Adult-FanFiction.org : Gundam, Beyblade, DBZ, FMA

Prologue
By : Herpb4uDerp
Category: Missing Data > Missing Data
Views: 194 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer:
Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
As soon as Goten feels his father’s ki appear at the door of Gohan’s house he disappears out his window and sits by a tree outside not far away. Just close enough to hear everyone else’s voices from an open window, just far enough that he could pretend he didn’t. He sits there staring up at the branches letting the wind bite lightly at his still bruised, still occasionally bleeding skin sure that the pain is worse today than yesterday.

He could hear the voices of people he recognized, like Piccolo and others he didn’t. There was someone who was so old, it couldn't have been anyone other than Master Roshi but he had no interest in confirming it. It was enough to hear them all bombarding his father with questions that were then answered by his hilariously under-prepared stumbling responses.

He listens as his brother steps in nearly every other sentence to explain or clarify because Goku sure didn't seem to understand what he’d done. A particularly awkward silence following someone asking, “Why there?” leaves Goten wondering if he really would have been any better off being raised by someone so impulsively irresponsible.

Goten admits though, the regret in his tone is palpable as he finally responds, “I just thought that planet was… a nice place for… meditation...”

“Tch.” He considers flying off to the wasteland for some blast practice but decides against it as he runs his hands through his hair and thinks about the breeze out there. His thoughts are interrupted by a buzz from his phone.

He rolls his eye, "Wonderful. Just who I was hoping. Queen bitch."

Bra:

Heard you got the shit beat out of you. Is it true?
Send me a pic.

Goten:

no fuck off.
Who told u

Bra:

Word travels fast between our houses.
Poor trunks. He’s been so worried.
You really don't deserve him.

I know. Goten flips through the thirty odd messages from Trunks asking if he’s ok, what happened, and of course, ‘did your dad really come back?’ before responding back to:

Send

Me

A selfie.

♡♡♡

Goten:

No. Stop messaging me. I hate you.

Bra:

No u don’t. Stop lying :)
Send a pic.
It can’t be that bad

Goten:

then why do you want to see?

Bra:

Because apparently we have to replace three walls and a ceiling. So it must be that bad.

Goten:

the fuck do you care anyway?

Bra:

morbid curiosity. My dad did it, right? I thought he'd do it that night at the party tbh
not that it was my intention, of course.

Goten:

oh of course not.
u know, actually I did too. but instead he just asked me why i let you act like an embarrassment in front of the company

Bra:

fuck you. No he didn’t

Goten:

He really did.

Bra:

send me a pic

Goten:

No

Bra:

send me a pic and maybe I’ll help you with your problem, lover boi
Pleease?
I won’t even show trunks, I promise.
Super promise.
Super Saiyan promise.
Uuuhhhg ‘ten respondddd! you’re so annoying!
SEND

ME

A

He turns the screen off and tries to ignore the next few minutes of constant buzzing. He is unsuccessful. Just has to have everything she wants, doesn't she? He thinks though, maybe it couldn’t hurt to occasionally get what he wanted too. He considers whether she really did have any useful solutions. He huffs out a sigh of frustration as he scrolls past the twenty new messages from her.

Goten:

Only if you don’t show Trunks

Bra:

I’ll even lie and tell him you’re cuuuuterrr than ever. Just for you. ;)

He angles his phone for a picture. Send. Hardly thirty seconds later his phone starts ringing.

"What?! What do you want?!"

"OOOOH MYYYYGOOOODDDDD ‘TEN!! I thought it was bad, but I wasn’t expecting you to be permanently disfigured!! What the hell did you do?!" He could almost see her twisted smile.

"I am not dis- Are you gonna help me or what?"

"Is it because your dad came back? I've always suspected you and my father had some weird proxy hate relationship. Did he just like- snap? Or something? Or wait, did you snap? Did you do it to yourse-”

"No- Ye- NO! Fuck! Do we have a deal or what? I need-" he looks back at the house and lowers his voice, "I really need this. If you have anything that could help me I- ...I’m willing to try it.”

"Ok, sure.” She cackles, “But only if you can get to my lab in Capsule Corp."

"What? No. Get it for me."

"Oooh, sorry, but I'm at school right now and I have a test tomorrow and plans for the next six months because I'm popular." she sighs dramatically as if it really was so terrible pretending to be functional, “Anyway long story short, I'm not coming home for a while. So if you want it now you'll just have to get it yourself. Should have just been nice to me at the party. Then you’d already have it."

"Fine. I’ll just ask Trunks to get it. What is it-"

"NO!" She shouts suddenly on the verge of losing her temper, "This is my project! It’s not under his stupid oversight and I'd really prefer if it stayed that way ‘Ten." She grits through a forced smile.

He scoffs, "Why can't you just come back for a few hours? Why are you making this so complicated?"

"Because I hate you, ‘Ten.” She giggles, “Kidding! I’m kidding. I'm just busy. But do try to get over there one of these days! You have no idea how much I’ve been dyyyiing to share this project of mine with someone who would really appreciate it."

"Bra, how the fuck am I supposed to do that?! Look at my fucking face! And that would hardly be the worst of it if I step foot there again any time soon because your dad is fucking psycho-”

"So it was my father, I thought so… Trunks wasn’t sure, he’s obviously in denial. Or an idiot.” She snorts, “Oh well, figure it out and let me know."

The line goes dead and he was left fuming.

---

Inside, amidst the reunion, stands an awkward uncomfortable Goku. He's trying to laugh. He's trying hard to smile. He is happy to see everyone, but it's crushing to see how much they've aged. To see that their families are grown. To see they have even less in common now than they did before he left and that had already been dwindling toward nothing. It is hard to look his mistake in the face of everyone he left behind. It is hard to see his wife trying not to be angry for abandoning her. Again. It's hard to answer all the questions, to deal with the excitement that he is still too time shocked to share... It is hard to hold it all in.

Everything starts to become a blur of discomfort and nausea. He has to escape this huge house that was slowly becoming claustrophobic. He finds a moment when everyone is distracted to step away. On his way out he walks by Gohan who is in a quiet argument with Chi Chi.

“You said he was here, where is he-”

“I know, he was, but-”

“Why did he go? Why won’t he-”

“You think he talks to me? I don’t know!” His son exasperates, “He’s-”

Goku doesn’t catch the rest as he slips out the door. He deeply inhales the fresh air and stretches. He catches something in the corner of his eye and turns to see Goten sitting against a nearby tree looking... he’s still angry. Guilt washes over him, but the optimist within, the casual demeanor he uses to assure those around him that nothing is wrong even when it absolutely was, is stronger than the disappointment he has aimed at himself.

"What are you doing out here?" He asks in the friendliest tone he can manage, trying to invite a response.

Goten turns and smiles with bared canines because Vegeta's right. He does have good timing. "I could ask you the same thing."

Unfortunately Goku is not very good at reading his son’s expressions, he doesn’t realize yet that none of them are friendly; there is always something else there, so he smiles back warmly thinking this is already going better than last time. "I, uh, never... really liked parties." he laughs awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck.

"Me neither."

"I'm glad you stayed... even though you weren't... inside."

Goten nods curtly, "Yeah... I'm sorry about yesterday. The shock….was just… a lot and I didn’t know what to-"

"No- It's- don't apologize. It’s not your fault. I know I'll never get the lost time back. I know I left you and Gohan and it wasn’t- wasn’t right-" Goku's chest is starting to tighten and Goten is surprised it didn't take a little more prodding, "I know that. But... I still want- I didnt think it would be- I didnt mean for this- " without warning Goku is spilling things he was barely aware he was feeling.

Goten stands and faces him. He waits to see where this goes but Goku stops and looks at his son with watery eyes. Oh no. He’s gonna h-

Goten stiffens as he is embraced. It is a much tighter hug than he expected and he is caught off guard by the pain now shooting through his back. He winces, but doesn't make a sound, trying not to ruin the moment his father apparently needed. Just let him have it. This is your only way to Capsule Corp.

Goten inhales and exhales thorugh the pain while for the first time since his return, tears run down the full Saiyan's face. They land softly on Goten's shoulder without a sound as everything finally hits him. He holds back a sob and quietly apologizes as he presses one of his hands to the back of his son's head. Goten flinches away but his father’s hand remains in his hair fussing there until Goten pulls back and smacks it away.

“Stop- stop that. Don’t touch- ….” He trails off not sure why that had bothered him so much. It never had before.

"Goten, your hair.” He watches his son anxiously begin running his hands through it, resetting it and messing it back up, “What is- did your hair get burned, wh-?” He reaches toward him but Goten steps back, “How … ?" Goku is surprised to see how upset Goten is about something so much more trivial than the brutal facial injuries looking him in the eye right now.

Goten turns away trying to save this perfect opportunity and thinks for a moment about how best to frame his innocence, “...I thought you'd understand right away when you saw, but... you didnt.”

"Understand what?"

“Isn't it obvious? Look at me. Look at what he-” Goku looks but says nothing. "No. You’re right. I’m not worth it.”

“What? Goten, what are you talking about?”

“Forget I said anything- It doesn’t matter, I don’t matter- it’s ok.”

“You- of course you matter- What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Just... ask him yourself. I’m sure he can’t wait to tell you what a joy it’s been having me in your place.”

“...Who-”

“Who do you think, dad?” Goten laughs dryly, “Vegeta... Vegeta did this to me.”

Goku knew it had been Vegeta, because who else. He's sure he and Vegeta had given each other some nasty bruises on occasion, but this- “...Vegeta? But why- I don’t-”

"I... reminded him of you, I guess. I don’t know why he picked fights with me after you left, he just did. And-” He forces his voice to waver, “You know, I thought- training. That’s what I tell everyone, just… it’s just training. But it’s not- ... it's- and then getting you back-” He sinks down to his knees, “I thought- I thought maybe you could help me, but” he shakes his head and tries not to laugh, “dad, you’re so weak. How could you help me?” By distracting Vegeta for me is how!

“He did this to you… because… I left?”

Goten shrugs and nods, “This isn't even the worst one."

"What?!”

"I thought it had gotten better and it did but-" he tries to make a few tears start streaming down his face but he can’t. His nose starts bleeding but no tears, "I just wasn't strong enough to fight back when you returned, he was so angry- maybe he was just confused- I don't know-" he wraps his arms around himself, "I’m such a disappointment, dad, just like he said. I'm not strong enough- please don't be mad that I couldn’t win-"

"Of course I'm not mad at you Goten. Why would you think- I don't-" Goku couldn’t even begin to process what his son had just told him. "This isn't... I don't understand... why he'd- ..." Goten watches curiously as Goku charges up to Super Saiyan with a promisingly upset expression and presses two fingers to his forehead. It takes a half second for the gesture to click but Goten realizes what he’s doing and grabs on to him before he disappears.

Please don’t be in the gravity chamber.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A//N I'm gonna be completely honest, the cliffhangers really only get worse from here. This changed a lot from my initial draft but I have a much better feel for Goku's characterization in this fic now and I felt this was more suiting reaction.
- 24
- 25
- 26
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Prologue	By : Herpb4uDerp Category: Missing Data > Missing Data Views: 194 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer:

Prologue