A/N This chapter introduces my OC Sahir, who is the son of Nam. Nam had been a favorite character of mine in Dragonball, and always thought he'd have a child the same age as Gohan for him to befriend and train with. He's been written in other unpublished works of mine but this is the first fic he is published in. He's simply emotional support to Gohan, and doesn't get in the way of the fic at all, so there's no reason for hate of the OC. I also want to note that the names used in The Book of Kami are Harmony Gold Dub names. They were referenced in DBZA as a deep cut jokes, and thought they would be perfect for alternative names. Happy Reading :)

The first week of classes went by faster than expected. Dende's schedule consisted of morning classes only. By the early afternoon, he was done for the day. This left room to study, journal, and meditate. Dende was satisfied with this routine until he considered more things to fill his free time with.

It was common to join a club in University. It builds social skills, and helps develop friendships, two things Dende needed improvement in. Throughout the week, he had been hearing about an event that showcased all the clubs on campus. That would definitely give him an idea of what he could join. "Chiaotzu, were you planning on joining any clubs?" He asked his roommate from across the room.

"I don't want to, but Tien is making me." He said, not looking away from the tablet in his lap. "What about you?"

"I wanted to, but I don't know what kind of club to join." Dende said, tapping his fingers against his desk for a moment. "Would you like to go to the club showcase with me? We can find a club to join together."

Chiaotzu shrugged from the spot in his bed, his eyes still not leaving his tablet. "Sure. As long as you don't pick some lame church club. I'd rather we do something fun."

Dende glanced at his roommate. "You know, many church clubs involve volunteer work that betters the community, missions that help children, and events that feed the homeless. It's not that bad."

"I didn't say they were bad. I do stuff like that for cities outside of Mifan all the time. I'm just used to it."

"You said it was lame."

Chiaotzu rolled his eyes. "Stop taking me so seriously. Of course it's not lame, I just don't wanna do it."

Dende sighed. "Understandable. While I'm gone, try and think of some clubs that you'd actually like to join." He grabbed his journal and his Book of Kami. "I'll be at the worship center, I shouldn't be long."

Chiaotzu finally looked up from his tablet and at his roommate. "Are you going with Gohan? My pants still have stains in them, you know. Tell him he owes me a new pair of corduroys."

"Well, he did get the handkerchief I gave him clean. It was cleaner than before. Maybe he can help with your pants. I'll ask when I see him."

I am thankful my first week of classes went by smoothly. I look forward to the rest of the semester. In order to grow my social skills and make new friends, I will be joining a club. While I am anxious at the thought of the task, the thought of spreading joy and creating harmony in new relationships follows after. I ask Kami for guidance as I decide which club I want to join.

My mission in spreading the word of Kami has been a small success. Gohan, the boy I healed, is interested in the message, and attending Dragon's Temple. I pondered if this was the reason Kami confirmed my sign so quickly, but I believe Gohan serves a higher purpose in our friendship. I've never been so comfortable around a stranger, and yet, he doesn't feel like a stranger at all. He is more than just a potential follower of Kami to me, but his importance will be revealed over time. The more our friendship develops, the more I will know.

Dende looked up from his journal, and found Gohan coming to sit on the pew next to him. "You're done with your prayer and offering?" He asked.

Gohan nodded as he sat down on the pew. "Were you still writing in your journal? Do you need more time?"

Dende shook his head, closing his journal. "No, I've written enough." He turned towards Gohan slightly to continue their conversation. "How is your reading going with the Book of Kami?"

Gohan pulled the copy Dende gave him out and handed it back to him. "I finished the whole thing."

Dende's eyes widened slightly. "In a week?" He asked. Even he couldn't finish reading the Book of Kami in a week, and he knew it mostly from memory. "I told you there was no rush on reading it."

"I know, but I couldn't put it down. If I wasn't in class or studying, I was reading. It's full of really good stories and morals." He glanced down at the Book of Kami once more before looking back at his friend. "Thank you so much for letting me borrow it, it was the best religious book I've ever read."

It was heartwarming to see someone excited about reading the Book of Kami. His mission in spreading the word of Kami was slow, but effective. Dende handed the copy back to Gohan. "If you enjoyed it that much, then you should keep it."

"But–"

"It's only a copy, and I'm happy to part with it. I'm glad you enjoyed it, so I'd be honored if you kept it." He smiled before speaking again. "Besides, I'd love to hear your opinions and questions about it. I'm sure you have some."

"Oh, I've got a lot." Gohan said, taking the book back and looking at his friend. "Thank you Dende, I appreciate you letting me keep it."

Dende looked at his friend as well. "Thank you for appreciating Kami's messages and stories."

Again, their eyes met.

The feeling was even stronger than before. What was it about Gohan's eyes that was so comforting and familiar? What was it about Gohan that made him so important? The answer couldn't be hidden behind those dark eyes of his, but Dende thought that if he looked long enough…He felt his face start to heat up, and he looked away quickly. "So, what were some questions you had?"

Gohan blinked when Dende looked away from him. He didn't realize he was staring at him, he must have made him uncomfortable. Gohan reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses before slipping them on. He opened his Book of Kami, flipping through the pages. "I'm not really sure where to start."

"We can start from the beginning, if you'd like."

"Okay, so from what I read, Kami was sent from a distant planet to Earth with the intention of guarding the Earth."

"Yes, he spent many years alone and isolated before finding his purpose of guarding the Earth."

"Right. And later, when he becomes the guardian of Earth, he creates the Eternal Dragon and the star orbs."

Dende nodded. "Correct."

"But before he does that, Kami splits his body into two beings. I know he comes back eventually, and they reconcile literally centuries later, but why does he have to split his body in the first place?"

"Because to become the Guardian of Earth, you have to have a pure heart. You must be void of hatred, negativity, and darkness. Kami banished his darkness to live in light. By living a life that embodies peace, gratitude, and joy, he was able to become the Guardian of Earth."

"Oh okay, that makes sense." He said flipping through more pages. "So the main warrior, Zero, also comes from another planet?"

"Yes, but that's revealed later in the New Stories."

"Right, so in the Old Stories, Zero is raised by Tendor the Great, trained by a turtle hermit master alongside his friend Bongo, and later trained by Kami himself?"

"In simple terms, yes, but of course much more occurs in between that. He defeats pillagers and enemies, his strength is measured through multiple quests and contests, and he meets many other warriors along the way."

"Like Zedkai and Shinto?"

Dende nodded. "Both of which were enemies initially to Zero, but later became allies."

"A lot of Zeros' allies were his enemies first, but he showed mercy and forgiveness to all of them." He said before smiling. "In a way, Zero kind of reminds me of my own Dad."

The comparison piqued Dende's interest. "Really? In what regard?"

"Well for starters, he grew up as a martial artist, just like Zero. He was trained by my great-grandpa, and he also trained with his best friend growing up. He's very forgiving, and he can be kind of flighty sometimes. The only thing he takes seriously is fighting."

Dende laughed slightly. "That sounds just like Zero." He said. "I'm glad you can relate to the book of Kami, it's very relatable to me as well."

"How so?"

"The reincarnation of The Demon King, Majunior, reminds me of my uncle in a lot of ways."

"I know The Demon King was pretty evil, but I don't think Majunior was that bad. I thought he was pretty cool. He ends up being really close to Zero, and training his first son, One."

Dende nodded in agreement. "I think Majunior is misunderstood by many. He was born with evil intentions, but slowly has a change of heart in the New Stories. My Uncle Piccolo reminds me of that. He's very aloof and distant, and takes everything seriously like Majunior, but he is tolerable towards his friends and loved ones."

"He also ends up with Kami again, which completes him as a being, and makes him stronger. I thought that was pretty interesting." Gohan spoke with a nod before pausing. "So, since Majunior reconnected with Kami, does that mean Majunior is the Guardian of Earth?"

Dende shook his head. "Not exactly. Kami prophesied who would succeed him in the last story."

"Right, the last story in the book, The Prophet's story. So, they're the new Guardian of the earth?" Gohan asked.

"Yes. Kami prophesied the next guardian of Earth would be a descendent of his home planet. He would be able to restore the Eternal Dragon, the star orbs, and reside in a temple above the clouds just as Kami did."

Gohan glanced at Dende for a moment before looking back down at his book. "Kami also said that he would be able to heal with his touch."

Dende paused at his statement, unsure of how to reply. "Yes, that's also mentioned in the story. It's also mentioned that upon Zero's second death, his son One would replace him as the protector of earth." He said, adding the second part quickly to change the subject.

Gohan looked as if he wanted to speak on something, but just nodded in agreement with Dende's words. "Yeah, it's pretty cool that Zero was the protector of earth under Kami's guard, and his son is the new protector of earth under the new guardian of earth. Why aren't there stories about the new guardian?"

Dende shrugged as he closed his book. "I'm not sure. I just thought that by the time the stories of the new guardian of earth are revealed, we wouldn't be on earth anymore."

Gohan sat back in the pew in thought. "You know, my mom always says that stories are always being written, because they're always being told. They always start by word of mouth before they're written down."

Dende smiled at the thought. "Then maybe we'll be in the new guardian's stories."

Gohan smiled as well, closing his book as he did. "I like the sound of that." He said and gathered the small box he brought with him as well as his book. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

Dende gathered his journal and book before standing. "I was going to the club showcase with my roommate, Chiaotzu. What about you?"

Gohan stood next, ready to follow him out of the sanctuary. "Oh, I was going with my roommate too, but I already know what club I'm going to join. I'm just going to sign up."

"Which club are you joining?"

"The Martial Arts Club. It's for people that already know Martial Arts. They train, spar, share move sets, and help increase your skill overall." Gohan said, pushing the door of the sanctuary open to exit.

Dende went through the open door, and out to the foyer. "That's interesting. Unfortunately, I'm not a martial artist, so I don't think I'd join. I'm not sure which club to join, so I think my roommate and I would be there for a while trying to decide."

Gohan followed him out, ready to open the next door for them to exit. "Speaking of your roommate, he's not still upset over the pants, is he?"

Dende looked over at his friend, giving him a wordless, apologetic look.

"Chiaotzu, I have something for your pants." Dende said coming into their room.

Chiaotzu, who hadn't moved from his position in bed, looked up from his tablet. "I hope it's another pair of pants."

He reached in his pocket, pulling out a clear storage bag of a white, powdered substance. "Gohan gave me this for your pants."

Chiaotzu looked at the bag before looking back at his roommate. He narrowed his eyes. "Dende, it's illegal to have that stuff on campus. Plus, I really don't think you should be friends with a drug pusher, either."

Dende didn't know if he was more shocked at the fact that his roommate thought that he was casually carrying around drugs, or that Gohan gave him drugs to carry around. "Chiaotzu, this is laundry detergent. Have you never seen it in powder form?"

"What part of 'Tien does my dry cleaning' do you not understand?"

Dende sighed. "Look, Gohan used this to get the handkerchief I gave him clean. He said it's his mother's own laundry recipe, so it doesn't take much to get your clothes clean."

Chiaotzu hesitantly took the bag before opening it up to observe it better. "Huh, it smells really good too."

Dende smiled. "I know, it smells just like–" He paused, stopping himself from finishing his sentence. The detergent smelled exactly like Gohan, but that would be too embarrassing to admit to his teasing roommate aloud. "…Like a fresh citrus tree." He spoke, trying to sound as even as possible.

"…You could have just said it smelled like Gohan."

"Can we go to the showcase now?"

.

.

.

The front lawn of the campus was abuzz with activity for the club showcase. School clubs littered the lawn with booths, tarps, tables, and games to attract students. A large stage was set up towards the back, where a band performed for the small crowd in front of it. Food trucks lined up on the pavilion, offering a variety of different food choices. Students crowded the font lawn, creating an overall large turn out for the event.

So far, the two roommates hadn't found any club worth joining.

"I thought you would have liked the High Society club."

"Chiaotzu, only one of us is considered High Society, and it's not me."

The Emperor shrugged. "I would have put a good word in for you." He said before biting the corn dog in his hand. "But I guess we'll keep looking." He spoke between chewing.

Dende thought for a moment. "Would you consider an art club?"

"I like art, but I'm not good at it. I can only appreciate it. Do you have any artistic talent?"

"I made a ceramic dragon for the temple, but that's about it."

"So it sounds like art clubs are out of the question. What are our other options?" Chiaotzu asked before taking another bite of his food.

"Martial Arts Club?" Dende half-heartedly suggested.

Chiaotzu shook his head. "I don't think I'm good enough for the Martial Arts club. Tien taught me a lot, but not enough to join a club."

Dende looked at his roommate in surprise. "You know Martial Arts?"

"Well duh. Emperors are typically trained in swordsmanship or martial arts, sometimes both. Mifan hosted the last World Tournament, actually."

"While that's an interesting fact knowing you're a martial artist, we've been looking at clubs for an hour now, and still haven't found anything to join. The only thing we've been successful in is getting you a corn dog."

Before Chiaotzu could retort, he looked ahead, seeing a booth decorated with flowers. "Oh, is that a booth for a gardening club?"

Dende looked ahead as well, seeing the name from afar. "Yes, it says Gardening Club. Is that something you'd want to join? Your clothes would be dirty all the time." He warned.

"I have clothes to garden in, I just hope you can say the same."

Dende waved him off. "Don't worry, I brought my gardening robe." He said and walked over to the booth.

"Of course you did." Chiaotzu muttered following behind.

The booth was decorated beautifully with real flowers on the table, and paper flowers around the sign. A single girl sat behind the booth, with long curly hair the color of a burning sunset. She smiled warmly at the two. "Hi, have you come to stop and smell the roses?"

"Yes, they're very beautiful." Dende remarked looking down at the freshly picked roses on the table. He looked back up at the girl, staring longer than he should have. "I'm sorry, but you look familiar. Have we met?"

The girl shook her head. "Not officially, but I've seen you in my leadership class with your friend. I'm Angela." She held out her hand.

Dende shook her hand gently, smiling as he did. "That's right, my apologies for staring. My name is Dende, this is my roommate Chiaotzu." He hadn't noticed her in his leadership class, perhaps she was in another class of his as well.

"It's fine. It's a pleasure to meet you both. Are you interested in the Gardening Club? We have a greenhouse on campus, and a garden off campus that we tend to as well. We grow everything from flowers, to fruit, to vegetables."

"What do you do with the fruits and vegetables when they're harvested?" Chiaotzu asked.

"We open a farmers market at the end of each semester, and whatever isn't sold is given to local food pantries."

Dende smiled. "How convenient. A service to the planet, and the community. I'd love to have more information on how to join."

Angela grinned. "Absolutely! Here is our contact list. Please write your contact information here, and within the week, we will email you about our first introduction meeting." She said and offered him a pen with a flower sticking out of the top of it.

Dende took the pen graciously, and wrote down the contact information asked of him, then he passed the pen over to Chiaotzu. "Are you going to join the Gardening Club with me?"

The Emperor nodded, taking the pen. "Sure, it sounds fun." He said, writing his information down as well. "Tien likes to garden too, it's like his secret thing."

Once Chiaotzu added his contact information to the list, Angela smiled at the two of them. "Perfect. Thank you for joining the Gardening Club, and enjoy the rest of the showcase!"

Dende nodded politely at her words. "Thank you as well, we're looking forward to the first meeting. Enjoy the rest of your day." With that, he dismissed himself, with his roommate following next to him.

Once they were out of earshot from the booth, Dende asked. "Did you know she was in our leadership class? I hadn't noticed her."

"Oh yeah, with hair like that, she's kinda hard to miss." Chiaotzu commented. Seeing as she only sat a few seats ahead of them, it was particularly hard to see the board past her hair.

"Strange, maybe I've seen her in another class."

"Probably. Some of these classes are pretty big, but our leadership class is small. I seriously don't know how you missed her. She's all I see in class."

Dende glanced down at his roommate. "She's all you see in class? You can't see the board?"

Chiaotzu looked away to hide his blush. "Why do you think I'm always looking at your notes?"

Dende held back a smile. Chiaotzu certainly needed more help than he admitted to. He hadn't seen anyone shorter than Chiaotzu on campus yet. Seeing that he was one of the tallest students on campus, they seemed to be well matched roommates. "We'll swap seats in the next class."

"Hopefully it'll help." Chiaotzu muttered, tossing away his corn dog trash in a nearby bin. "So we joined a club, what do you wanna do now?"

Dende thought for a moment. "I don't have anything else to do today. Have you finished your paper for our leadership class?"

Chiaotzu shrugged casually as he replied. "I started it. It's almost done…Can I read your paper for inspiration?"

"No."

Chiaotzu gave an exasperated sigh. "What happened to helping me if we had a class together?"

"Chiaotzu, the paper is based on personal leadership experience. You are the leader of a city, you should have one of the best papers in the class."

Chiaotzu seemed to perk up at his roommate's words. "You're right Dende, I am one of the best leaders in that class."

"I didn't say that–"

"With that being said, I now have the motivation I needed to start–I mean finish–my paper."

…

After returning from the Worship Center, Gohan and his roommate prepared to attend the club showcase. The goal was to sign up for the club they wanted to join, which they were successful in doing so.

"If all we came to do was sign up for the Martial Arts Club then I guess we can go."

Gohan looked at his roommate. "Are you kidding? Do you know how much free food is here? We have to at least walk around a little more."

Gohan's roommate sighed. "Fine, but if I don't see any vegetarian options, I'm leaving."

Gohan grinned. "I'm sure there's something here for you to eat, we just have to find it." Gohan said, leading his roommate around on his search for something fried, grilled, smoked, or baked.

"How are things going with your friend?"

"With Dende? It's fine. We talked about The Book of Kami today in the Worship Center. Dende knows a lot about it, so he cleared up a lot of the questions I had."

"The Book of Kami? That's the book he was letting you borrow, right?"

"Well, he let me keep it since I enjoyed it so much. But yes I finished it in a week, it was a really good read. It's about warriors, distant planets, villains from the cosmos, becoming stronger, the sense of adventure, training with beings from another world, and so much more. It's the coolest thing I've ever read. I even think I saw your dad's name in it. I remember you telling me your dad's name was Nam, right?"

Gohan's roommate nodded. "My father did tell me he had a religious name, but I've never read it in any religious books we have at home. Did you happen to see my name in the Book of Kami?" He asked curiously.

Gohan shook his head. "No, I don't remember seeing it. Sorry Sahir." He said before adding, "For what it's worth, your father's name was in the Old Stories if you ever want to find it."

Gohan's roommate, Sahir shrugged. "It was worth asking. Perhaps I'll read up on the Book of Kami if you're willing to share it. You've intrigued me enough to read it."

"Sure, I don't mind letting you borrow it, as long as I have it back on Sundays."

"Of course." Sahir said, looking at the food options that Gohan led him to. "You know, I have yet to meet your mystery friend. He doesn't come around often."

Gohan inhaled the scent of mixed food in the air. Corn dogs, funnel cakes, grilled hamburgers, and much more filled his nose. He was working towards sniffing out the smoked turkey legs he could faintly start to smell. "You didn't see Dende earlier? He stopped by the room today."

Sahir shook his head. "No, I hadn't noticed. I think I was busy finishing up my leadership paper."

"Oh that's right. You were busy when I came back to the room." Gohan spoke, finally finding the smoked turkey legs further down the lawn. "He stopped by to get laundry detergent for his roommate. Remember how I told you I ran into him on my Nimbus bike when I met him? His roommate Chiaotzu was with him, and he got his pants really dirty. Apparently he wouldn't stop complaining about them."

"Chiaotzu is Dende's roommate? I guess that makes sense. I have a political science class with Chiaotzu, and he's mentioned something about his pants in a conversation before. He's quite a character, but he seems nice."

Gohan stood in line for a smoked turkey leg. Luckily the line wasn't too long. "Dende said not to mind him, but he means well. I'm sure he's different in class though." He said and looked around for a moment. "Did you see anything you want to eat?"

Sahir pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as he looked around. "Other than a funnel cake, no."

Gohan frowned. "Well do you wanna just go to the dining hall? You always find something to eat there."

Sahir shook his head. "No it's fine, I know you want your turkey leg."

"I can eat it on the way to the dining hall. It'll be gone by the time we get there, and I'll still be hungry."

Sahir didn't even eat meat, but he was certain he'd be full after an entire smoked turkey leg. He couldn't understand how his roommate could eat so much. He's seen the stacks of plates he could make in the dining hall, a turkey leg would be gone before they even left the front lawn. He handed his roommate the food vouchers they were given at the beginning of the showcase. "Here, you can have my voucher, I won't need it."

Gohan grinned as he accepted the voucher from his roommate. "Thanks Sahir. I owe you one."

Sahir shrugged, a smile forming on his face as well. "I just want to see how fast you can eat two turkey legs."