Gohan adjusted the straps on his backpack, shutting his locker with more force than intended and with sagging shoulders, he began his journey down the hall towards his class. He had never felt so bad in his entire life. He hadn't been able to get an inch of sleep last night, his mother's high-pitched screams and cries of anguish radiating through the walls. Goku wasn't able to get a word in; not one word at all and although a part of Gohan thought that his mother's reasoning for yelling at his father was justified (a little), screaming and cursing him for the better part of the day and denying him access to his bedroom was a bit of an overreaction.
Chi-Chi had even directed her unyielding shouts towards Gohan and Goten; she screamed at Gohan for throwing Goten's filthy clothes in the hamper when they should've been thrown in the sink and she yelled at Goten for soiling them in the first place, claiming that he knew better. All in all, everyone suffered the wrath of Son Chi-Chi.
Between answering Goten's questions pertaining to his mother's fussy attitude and his father's "banishment" from his bedroom and trying to get an ounce of sleep for the following school day, Gohan didn't know which was worse.
Heavy bags pooled beneath his eyes like face paint and his normally clear eyes were more red than Goku's eye-gouging, blood red (not to mention hideous) Hawaiian shirt. His spiky black hair hung loosely like wet kitten hair and his usually pressed clothes were wrinkled as if he had just thrown them on without even thinking; the fact that his uniform wasn't in the least bit coordinated seemed to add more emphasis to his uncharacteristic appearance.
"Hey, Goh-"
Gohan jumped at the voice and hand that touched his shoulder, and whipped around so fast that a small gust of wind shot down the hall. Immediately, he assumed a fighting stance, his arms laced out in front of him in an offensive position, but he dropped his guard the minute he saw who it was.
Videl quirked an eyebrow at her boyfriend, her hand still hovering over the place where Gohan's shoulder had once been before it dropped to her side. Concern filled her blue eyes and she asked, "Hey, Gohan, you okay?"
The teenage boy sent her a reassuring smile, a yawn soon following. "I'm just fine. Super fine. In fact, I've never been more fine a day in my life."
"You do realize that you've said the word "fine" three times, right?" she questioned, her concern still evident.
"Is it that obvious?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Well," she started off, closing the gap between them as she began to inspect his appearance like a scientist. "Considering the fact that you aren't matching, your clothes aren't ironed, your eyes are red, your hair looks like a mop, and you're as paranoid as I am now that Majin Buu is living with us, then yes; it's that obvious. I'm guessing you had a rough day yesterday. Something happened?"
Gohan sent her a weak smile and released a tired sigh. ""Rough" doesn't even begin to describe it."
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked him, her fingers lacing around the limp bang that tickled his nose. Her eyes briefly skirted over his wrinkled green t-shirt worn over his long-sleeved red shirt. Goodness! Purple pants and mix-match shoes? What did he do? Sky dive into his laundry basket?, Videl thought as she repressed her laughter.
"What about class?"
Videl fixed Gohan with a haughty smirk, her eyebrows knitting together as she put her hands to her hips. "What about it? I'm sure the teachers wouldn't mind if Videl Satan and their valedictorian, defenders of peace and just-"
"Alright, I get it," Gohan grumbled, but he smiled nonetheless. "Lead the way."
...
Visor sat at the rectangular wooden table that framed the kitchen to the Son household. For the third time since entering, he straightened his tie and dabbed his forehead with his near-soaked handkerchief. The eldest son - what was his name? Goron? - had told him to return tomorrow due to the flaring attitude of the raging princess from yesterday's fiasco. He was scared, frightened, down right wet-himself afraid of even being within six feet of 439 East District! As much as he wanted to turn tail and run for his dear life, he knew that he couldn't do that. The bristling young boy that ran amok the living area, the child that looked identical to his gigantic, burly, muscle-bound father, who was strong enough to stop his car from hitting that oak tree yesterday, kept bothering him every five seconds.
Not only did the youngest son of the household prevent him from leaving, but so did the crazed housewife, er ... widow that kept glaring at him every five seconds. It wasn't his fault he kept stumbling over his words! If she'd just stop pulling out that ridiculously heavy, black frying pan - the one that slightly resembled a mace - then he could function properly. Visor deduced that this family simply wasn't normal. Not the sons, not the woman of the house, and definitely not that incredibly steroid-pumped man that kept walking around the house in a wife beater!
No ... nothing about the Sons is normal.
Chi-Chi cleared her throat again (for the sixth time ... Visor was making sure to keep count) and folded her hands on the table. "You were saying, Mr. Visor?"
"Uh ... yes!" Visor squeaked, placing his briefcase on the table. Today would, hopefully, be the last day that he'd have to deal with this. He planned on laying absolutely everything out on the table. If everything went according to plan, then he'd never see them again; no more marriage licenses, no more death certificates, no more rules and regulations and codes and laws, and definitely no more nightmares of crazy ax-wielding widows haunting him throughout the night. He nervously popped open his briefcase with a click of a button and pulled out a thick pamphlet.
Before Visor could get a word out, Chi-Chi directed a fierce glare towards her husband, who had just finished walking through the room for what ought to be the 50th time since Visor entered the house. "Would you sit down already, Goku!"
Goku, whose mind had been so absorbed in whatever it was that was on his mind, jumped at Chi-Chi's tone and without a word, he bolted for the couch. Soon Goten had joined him and, immediately after, the clones began to engage in a very animated conversation. Chi-Chi turned back to Visor, who hid behind the opening of his briefcase, and tossed the middle-aged man a smile. "I apologize. Please, continue."
"Oh, um, right," he nervously said, leafing through the thick pamphlet that he had placed on the table minutes ago. Visor adjusted his tie again as he briefly making eye contact with the woman seated across from him. Visor ... you can do this. Don't let her speak until you're finished. Get it all off your chest right here, right now. And then, run. Run for your life! "Where shall I start?"
"You can start by telling me about those loopholes you missed yesterday," Chi-Chi immediately snapped, her arms crossed over her chest. "Is there any way to get around that accursed Law B19?"
Visor bit his lip. "Yes, Lady Chi-Chi. There is."
She perked up, her previous anger dwindling into nothing short of happiness. "Well, don't just sit there! Tell me!"
"You can ... uh, remarry."
Chi-Chi's smile grew wide and she clasped her hands together as laughter bubbled from her throat. "Really? So, I can just marry Goku all over again and pretend this whole thing never happened?"
"B-but," he started up again, causing Chi-Chi's eyebrows to draw together into that scary frown again. Visor gulped and even though the other two males in the house were happily chirping away in a flurry of rambunctious laughter and silly noises, it did nothing to quell the erratic beating of his heart.
""But" what? What is it?"
Visor pulled at his collar before he coughed into his hand. "Well, you see ... it's kinda like ... um, how shall I explain this ..."
Slowly, but surely, Chi-Chi's eyes began to narrow until they were dead set in a furious gaze. "You don't know, do you?" Chi-Chi took the adviser's silence as an answer and she found herself growling. "What about Goten's proclaimed "illegitimacy"?"
"W-what?"
"That is it!" Chi-Chi bellowed as she stood up from her seat at the table. Goku and Goten watched with raised eyebrows as the housewife pulled her skillet from off the table and stomped over to Visor, who could do nothing but watch. "How dare you come into my home unprepared! What kind of adviser are you!"
Goku quickly ushered Goten out of the room, telling him to go play outside and with lightning fast speed, he stopped his wife in her attack, the deadly weapon coming to a halt inches away from the man's skull. Chi-Chi cast Goku, who held a worried look in his eyes, a teary-eyed pout and she found herself dropping the kitchen utensil to the floor with a clang. She quickly adverted eye contact before she pointed a finger to the door.
"Out of my house."
Visor stared at her quizzically before she pried her wrist away from Goku's hand.
"You heard me! Get out! Right now!"
She fixed the adviser with an irate glare before she grabbed him by the back of his collar, but not without slamming his belongings into his briefcase and shoving it into his arms, and began to pull him viciously towards the exit. She shoved him out of the door and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "The next time you come back, you had better be prepared!" And with that said, she slammed the door.
Goku gulped, his black eyes laced with worry. "Chi-Chi, are you okay?"
She turned towards him with tears in her eyes, her face pulled into a scowl. "No! I'm not okay, Goku! We're not married and ... and you act like you don't care!" she heaved.
"That's not true; I do care!"
"When I told you yesterday, all you said was "Oh, is that so?". It didn't sound like you cared! I feel like such a ... such a ... prostitute, living in a house with a man I'm not married to and for more than fifteen years too! It doesn't help that two other men had to tell me this either! And to make matters worse, Goten is an "illegitimate" child!" she shouted bitterly. "If you would've never died, if you would've just stopped fighting and training then none of this would've ever happened!"
"So no, Goku. I'm not okay! And ... I don't think I ever will be!" By the time Chi-Chi finished yelling, her face was puffy and laden with tears and her eyes were swollen and red. She didn't give the warrior a chance to speak as she brushed past him and made a beeline for her bedroom, where he was sure she locked the door.
Goku stared at the door that shielded his wife from the world and released a sigh. The way she was yelling and crying and screaming almost made him feel as if the entire thing was his fault. He hadn't meant to upset her yesterday. While what she said had been true, he had only said that because he was shocked, not because he didn't care. She had spent the entire day fussing and nitpicking over everything, and she wouldn't let him say or do anything to calm the situation.
She had even locked him out of the bedroom, not to mention he and the boys had to go the day without dinner, in which he had to result to primal instinct and camp out for the night. This incident reminded him of his return from Planet Yardrat. When he had returned back home, he had been hoping to see his scowling wife, staring at him with childish delight and feigned anger. But she had simply given him the cold shoulder and what he had thought would take weeks to mend had ended up taking more than a month to repair. He hoped that this instance wouldn't be the same.
Goku took another breath. He had to fix this.
He had to.
...
"You're kidding!"
"I wish I were," Gohan said, rubbing his hands in his face in an attempt to keep himself awake. "I've never seen her so upset before. At least, not like this. Some of her yelling was justified though ... I mean, Dad can be kinda careless in his word choice. But, I can't help but feel bad for not only him, but for Mr. Visor, who's probably dead right now."
Videl quirked an eyebrow. "Who's "Visor"?"
"Oh, he's an adviser that my mom hired. He's suppose to be one of the best. I can't help but feel as if I made a mistake by telling him to come back today," Gohan explained with slumped shoulders.
Currently, Gohan and Videl were floating a ways off from their school, their heads buried in the clouds that framed the afternoon sky. Down below, birds flew past, singing their songs of peace and tranquility, and further below the daily traffic jam of Satan City crowded the streets. The sun shone high and bright in the sky, contrast to the gloomy feeling that lingered in the air.
The pair didn't realize that they had skipped an entire day of school, but as it would seem, neither of them fretted about it. Not when a mid-life crisis regarding a hero and his wife was afoot.
"So what is your dad going to do about it?" Videl asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Huh?"
Videl frowned slightly, crossing her arms for added emphasis. "Is he going to remarry her or what?"
"I'm not sure," Gohan answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm hoping that he does. Whether he chooses to remarry her or not doesn't matter to me, although it'd be nice if he did; I just don't want them to break a part."
Videl twisted her lip, her brain tinkering. "No offense, Gohan, but do you think it's right if they remarry?"
"What do you mean?" Gohan asked, his head tilting to the side in bewilderment.
"What I mean is," Videl stated carefully. "Your dad ... he was barely around and when he was, he only trained, and he didn't have a job or an education either. Your mother pretty much raised you and Goten on her own, often suffering because of his absence. What if the same thing happens again? Then what? Is he going to remarry her and repeat the process?"
Gohan crossed his arms in a contemplative gesture, his eyes trailing towards a flock of pigeons. "That's not really fair, Videl. I mean, half the reason my dad was gone was because of some idiot threatening to destroy the planet, if not the universe, or trying to kill us. You can't exactly blame him for being away so much. He only did those things to protect us, not because he wanted a personal vacation away from Earth."
"Still ..." Videl said, catching the gist of what her boyfriend was saying. "All she wants is for him to be home. Is that so much to ask?"
"Well, no," Gohan replied, scratching the back of his head. "And I think he should've been home more often too; trust me when I say that. But, I don't think my mom's anger is that justified."
Videl paused in her next statement and narrowed her eyes. "You don't think it's "justified"? Gohan, your dad was barely around. Remember that party we had at Capsule Corp.? Because I sure remember it. Your dad didn't show up until everyone was leaving because he was concerned over some dinosaurs! Seriously?"
Gohan could do nothing but stare at the fighter floating across from him. She was fuming, that much he could tell. But why, he didn't know.
"I mean, I like your dad Gohan; I really do. But, it's like he doesn't appreciate Chi-Chi sometimes. You can almost call them distant friends instead of husband and wife. She does nothing but give and give and give, and all he does is take. I feel sorry for her and honestly, I don't think they should remarry. Not unless he changes."
And with that said, Videl flew off in a spark of light, leaving behind a confused Gohan.
She hadn't meant to be angry with him, but she couldn't help herself. This entire fiasco bitterly reminded her of her own parents' relationship. Ever since the fame and glory over that ridiculous championship title went to her father's head some odd years ago, he had slowly, but surely abandoned her mother until she left. Although comparing her parents' scorched marriage to that of Goku and Chi-Chi's was ridiculous due to the circumstances that caused the Sons to even be in such a state, she couldn't help but feel that way.
She was steadfast in what she said. Goku didn't deserve Chi-Chi and unless he changed, then he never would.
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