goten never thought to think too hard about her intentions; his mind just never worked that way.
All Goten knew was, after all this time of feeling like a number-two, a girl was finally making him feel like he was number one.
And the more he felt she needed him, the more he wanted to be her support.
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–1/16/24–
