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Barracks	By : chayron Category: Dragon Ball Z > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 16996 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z – it belongs to its respective owners. This fan fiction is not a commercial project, and I am not making any money from writing it.

Chapter List
- 1-Barracks
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 9
- 10-Part 10
- 11-Part 11
- 12-Part 12
- 13-Part 13
- 14-Part 14
- 15-Part 15
- 16-Part 16
- 17-Part 17
- 18-Part 18
- 19-Part 19
- 20-Part 20
- 21-Part 21
- 22-Part 22
- 23-Part 23
- 24-Part 24
- 25-Part 25
- 26-Part 26
- 27-Part 27
- 28-Part 28
- 29-Part 29
- 30-Part 30
- 31-Part 31
- 32-Part 32
- 33-Part 33
- 34-Part 34
- 35-Part 35
- 36-Part 36
- 37-Part 37
- 38-Part 38
- 39-Part 39
- 40-Part 40
- 41-Part 41
- 42-Part 42
- 43-Part 43
- 44-Part 44
- 45-Part 45
- 46-Part 46
- 47-Part 47
- 48-Part 48
- 49-Part 49
- 50-Part 50
- 51-Part 51
- 52-Part 52
- 53-Part 53
- 54-Part 54
- 55-Part 55
- 56-Part 56
- 57-Part 57
- 58-Part 58
- 59-Part 59
- 60-Part 60
- 61-Part 61
- 62-Part 62
- 63-Part 63
- 64-Part 64
- 65-Part 65
- 66-Part 66
- 67-Part 67
- 68-Part 68
- 69-Part 69
- 70-Part 70
- 71-Part 71
- 72-Part 72
- 73-Part 73
- 74-Part 74
- 75-Part 75
- 76-Part 76
- 77-Part 77
- 78-Part 78
- 79-Part 79
- 80-Part 80
- 16
- 17
- 18
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z – it belongs to its respective owners. This fan fiction is not a commercial project, and I am not making any money from writing it.
Warnings: Alternate Universe. Yaoi (male x male). Goten x Trunks and vice versa. Other pairings.

A/N 1: Officer ranks at Hataro Officer Training School [from the highest to the lowest]:
1. Taisa [Andera Gendian]
2. Shaii [Trunks Vegeta]
3. Shyu
4. Captain [Laureus Tanko]
5. Drill sergeant
6. First-in-command
7. Second-in-command
8. Savar [anyone attending any officer training school]

A/N 2: The Saiyan education:
0. Preparatory school (pupils 8-13 years old)
1. Paramilitary school (pupils 14-18). From there to --> boot camps (drafts/grunts) or:
2. Officer training school (savars 18 – 20). From there to --> military posts or:
3. Commissioned Officer Academy (ranks)

A/N 3: A lot of fighting action sequences are used from Monty Oum’s Dead Fantasy 1-2. They can be found here: http://www.gametrailers.com/game/monty-oum/4712

Barracks

by chayron (lttomb@yahoo.com), beta-read by quatreofdoom

Part 17

The canteen was bustling with savars. The morning drill had been harsh and all they were thinking about was stuffing their stomachs to the fullest. It was even more quiet than usual; the only sounds filling the air were slurping, chewing and the clinking of flatware against dishes.

Goten and his friends were sitting in the left corner of the canteen, enjoying the breakfast they themselves had helped to prepare.

“So when do you retake your ki differentiation test?”

With his fork half-way to his mouth, Goten turned to look at Toharu. “I’m still not talking to you.”

Toharu rolled his eyes theatrically. “Oh, c’mon! Nearly a whole week has passed! Forget it already!”

“Never.”

From across the table, Kyon looked at Goten who was munching on his cutlet. He had already finished one plate and was having seconds. Goten was still pissed off, or pretended to be, because of that prank Toharu had performed on his forehead. The younger Saiyan looked as if he had completely recovered from his accident. His tail still had weird patches of re-growing hair, he still ate more than normal, and sometimes he would get drowsy all of a sudden, but those instances were becoming rarer and rarer.

“So when do you retake your exam?” Kyon asked, pushing his empty plate away from him.

“Next week, if everything’s okay,” Goten answered.

Toharu booed, “And now you are playing favorites.” He pouted when Goten glared at him. “You do know we did it because we love you?”

“Who’s ‘we’?” Ario snorted. “Personally, I hate him. He’s an abomination from hell.”

“Alright, so you did it because you hate him,” Toharu continued. “But there’s…”

“You! You,” Goten growled out at him, pointing at Toharu with his fork, which had a slice of cucumber dangling on it. “It’s you who did it. There is no ‘we’!”

Toharu grinned at him. “But nobody protested.”

“I protested, goddamn you!” Goten sneered at him. “Well, would have if I had been conscious.” Angrily, he shoveled more cutlet and some salad into his mouth. “I mean, I can’t even trust you not to do anything to me when I’m unconscious!” he mouthed around the food he had in his mouth. He choked and grabbed a mug of tea to wash everything down.

“Sounds very…suggestive,” Ranvera said.

“Ah-ha!” Goten nearly choked again in his agitated frenzy. “That’s sexual harassment again!”

Ranvera threw his hands up. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! Now I can’t even make a joke!”

“It’s not funny!” Goten snorted at him. “Not funny at all!”

Ranvera pouted at him. “Now you’re hurting my feelings.”

“And how about my feelings? Eh?” Goten glared at all four of them, taking turns to pin each of them with his stare. “Ever thought about that?”

“I’m gonna sock you one if you don’t shut up,” Ario said, pointing at Goten with his finger threateningly. “You almost blew your ass up and all of us were running around like idiots because of you. You're the real idiot here. How in the world can one get into an accident like that when he’s at an officers school?! So yeah, we were fucking entitled to have a go and play that stupid joke on you,” Ario declared with absolute conviction.

Goten stared at him, then his face flushed red and he lowered his head. He had neither the will nor the courage to protest. “Fine,” he mumbled around the rest of the cutlet in his mouth. “Let’s leave it at that. I’m sorry about the accident.”

“Actually, I don’t understand why your feelings would be hurt,” Toharu said matter-of-factly. “I gave you a free advertisement! Now guys will be tearing at each others’ throats to be your first!”

Ario slapped himself on his forehead. “You just keep quiet, Toharu, or this will never be over.”

“You…” Goten growled, his fork pointing at Toharu again.

“Don’t you brandish that cold steel on me!”

“Food fight! Food fight!” Ranvera hollered after catching the murderous look Goten gave Toharu.

“You shut up!” Kyon yelled at Ranvera from across the table. “Want to add cleaning duty to our list as well?!”

Ranvera shook his head. “Not really. But it would be entertaining as hell, wouldn’t it?”

“If it’s entertainment you want, go to the kitchen and stick your head into a bowl of salad!” Kyon snorted at him.

Everyone in the vicinity jumped in their seats when Ario’s fist hit the table loudly. “Quiet, all of you!” he snapped at them. “My head’s gonna combust because of all this screeching!”

The table was completely silent for a few seconds, then Goten continued chewing. “So what lectures do we have next?” he asked.

“Something about ki measuring,” Ranvera said.

“It’s about scouters,” Kyon specified.

“Is it?” Goten wondered. “Didn't we learn all about them in our paramilitary schools already?”

“Well, maybe we did, but we never had much practice.”

“I did,” Toharu said.

“That’s because you stole one,” Ario pointed out.

Toharu sighed. He gave his lover an accusing look. “Can’t I even try to appear decent in front of my friends?”

“If there’s something decent in this world, it’s really not you,” Ario said.

“Fucker,” Toharu muttered under his breath.

Ario grinned at him. “That’s right.”

“Eww…” Kyon grimaced, “take your bed business elsewhere.”

“I would prefer it here, though,” Ranvera protested.

“I bet you would!” Goten snorted at him.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake! Back to square one again!” Ranvera groaned. “I told you that the guy agreed to be filmed!”

“And you think I would believe you?”

“And why the hell not?!”

“And why the hell should I?”

“Because I already said that I’m serious about you at least twice?”

‘The second time, if I recall, was while you were fucking Kyon, right?” Goten sneered at him.

Kyon’s face painted red all at once while Ranvera’s mouth was opening and closing soundlessly on its own accord.

“You knew?” he stuttered finally.

“Of course, I knew! And y-”

With a moan befitting a ship which had just crashed into a reef, Ario rose from the table. “Enough, I can’t listen to this anymore! I’ll be in the kitchen washing the damn dishes!” he said, gathering the empty plates from the table in jerky, irritated movements.

“So you knew,” Ranvera repeated numbly after a few seconds of silence over the table.

“Yeah, I did.”

Ranvera looked at Kyon, who shook his head. Ranvera looked at Toharu, who shrugged.

“I have nothing to do with this,” Toharu denied the obvious accusations on Ranvera’s face. “He figured it out by himself,” he said. Then he grinned at Ranvera. “Well, you have to admit that you weren’t all that discreet. Why Kyon? The guy shares a room with Goten. He could probably smell you all over him.”

“Oh gods, I know I deserve this,” Kyon moaned softly, hiding his head behind his arms so that only his burning ears could be seen, “but, please, at least consider where we are!”

They looked around. The canteen was completely silent, everyone staring at them. The friends turned back, glanced at each other, then lowered their heads to forlornly gaze at the surface of the table.

“So you knew that he knew?” Ranvera hissed quietly at Kyon.

“Yes,” Kyon answered in a weak voice. “Just sort of happened.”

Ranvera’s gaze went to Goten, who had finished his tea and was standing up. “Hey, wait!”

“What for?” Goten motioned with his head at Kyon. “It seems to me that you have to clear things up between yourselves first.”

“Wait, goddamit!” Ranvera rose as well, grabbing Goten by his arm. “There’s absolutely nothing between us. It was just a convenient…arrangement.”

It did not slip past Goten that Kyon actually winced at the pause in Ranvera’s words. It could not be more obvious that his roommate was stewing in his own shame. Goten turned back to Ranvera. “Listen, Ranvera, there’s absolute no way on my part. You get it?”

Ranvera was frowning, seemingly unwilling to “get” anything, never mind what Goten was talking about.

Goten sighed. “Just…” At a loss, he gestured at Kyon with his free hand, then at Ranvera and himself. “Just…ah, hell, I have no idea. It just won’t work.”

“But why?” Ranvera asked, gesticulating wildly.

“Listen, buddy.” Toharu stood up as well, so now three of them were standing at the table while Kyon was sitting meekly; it was obvious that he was not going to interfere, no matter what. “Ever heard of ‘not my type’?”

Relieved, Goten gave Toharu a thankful look. He was bad at these things. Actually, awful at them. Now he was almost prepared to forgive Toharu for pulling that prank on him.

“And why the hell are you interfering?” Ranvera snorted at Toharu.

“I’m not. I’m just helping him to express his thoughts.”

“That’s right,” Goten confirmed.

“I’m afraid you’ll just have to take ‘no’ for an answer,” Toharu continued.

“Well, this is just unfair,” Ranvera said, pointing his finger at Toharu, then at Goten.

“This is not unfair,” Toharu corrected him. “This is called teamwork.”

Ranvera threw his hands up. “Go and shove your teamwork up your ass,” he mumbled under his breath, starting to gather his dishes from the table. He had an insulted look about him. With his dirty dishes in his hands, he straightened. “And I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” he said, lifting his hand, a mug in his grip. Then he turned around and left for the kitchen.

“A tough guy, he is,” Toharu commented. “Probably has never had anyone reject him. Why don’t you just beat the crap out of him?” he suggested.

Goten sighed. “He’s my friend, you idiot.”

“He’s a potential rapist,” Toharu shot back.

Goten raised his eyebrows. “You don’t really think that.”

“Well… I don’t,” Toharu agreed. He waited for Goten to reply, then, when nothing came, gathered his dishes from the table and left.

Goten heaved another sigh, put down his dishes back onto the table and, ignoring Kyon, sat down. One could say that he was a late bloomer. While starting his paramilitary school, he had no interest in sex. Later, after Gohan’s death, all of his energy had been directed elsewhere. He had adored his elder brother, looked up to him. He had been his personal hero. His sudden death had been a fatal blow. The only things he had been interested in were grieving over Gohan and beating elites.

Now he was surrounded by elites and second-classes. Besides him, there were no third-classes on the base. Even if he would have liked a steady or casual relationship, there was no one he could turn to. Just the thought of himself with Kyon or Ranvera… They were second-classes. It was just…not right.

ooOoOoOoo

“This is a standard edition Mera 5697,” the lecturer in New Technology was saying while walking along the rows of savars who were fumbling with scouters in their hands. He was a young man, aged 22, a second-class, fresh out of Commissioned Officer Academy. He was of average height and had a friendly face. He also had a huge mane of hair falling over his shoulders and down his back, ending somewhere below his knees. Anyone else would have cut it just to get it out of the way. He usually spoke in a patronizing tone, which was weird, keeping in mind that he was addressing men only a couple of years younger than himself. Even though he was a little strange by Saiyan standards, he was one of the few lecturers most savars liked.

Goten inspected the scouter he was holding. It was a standard black and blue Mera. They weren’t very efficient, but they were also inexpensive. One could find this type of scouter among the equipment of almost any Saiyan soldier. Mera could do only two things: measure ki and serve as a transmitter. They came in different shapes, sizes, and colors, but it only served those two functions. If one had more money, he could buy the Vega edition. Those scouters came with numerous additional functions, like ultraviolet or thermo sensors, which were useful if you wanted to find someone who was suppressing their ki. There were also scouters which could double as medical scanners. A lot of them had built in computers and could be used as terminals. Others still, depending on the software installed, could be used to manipulate vehicles at a distance.

“Now we need someone to summon his ki. Are there any volunteers?” the lecturer asked.

“Goten!” someone shouted amidst the rows and the whole training hall burst out laughing.

Red-faced, Goten flipped all of them off.

“Ah, so you’re the one who blew himself up,” the lecturer said, looking at Goten when the laughter had finally faded away. “You’re quite lucky. Usually it ends up with a mess on the walls and floor. Anyone else?” he asked, turning away.

Toharu raised his hand. “I suggest Ario, sir. He’s good with ki.”

“Alright,” the lecturer agreed. “So where’s that Ario?”

Ario stepped out in front of the rows. “Sir,” he saluted.

“Oh, what a big fellow. C’mon, put your scouters on, everybody,” the lecturer ordered. “Goten, I didn’t give the command to turn them on yet.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“Never mind. Turn them on, everybody. You, power up,” with his chin, the lecturer motioned to Ario. “So now, you should all see his ki.”

“It’s all fuzzy, sir,” someone shouted from the rows at the back. “And there’s this screeching sound.”

“Just give it a few slaps. How is it now?”

“Worked like magic, sir! Thanks!”

“Good, good. Now power up to your maximum,” the lecturer said to Ario. “Oh, that’s quite the power level. So you see that red flashing light at the corner of the screen, everyone? It appears when the object’s ki exceeds a thousand. It means you should not engage the target if you are on your own. Unless you are an elite, this guy would probably just tear you apart,” he said, motioning with his head towards Ario.

“I would, sir,” Ario agreed.

“Older Mera versions don’t give warnings. They just display the power level,” the lecturer continued. “Anyway, if you want to use the transmitter, just press this button,” he showed. “You can set the necessary frequency here.” He watched the savars try it out. “The biggest disadvantage to a model like this is that it can’t pick up more than three ki signals at a time. And even then, it might go bonkers and you’ll have to turn it off. Goten, get me that box by the door.”

Goten saluted. “Yes, sir!”

“This is Vega 212,” the lecturer said, pulling a small scouter out of the box Goten had carried over to him. “They are expensive as hell, but they can read over two hundred ki at once. They can show the highest and the lowest level within range and are good at measuring proximity. They come with a language translator installed and the tiny microphone for audio input is right here,” he showed. “They work as night vision binoculars as well. They also have thermo and ultraviolet sensors. This model also features a program made to identify various vehicles. It can count them fairly accurately, but it is still in development and it has been reported that it can mix up jeeps and tanks. You can also enter your coordinates, which makes it easy to travel and organize strikes from within enemy territory. This button here brings up a touch sensitive projective keyboard. The computer has a 4 GHz processor and a 250 GB hard drive, so all of your favorite porn should fit on there.”

“Hardly,” Ranvera muttered.

“There are only twenty of them in the box, so you will have to take turns. If I find that any of them are missing, I’ll make everyone pay for it. The price is thirteen thousand credits.”

Somebody whistled. Goten gave Toharu a meaningful look. Toharu smiled at him innocently.

ooOoOoOoo

The training hall was nearly empty, only two lone figures standing opposite each other in the middle of it. Two khaki-colored jackets lay on the floor a short distance away.

“Sir, I don’t think this is a very good idea,” Goten said nervously, shifting from one foot to another.

“I don’t particularly care what you think,” the shaii said dryly. “We won’t use our ki, so there won’t be any complications.”

Goten’s face went through a gamut of emotions: worry, unhappiness, interest, before finally it settled on concern. He had been invited into the shaii’s office right after the evening drill specially prepared for him by his sergeant. The prince had asked him how he felt. The third-class could not answer much, except to say that he was perfectly fine. The prince seemed to have already talked to the head physician who had assured him of the same. Only two weeks had passed since the accident and Goten had fully recovered, already attending drill with the other savars. It was hard to believe that two weeks ago he was in a regeneration tank, unconscious and barely alive.

The third-class wasn’t very surprised when the prince said that he wanted to have a friendly spar with him. He had figured it would come to this. Saiyans loved a good fight, and the prince seemed particularly interested in his abilities. Nonetheless, Goten really didn’t want to be standing here in the training hall.

The prince eased off at the sight of Goten's nervous demeanor. “Don’t worry, I promise not to expel you in case you win,” he chuckled softly.

Goten gave the prince an awkward look. “I don’t think there’s much chance of that, sir.”

The shaii rolled his eyes. “I saw you fight Toharu. Let’s me say, that fight left quite an impression on me.”

“It was just pure luck, sir.”

The prince snorted at Goten’s overplayed act of modesty. “Don’t start that shit with me. And if you fight half-heartedly, I’ll beat you within an inch of your life.”

“I think that is bound to happen one way or the other, sir,” Goten said apprehensively. “Why, in the world, do we have to do this, sir?”

Goten was nearly whining in that annoying, clueless manner of his and the shaii scowled at him. “Will you stop that charade?” He hated when Goten did that. It was a part of Goten’s character and, even if the third-class might be somewhat worried, the prince knew that he was mostly feeling playful. There were times when he found it funny, there were times when he could tolerate it, and there were times like these when it was just annoying as hell. Well, this was a good opportunity to show Goten exactly how much he hated it.

The prince took his fighting stance and motioned for Goten to come at him. The third-class took a step back. Angered, the shaii made his first move. He ran forward, then, just as Goten was prepared to block him, he ducked, sliding the rest of the way over the floor and kicking at Goten’s legs. Goten jumped over him. The shaii performed a sidekick from a crouching position, but the third-class easily slithered aside while turning around to face the prince. Goten’s own leg whooshed past the lavender-haired man's head, and the shaii managed to avoid it only at the last second by leaning forward, nearly merging into the floor.

Goten performed a roundhouse kick but, already halfway to his feet, the shaii caught him by the left leg. Holding Goten’s leg and using all of his strength, the shaii moved forward, intending to simply throw Goten on his back. It did not work as Goten suddenly fell to the ground, turned sideways, and drew the leg which the prince was holding onto towards himself, pulling the prince along with it. Then he kicked out with his right foot at the shaii’s chest. The prince let go of Goten and crashed onto the floor. He cursed softly.

Goten retreated farther and took his fighting stance. The shaii stood up slowly. He rubbed at his chest. They stood silently, sizing each other up with their eyes. This short but effective warm-up had been very exciting. It was hard to believe, but it seemed that the third-class had easily been able to keep up with him. A common third-class would never be able to match his speed or equal him in strength. Goten’s fighting skills were admirable as well. The most noticeable thing about his fighting was that he preferred to use a mix of styles, rather than favoring only one of them. Because of that, it was hard to predict Goten’s next move or how he would react to an attack. Goten was exceptionally resourceful when it came to fighting.

The prince smirked; Goten had passed the test. It was no wonder second-classes and even elites had trouble with bending Goten to their will. But now, it was time to get serious. He didn’t have many opportunities to spar with someone this good and was prepared to use this one to its fullest. With a soft grunt, he charged.

Goten avoided the fist targeting his head by drifting aside, his own fist shooting out to return the favor. With a yelp, the prince staggered back onto the ground, then rolled to the side as he saw Goten’s foot coming for him. He avoided Goten’s second kick by flipping over. As soon as he landed back on his feet, he kicked the oncoming Goten in the stomach. The third-class mostly managed to avoid the full force kick by jumping back, but it was still enough to make him stagger backwards.

He managed to block the prince’s next side kick with his crossed forearms. Then Goten ducked in order to sweep him off his feet. The prince had no time to regain his balance and tumbled back onto the floor. Again, he stood up, but he didn’t have enough time to turn around and the third-class was already behind his back, taking ahold of his hair. The prince tried to shake him off, but there was no way he could turn around in that position. Goten used the shaii’s head as leverage as he jumped into the air. Airborne, he flipped over the prince, nearly pulling his hair out. The prince grimaced at the combination of the neck-wrenching force of Goten's movements and the pain in his scalp. He hunched down to protect his core as Goten came down in front of him. Goten’s knee found purchase on the prince’s chest, hurling his opponent away from him.

There was no time for the prince to feel shocked that the third-class had dared to grab him by his hair as he landed on his backside and skidded over the floor. His chest hurt like hell. He had to ignore the pain and rolled out of Goten’s way, who came at him like a locomotive at full speed. The prince shifted his weight, placing his palms at the sides of his head and rolling back onto his shoulders, his legs in the air. He forcefully pushed himself away from the ground and landed upright, moving into an offensive position. He went after Goten with vigor. Goten blocked his punch and turned aside, his leg kicking out at the prince’s left side. The shaii defended himself by bending and raising his leg. And then Goten performed something hardly comprehensible, suddenly lowering himself to the floor in a half-cartwheel while his both legs shot out to kick the prince in the stomach. The power of the kick threw his opponent to the floor.

The prince pulled himself up, but then, with alarm, he realized that Goten had somehow gotten behind him. The third-class kicked towards his back, intending to send him face-first into the wall. Instead, the shaii jumped into the air, somersaulting. Goten’s heel slashed at the space the shaii had been occupying only a millisecond before. While he wasted a precious second pulling his leg back and regaining his balance, the prince flipped over Goten and kicked out at the third-class from behind. Goten tumbled onto the floor, pain lancing through his left shoulder.

Still airborne, the shaii’s foot came towards him again, but Goten had already plunged to the floor, moving out of harms way. The third-class cushioned his fall with his right arm, then rolled aside to avoid a possible attack. He stood and faced the shaii.

The prince ducked to avoid Goten’s reverse sidekick and the third-class’s leg whooshed above his head. Retaliating, the prince performed a high roundhouse, his knee aiming at Goten’s face, but the third-class blocked it with his right arm. The shaii fell back while the third-class used the same arm to punch him. He whirled aside, unexpectedly appearing behind Goten. Grabbing Goten by his midsection, he lifted him into the air. The third-class gasped, tried to kick out backwards but with no success. Then, his shoulders and upper back smashed into the floor. For a few seconds, Goten saw nothing but stars. Were the floor made of wood, he would have gone straight through it.

Goten grunted, pain washing over him as the shaii flipped him onto his front, grabbing his arm and securing it behind his back. He winced at the prince’s weight on his back. He could hear the prince panting, short of breath, trying to keep him down. Goten gritted his teeth and tried to throw the prince off him, but the shaii had gotten a good hold on him and his struggling nearly earned Goten a dislocated shoulder. He cried out in pain and stilled, admitting defeat.

The shaii let go of his arm and rolled off him and onto the floor where he lay on his back. Panting, he closed his eyes, then brushed his hand over his forehead to wipe the accumulated sweat off.

“Hey, you alive?” he rasped out.

Goten heaved a groan. “More or less.” He pushed himself off the ground. He winced, as the movement caused pain in his shoulder, and curled back up on the floor. While trying to catch his breath, he turned his head to stare at the high ceiling. A short while later, he turned his head to the side to look at the prince. “Well, that was…” he drawled, a touch of shocked amazement evident in his voice. “Awesome!”

“And to think you didn’t want to do it,” the prince laughed, his blue eyes opening a crack to look back at Goten.

Goten grinned. “I still don’t want to. I think my spleen has relocated south, somewhere near my knees.” He could not help grinning. He had just had the crap beaten out of him, but he had fully enjoyed every second of the process.

“You are the one to talk,” the prince groaned, rubbing at his chest. “What the hell were you intending to do with my ribcage?”

Goten chuckled. “It was in the way of your more vital spots.” He met the prince’s eyes. “You’re not bad at all, sir, I must say. Your defensive is a little weak, but a few more years and your fighting style will be decent.” He grunted in surprise and then burst out laughing when the prince rolled onto his side and smacked him on the stomach a few times.

The prince snickered, “Smartass. Had we been using our ki, you w-”

“Oh yes, sir, how does the saying go? …I’ve got power, no need for a brain?”

“You’re really begging to be punished,” the prince mumbled, slapping Goten again. Despite the fact that he had intended his tone to be reproachful, there was a wide smile on his face.

Goten beamed at him. “Oh, sir still hasn’t given up on that thought?”

“I’m going to make you clean toilets with a toothbrush!” the prince threatened.

“What an efficient way to use manpower, sir!”

“It doesn’t have to be efficient. It’s enough if it makes me satisfied.”

“True, sir, I’ve noticed that harassing poor third-classes is your favorite pastime. Is it really so satisfying?”

The prince turned onto his stomach and raised himself on his elbows, so now he was nearly above Goten. He gave Goten the most satisfied smirk he had ever managed to muster. “Oh,” he purred, “you have no idea.”

Goten grinned back at the man above him. “I think I do, sir. It’s easy to guess, sir, as your satisfaction must be proportional to my dissatisfaction.”

The prince chuckled softly. “You sure don’t look that dissatisfied to me. Neither do you look harassed.”

“Damn! And I’ve been trying so hard!”

The prince laughed. He looked down at Goten’s innocent face and gullible eyes. “You really do get a kick out that, don’t you?”

“Out of what, sir?”

“Out of pretending to be an idiot.”

Goten’s dark eyes became lucid, a tinge of amusement in their depths. He chuckled softly. “Well, sir, I’m not very sure how much of the idiot is pretend and how much of him is real.”

The prince waited for Goten to add something to his words, but that was all he said. On the other hand, the comment was as good as any.

They gazed at each other silently for a few seconds. Then the prince shifted his body forward, lowering his head. Goten closed his eyes instinctively.

The prince’s left arm found purchase on Goten’s left shoulder, making him grunt with discomfort. The third-class’s eyes flew open, as much in pain as in sudden realization. The prince had immediately removed his hand from the injured shoulder, but he was now staring down at him, his face reflecting something akin to astonishment.

Goten was gaping back at him with shocked eyes, the obvious question “What the hell just happened?!” clearly seen in them. The shaii decided to make the first move. He cleared his throat and rolled off Goten, as casually as it was possible in this kind of situation. He stood up and started dusting his trousers off.

“Well, this was fun. We’ll do this again,” he said.

“Which part of it, sir?” Goten asked numbly, then kicked himself mentally when his brain caught up.

The shaii gave him a look. Goten stared back at him for a few seconds, then got up from the floor. His brain had already decided that nothing of interest had ever occurred. These things did happen sometimes. All the adrenaline and excitement which accumulated during fighting had to express themselves somehow.

The shaii’s eyes caught a stumble in Goten’s step. He turned to give the younger male a more careful look. Goten was walking towards the exit, but there was something unstable about his gait. “Are you alright?”

It took Goten a little more time to answer than the prince would have liked. “Err…yes, sir, absolutely. Not,” he added suddenly, leaning heavily against a wall. He dug his shoulder into it to keep himself upright. It worked at first, then his knees started to buckle, his body sliding down along the wall.

“Goten!” The shaii caught him before he could slump down onto the floor. “Hey, Goten! What’s wrong?” The prince kneeled and turned the younger male over, cradling Goten's upper body in his lap. He lightly slapped Goten across his face.

Goten grunted and waved his hands about, pushing the offending palm away before it could land on his face for the second time. His movements lacked coordination, which made the prince worry even more.

“Goten?”

Goten was also having trouble focusing his eyes on him. His gaze settled on the prince’s face at the sound of his voice, then it skidded upwards past his shoulder. The prince raised his hand, intending to slap him again, and Goten’s first instinct to the movement was to try to pull back. Impossible, with the way the shaii was holding him. The prince reconsidered when Goten’s mouth opened.

“`M di… I’m dizzy,” Goten finally managed to say after a few seconds of hard concentration.

“I can see as much,” the prince nodded. “Do you feel sick?”

It took a few moments for Goten to absorb the question. “N-no,” he answered. “Just di-” he swallowed, his throat dry, “zzy. Everything’s sw-swimming.”

Varicolored dots danced past Goten’s eyes and disappeared somewhere behind his field of vision. A new set of spots took their place. In addition to this multicolored festival, it appeared that the training hall was moving. Every five seconds or so, it seemed to be trying to fold up on itself and then would suddenly spring back, unrolling in all directions. He had no sense of his body, feeling as if he were floating in some sort of nightmarish void where he was made of weightless jelly.

The prince touched the side of Goten’s head. It was cool, but Goten’s forehead and temples were glistening with sweat and he couldn’t tell if that was from their exercise or because of Goten’s current state. He wasn’t sure what to do. Apparently he needed to get a doctor, but should he move Goten? It could worsen the matter. To run and get a doctor would be a good idea, but he was dreading the thought of leaving Goten alone. Who knew what could happen in those few minutes while he was gone. So instead of taking any of these actions, he just observed Goten’s reactions.

At some point, Goten’s eyes closed. His breathing was faster than usual, but the shaii guessed that could also be caused by anxiety. He softly brushed his fingers over Goten’s forehead to wipe off the crystals of sweat. Goten turned his head to the side to press his forehead against the shaii’s stomach.

Slowly, the dizziness began to dissipate. Goten still felt as if he were afloat, but now he was able to tell he had limbs. He was also suddenly aware that he was breathing. In and out, in and out, steadily. Sweat, clothing, apple soap and that specific scent of tranquility drifted over his senses. This time, the scent seemed somehow alert though, even a great deal nervous. Unconsciously, Goten smiled; so he did worry about him.

The shaii felt Goten sigh against his stomach. The breath which passed the fabric of his T-shirt felt warm and ticklish and he squirmed. Goten shifted in his hold. Overtaken by a weird impulse, Goten’s right hand fisted loosely into the shaii’s T-shirt and tugged a few times at the clothing, as if trying to console the prince.

“Don’t worry,” Goten mumbled drowsily, “you smell just right.”

Taken aback, the prince stared mutely at Goten for a few seconds. Then his face turned red. Goten seemed to have fallen asleep peacefully without giving a damn about any of his words or their effect. How in the world could Goten know? He had never given anyone any basis for suspicion.

Still blushing, the prince gazed at the serenely sleeping youth. He did have a complex about his scent. In fact, he felt insecure about his distinctive looks as well. He knew Saiyans found him weird, his hair, his eyes, his tail, his scent. Since childhood, he had been aware of surprised, searching, and sometimes even appalled stares. It all happened when they thought he wasn’t looking, but he could feel them turning around to stare at him or hear whispers behind his back. He could not really blame them – he was different after all.

The only way to fight this was to ignore it. People could get used to his looks. It took some time, but they did, stopping to fidget or trying to pretend they weren’t staring at his hair. But there was still distance. The prince suspected that it would always be that way. It did not matter that he was their prince – or maybe that made it even worse – because he looked like an outsider.

It appeared that Goten knew that, or at least suspected it. How… Actually, when one thought about it, it was not a big surprise. Goten was alone among second-classes and elites and it made him self-conscious. As a result, he was also much more perceptive about the situations of those around him. And truth be told, he and Goten’s situations had similarities.

The prince could not help feeling somewhat disturbed as he realized that it was probably for this reason that Goten acted as he did around him. The thought of the third-class seeing both of them as equals was somewhat disturbing. Although he was not as narrow-minded as the rest of the Saiyan population, he still mostly grew up on Vegeta-sei and a lot of the standard thinking had rubbed off on him. In spite of what he had said to Goten earlier, he still had some reservations about matters like these as well.

At the same time, stronger than that uneasiness, was delight. He felt…elated. There had been no reason for Goten to lie, and, in his state, he probably couldn’t have managed to. Maybe it was because Goten was a country bumpkin, but it seemed that the third-class minded neither his coloring nor his scent. Goten did not detest his looks. He seemed to find it strange, but… Just a few weeks ago he had caught the savar shamelessly staring at his tail. Instead of detest… Actually, it seemed that Goten was positively fascinated by him.

The prince fought his blush down. He suddenly realized that he had been sitting there, stunned, holding Goten’s sleeping form for several minutes when he should have been taking action. He looked around the hall. It was still empty, of course. The most sensible decision was the medical bay. Heaving the third-class up, he stood up. Goten didn’t even stir.

Walking towards the door, the shaii wondered about it all once again. He could just be right about Goten. But… Yes, Goten might not feel indifferent about him, but, very likely, Goten was not aware of that. Knowing Goten and his outlook on class boundaries, he would even expect that. The third-class would probably have difficulties even trying to comprehend it. The shaii sighed. He kicked the outside door open. And where was he supposed to go with this now? Could he even go anywhere with this?

Well, at least Goten didn’t blow anyone up this time.

TBC
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