Suggested drink to go with this fic: Dole 100% Pinapple Juice. Makes for good, juicy Gohan fun, great taste, low on fat. Take it from me.

Contradicting Mission

Part 8

The bathroom was literally just that. A room with a bath. From what Son Gohan could see there was no toilet, sink, or anything other than a tub, which was rather on the large size, and a full wall mirror. The bath-tub could hold six people easily, or, perhaps, one very large person. That was the most likely reason, the boy figured. A huge person. Aeesu-jin had long spanning lives, and, as Gohan was begining to presume, didn't seem to stop growing as long as they lived, leaving monstrously proportioned people like Dr. Koda and Freeza's father.

Either way, the tub was large and inviting looking, even without water in it, and Gohan's skin felt decidedly greasier knowing he could now wash himself.

In warm water.

Away from the filthy presences of Freeza, Bojack and Garlic.

He smiled.

The tub was about seven by six feet in diameter, four feet deep in the center, the edges at about three, sloping slowly down in the middle where the drain was. Three of the four sides had tiled benches that jutted out a foot and a half, on the fourth side, the tap stuck out of the wall, two handles--one red to obviously represent warm water and one blue to signiture cold--were positioned on eather side.

He sat down on the ground and took off his boots, gratefully wiggling his toes in the cool air. He hadn't been wearing socks, and despite the cold his feet always felt stuffy. He sat for a moment in silence, his legs stuck straight out ahead of him, his back to the wall, his tail twined lazily around his hip to rest in his lap. He surveyed the room listlessly, fully aware he was getting drowsy again and allowing himself to not care.

The full-wall mirror, to the right of the wall against which the boy sagged, made the room look twice as big. Gohan tilted his head to see his reflection in a sideway-ish perspective. Now that he knew he would have the chance to rest, he wasn't nearly so critical about his appearance. Infact, he thought he looked downright funny, sitting on the ground like a ragdoll, feet splayed out before him, with his head cocked to one side, eyes half lidded.

He realized he was about to fall asleep right then and there, and faught his way back to awareness. Forced himself to recognize the danger of freezing now that he wasn't moving to keep warm. Forced himself to realize his feet were getting cold, feel the icy tiled wall against his back. Forced himself to feel the cold ground under his bottom.

With a sigh and a grunt, he got up again, the tiled floor unpleasantly chilly under his bare feet. He undid his belt as he walked around the tub to the side where the tap was located, letting it drop to the floor without a care. He slid his armbands off his wrists, letting them join his belt, before he turned the red knob. Not just warm but hot water instantly gushed out of the faucet, sending up spumes of rebelliously warm steam into the chilly air of the room. The water made a crashing sound as it hit the bottom of the bath, but Gohan didn't mind.

The boy turned the blue knob, allowing the cold water to mix with the hot, making a pleasantly warm tempurature. He held his hand under the running water for a moment to make sure it was just right, and, when satisfied, stepped away.

While he waited for the tub to fill, he stripped off the top half of his orange gi and the weighted dark blue shirt beneath. He paused to study his upper arm in the mirror, where a nasty little square of skin was missing--the place the good doctor had graphted off a sample of him to study. He hissed quiety as he tenderly probed the tender, pink area with his finger tips. It was still slightly sore, red, swolen.

He gave a little shake of his head, turning to check on the water. The tub was half full already; the steam rising off it's surface had already fogged up the top half of the mirror. After splashing his hand in warm water for a momen, the boy quickly finished undressing. He sat on the end of the bath his feet dangling in the rapidly filling tub, resting on the now submerged bench.

When the water level had reached mid-calf, he reached over and turned the water pressure off. The room was cast into immidiate silence; the only sounds were the quiet, wet sounds of the water lapping at his legs and the drip, drip, drip from the faucet. With a contented sigh, the boy slowly slipped the rest of his body into the warm water, sliding over the benches to kneel, shoulder deep in the warm water. The movement was followed by a wet, splashy sound that echoed against the tile and mirror--now totally fogged over. The sound bounced back and forth for nearly a minute before dying off.

After enjoying the silence for a moment, the hot water reaching up and splashing teasingly at his chin, the boy took a deep breath and dove his head underwater. Beneath the surface, there was even less sound, just the groggy, slowness warm water always seemed to radiate. It was so warm he could feel his pores opening. Under the water, his hair swayed and gently tugged at his scalp, his muscles slowly started to relax as the tenseness was swooshed out of him. His tail gently bobbed around behind him, lazily following the currents of the water. He blurbled a few bubbles from his nose, felt them tickle up over his forehead to the air above.

He broke through the surface of the water, throwing his head back as he did so, sending glistening droplets of water into the air. The little splish splash sound the droplets made as they came flitting back to the water sounded like bells playing out a beautiful music ment only for him. Sighing again in contentment, he stood up in the water and waded his way to the edge of the tub where he sat down on the bench. Propping his arms on the lip of the bath, head back, he streched his legs, pointed his toes, then went totally limp, his head resting on the edge of the tub.

His attention was drawn to the fogged over mirror. He could no longer make out his reflection in it, only slight shapes and color differences. A darker splotch where his ink-black hair was, a touch of peach for his face and arms. The rest of the reflection was just a collaboration of different shades of white, a darker shade by the tub, the faucet, his clothes scattered across the floor. It no longer looked like a mirror. To the boy's sleepy mind, it looked like a portal, a doorway to reality he had walked through the instant his feet hit the water.

On the other side of that mirror was where all the bad things in life were. All the evils that lived in his memories and in himself were on the other side, out of his reach, unable to touch him with their unholy hands as long as he floated in his warm water and thought soothing, drowsy thoughts. On the other side, he would have to fight again. He would have to think about all the bad things again. All the terror, pain, humiliation, guilt. All in a different dimention. Unable to reach him. At that one moment, he was a single second away from pure, unscathed bliss.

All too soon, like all the other things in his life that dared to make him feel good, it came crashing to an end.

"Hey! Who's in our bathroom! Papa!"

The voice that could easily be heard coming from the other side of the bathroom door was neither old or young. The boy recognized it as the same voice he heard through the door when they first arrived. Sunow had said he had a son a few years older then Gohan, hadn't he? Forester. That was his name.

And suddenly the room was no longer a beautiful, white, holy haven away from all the twisted, evil things he had been forced to come to terms with. It was a bathroom. A bathroom, and he was totally naked. He was totally naked, on a foreign, freezing planet, not more than thirty feet away from three people that would kill him if they had half a chance. This was enemy territory, he had a mission, failure ment he would cease to exist.

This was not a time to relax. He was only taking a bath to clean himself, not for luxory.

He thrust his head underwater and pulled it back up again. He wished he had soap to do a better job as he washed his face with the palms of his hands, ran the water through his hair and scrubed at his scalp. Worked as best he could behind his ears, his neck, under his arms, and the rest of his body. He finished his quick cleaning job hardly ten minutes after he had heard Forester's voice. He hoisted himself out of the tub, unplugging the drain as he went.

He used his hands to try to slick some of the water off of his body, sending little droplets of water in every direction. He ruffled his hair and shook his head. He was glad he was keeping his hair short, it dried faster that way. Gently as he could he squeeze out some of the moisture that had collected in his tail. Still rather wet, he pulled his boxers on, his pants quickly following. He tied on his belt and tugged on his armbands. Slinging his orange gi shirt and weighted dark blue under shirt over his shoulder, he picked up his boots and made his way out of the bathroom.

There just didn't seem to be anything for them to do at the moment, Bojack noticed. Once he had finished checking out the small living room and three bedrooms--he was assigned the biggest one due to his incredible size--he had quickly grown bored. Freeza and Garlic had vanished into their own rooms to do kami-know-what, and Bojack was far from caring. Plopping down on the sofa, his legs drawn up to span the entire length, leaving not a cusion exposed, he folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, if not for sleep then at least contentment.

He, like Gohan, was suffering from displacement. Underground, it was stuffy, the air felt dead from overcirculation, all the artificial lights were starting to burn his eyes, it was cold, and he could swear he literally felt the miles of dirt pushing down on him. He knew full well that even if a planet came crashing in on him his chances of survivial were pretty high, but instincts could not be reasoned with. It just felt unnatural, end of story.

He opened his eyes again, finding he still expected to see the familiar sky of the planet he grew up on, long forgotten by all but him. It was the only downside to his long life. All the other people, both ally and enemy, in which his people had long ago had dealings with were either extinct or had totally forgotten the name of his once revered race.

The Biraju-jin.

The name was as ancient as the stars, a long forgotten, quiet sound that rang through Bojack's brain like a roaring winter breeze. Sometimes he wished he had chosen a different path than the one he had taken. He had been tempted by the darkenss that lived in all Biraju-jin, like everyone else, but only he and a few other's accually gave into it. The dark power took over him, consumed him, and banded him and his fellow dark-dwellers together, gave them power beyond what is normal.

He had been insane back then. Even the other's had been afraid of him, even his closest friend Bidu. But they followed him, obeyed him, did as he asked out of their loyalty rather than their dark bond.He had been so caught up in wreaking hell across the galaxy, he didn't even notice them. Didn't even notice the trap the Kaios had set for him.

He had been determined to blow up a particularly large star, sending three orbiting planets full of life streaming off into the vaccum of space to slowly freeze to death. It had sounded fun. Bidu and the others were behind him the whole way..........and they were right with him when, instead of blowing up the star they had been sucked into it, not to escape for thousands of years.

When the North Kaio was killed, breaking the seal on the star, and the three of them finally escaped, they went looking for their planet. They looked for months, searching their planet's trajected orbitry path, but there was nothing. Planet Biraju, like all planet's though time, had finally burned out. The core had gone cold, the gravity ceased, and all the inhabitants had rathered to die than to abandon their dead planet.

It had been a real eye-opener to Bojack. He could no longer go around destroying planets then coming home to rest like he used to. Home was gone. Dead. A lump of cold, lifeless dirt set adrift, no more than a large piece of rock.

As much as it had put him off, it had gotten to Bidu, Fujin and the others more. And for what seemed like the first time, he had really seen them. Really seen their weary faces, seen their spiritless eyes. And for some reason his heart had hurt at what he saw. And he promised them that he would find a new planet for them to live on, a planet even more beautiful with lush, green grass and blue, sparkling water.

He raised the hopes of them, all four of them, and it had been his first good deed.

It had been Earth. Chikyu.

Quite literally, it had also been the last mistake he ever realized.

The battle with the Earthlings had been far more taxing than he expected. He didn't expect a fight from the weak inhabitants, and he intended to take over and let them go on living for him and his friends amusement. He had only intended to kill the strongest warriors--the ones fighting in that competition--so that the people of Earth wouldn't have the spirit to fight back.

But then they came forth. From amoung the people, unseen until it was nearly too late. With their blazing golden auras and off-white hair, they were spectacular and terrible and intriguing all at once. And standing in their forefront was Son Gohan. Bojack had only taken him for a boy. Had only taken them all for mere children compared to him.

Perhaps he would even have let them live. Kami knew he could have simply killed them from the begining, before they knew his extent of power, but he had been too curious. Too damned curious. And when the fighting got bad, they had been forced to use their dark power stored in their mysical jewelry they obtained so long ago, when they had first accepted the dark as their own.

And with that darkness, the insanity returned. But now he had a target. When he had been insane, violent and powercrazed before, everyone and everything had been his target, and he destroyed it as fast as he could in hopes of finding another.

But this was a special target. This one took effort, a challenge. And he wanted desperatly to get his target.

And his target was that boy. He wanted, needed to kill him. He wanted to kill that boy. Wanted to wrap his large, muscular hands around that boy's thin little neck and squeeze, crush his windpipe, watch as the life drained out of his face, watch his vital, fleshy skin turn pale and soft, watch his eyes glaze over. And just squeeze the life out of him, make him writhe and scream and try to futily to escape. He wanted to pin the boy's small body down and beat him to death, and even when he was nothing more than a bloody mess he wanted to keep on punching until his knuckles were pulverized and his wrists were broken.

He had been blessed with the chance to twice. Once when Bidu and the others had managed to snare him in their psychic web, but that chance had been botched by that damn Satan man. The other time had been sweet as honey to his mind that comprehended only lunacy. With the boy's squirming body pressed to his hard, broad chest, Bojack could accually feel his body breaking. With each crack that riddled his bones, his screams of agony grew louder, a more satisfying sound he had never heard.

It was a dissapointment when the boy stopped screaming and went limp, amazingly managing to say one audible word before giving in to unconsiousness.

Otousan.........

Bojack never knew what hit him, but he knew it was not wordly. The dark power he used told him as much. But whatever it was, it sent him flying, separating him from his target, never to get his chance again.

Bojack abruptly came to his sences when the Aeesu-jin's boy suddenly raised his voice- "Hey! Who's in our bathroom! Papa!"

Annoyed, Bojack glared down the hall at that damn Aeesu-jin brat as he stormed into the very livingroom Bojack inhabited, and through it to the kitchen--or rather a pantry where Sunow kept his exotic drinks for special occations. Sunow himself also happend to be in the kitchen, reading peacably from a small mobile computer.

"Papa!" the young Aeesu-jin exclaimed, causing the elder to jump, "I thought you said we weren't going to have anymore company for the rest of the week!"

"It's not company, I'm afraid," the elder said, quietly clicking off his computer and turning to fully face his son. His face was expremely appologetic.

"You don't mean......Aww, papa, not again!"

"I'm sorry, we don't have a choice, Forester. When Heng asks us directly to do something-"

"Papa?" This was a third voice, higher pitched and slightly slurred.

Bojack had been watching them from his vantage point on the couch and was surprised when he looked down onto the pale colored floor to see an even younger Aeesu-jin, so small she had slipped by under his sight. It annoyed him and he snorted quietly to himself.

"Oh, my little Eesei," Sunow's strained face softened at the sight of his sweet little daughter, "What is it?"

The little girl didn't speak for a second as she thought out her words. Her stubbly tail--a trait inherited from her father--was twined around her ankles and she tugged at her bottom lip with a child-sized finger.

"Who's in the bathroom?"

Sunow smiled, stretching his thin blue lips across his soft featured face, "It's a polite young man named Son Gohan. Now why don't you hurry back to your room and get your spare blankets. You and your brother are sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Oh," Eesei said, her squeeky voice sounding slightly grumpy, "It's those kinda' people again."

"I'm afraid so," Sunow's quiet voice was filled with regret, "But go get your things before you get in these people's way. You don't want that big blue man over there to step on you, do you?"

Bojack couldn't help but smile at the mental picture of him squashing her little body flat under his boots. The little girl took one look at him, finger still hanging out in her mouth, looked back at her father, who only tilted his head, then looked back at at Bojack again.

"Uh uh! I don' wanna get squashed!" and with that, she scampered out of the kitchen, through the living room and was making her way--faster than what Bojack would have thought such a little thing could scoot--down the hall to her room when suddenly the bathroom door slid open and Son Gohan stepped out, shirtless and damp, drops of water dripping from his bangs, right into the little girl's path.

"Woah!" Both of them exclaimed at the same time as Eesei realized she wouldn't be able to stop in time. Gohan didn't seem surprised at all, and before the little girl could raise her arms to cover he face for impact he caught her under her arms, swiped her off the ground, and spun her around in the air until her momentum died down.

"Weeeee!" The little girl's peals of laughter reached Forester and Sunow's ears, sending both Aeesu-jin running to see what the comotion was.

They both stopped at the mouth of the hall to see little Eesei in Gohan's arms. Her short, chubby arms were wrapped around his neck and her legs were wrapped around his waist, her claw-like feet gripping at his abdominal muscles to stay up. Her tail was also wrapped around him, running up his back and hooking over his shoulder.

She was literally all over him and loving it. He little purple lips were drawn back in a huge smile that showed all the teeth in her mouth and she was laughing so hard she was nearly in hysterics. The jovial situation had affected the boy as he and the little girl both laughed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about my daughter," Sunow said, rushing forward and prying the little girl off him, "She doesn't look where she's going sometimes."

His laughing abated, but his smile still firmly established, Gohan said, "It's fine, it's fine. Little Trunks is running all over the place at home and he nearly mows me down every time I visit him."

"Trunks?" Forester asked, something about his tone was challenging and he ment it to be. This off-planet, this alien was trespassing in his home and he would not forgive him for it.

Noticing the Aeesu-jin boy's hostile additude, Gohan's smile quickly faded as he once again returned to the shy young man Sunow had originally met, "Yes. Trunks is a little kid like her......her name's Eesei, right?"

Sunow nodded and elbowed Forester about being rude before turning his sights down to look at his little daughter, "Yes, it is."

The boy used a corner of his undoned gi top to scrub his hair to speed up it's drying.

"An' you're Songo Han!" Eesei cheered, squirming around in her father's arms so she could face the boy better.

"Son Go Han," Gohan corrected.

"Songo," came the toddler's reply.

"Gohan," the boy said patiently.

The little girl stuck out her lip and said with conviction, "Songo."

Gohan sighed and lowered his head, chuckled to himself.

"I appologize, she get's stubborn over the strangest things-"

"It's alright. I've been called way worse. I can stand to be called Songo by a little girl for a while."

Two doors swished open behind Gohan as Freeza and Garlic entered the hall.

"What the hell is going on here," Garlic announced his presence. Gohan winced as the demon's voice grated on his nerves.

"Don't you know how to be quiet?" Freeza's voice added.

"We're just discussing this youth's name with little Eesei here," Sunow said, smiling proudly down at his daughter.

"Come on, now," Gohan said, turning his back on the two to face the little girl again, "What's my name?"

"Songo Han!"

Gohan slapped himself in the forehead. "Yes. That's right."

The girl grinned.

"Can't we hang out somewhere else besides the hall way?" Forester's adolecent voice suddenly sounded out, "You guys are blocking the bathroom door and I want to take a nice cold bath; Papa always has the heat up too high."

Gohan pressed his cold fingers against his neck to warm them up. The cold didn't really affect most of his exposed, wet body, but his fingers were a tad cold. The Aeesu-jin thought this was too hot? Gohan had a hard time keeping himself from thinking they were insane.

"My son is right," Sunow nodded his head as he set Eesei on the ground, "Shall we make our way to the living room? I have some very exotic drinks and expensive wines you simply must try. Please, come."

He turned and made his way back to the room Bojack--who hadn't moved--was still occupying. Gohan put a hand to his bare abdomen, which felt slightly flatter than it usually did, and wondered if this Aeesu-jin had anything more solid than wine to put in his stomach. He hadn't eaten since dinner last night, and he was sure it was at least late afternoon by now. Perhaps evening. Maybe even late.

Time was impossible to keep track of when the sun is miles of dirt above visibility. Gohan suddenly wished he were wearing the watch his mother had gotten for him that year. He suddenly felt like kicking himself for assuming he would always be able to tell the time by looking at the sun.

One way or another, his body was informing him all too well that he had missed a meal or two and would not stand for it. He ignored the pain in his empty gut, knowing that at the moment, he would have to just tought it out; of all the pain he had endured in his life, he would not be brought down by his own digestive system.

In the living room, Bojack made no motion to make room on the couch for anyone else, stretching and pointing his toes to exclaim his comfort. Freeza nor Garlic wanted to sit down anyway. They each gave curt no-thank-yous and returned to their rooms, nothing else said.

Eesei came jogging out the room Garlic was turning into, nearly knocking him over in her haste. Her arms were loaded with blankets and pillows and two futons, all of which she deposited at Gohan's feet.

"What's all this?" the boy asked, kneeling down to paw through the pile.

Sunow glanced down and said, sounding apprehensive, "Well......I was thinking that you and the other children could sleep out here and the adults could get the bedrooms..........or I suppose I could sleep out here if you want a bed instead of the couch."

"I'm fine, whenever we have guests over at our house for the night Kaasan has me sleep on the living room couch because we don't have any guest rooms. Besides, I've slept on the ground before." Gohan said, picking out the largest futon only to see it was nearly a foot too small.

Oh, well. I'll make due. He reasoned and spread it out across the floor.

"Son Gohan?" Sunow asked, "I hope you don't mind my prying, but where exactly do you come from? You talk about your home quite alot."

The boy looked up, slightly startled. Talking to Sunow had made him feel so comfortable he had let things about Earth slip out without a second thought. The Aeesu-jin of this time didn't know what Earth was, and Gohan wanted it to stay that way. But what was he supposed to do? He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to say anything further about Earth than he had already.

His silence said enough, and Sunow didn't mention it again.

"So who gets the couch?" Gohan asked, tilting his head in question at Forester and Eesei.

"Me, of coarse," Forester snapped, "This is my house and I'm the oldest so I get to call first."

"Fine," Gohan said, digging a pillow out of the pile. He paused when he found the largest pillow and asked Forester in a tone not even he was sure was free of sarcasm, "So does that mean you pick out your blankets and pillows first, too?"

The Aeesu-jin boy locked eyes with the demi-Earthling. They both froze as their whole attention focused on eachother's face. Their surroundings seemed to vanish from existance as they saw nothing but the other's pupils--fire red against coal black, neither blinking, neither breathing.

And suddenly Gohan went cross-eyed.

Before he remembered not to, Forester laughed, closing his eyes as he did so, thus breaking the silent staring contest, "No, I don't sleep with pillows or blankets. They're only for weaklings who can't take the cold."

"I'm not a weakling," Eesei mumbled as she spread out her smaller futon--hardly three feet long from top to bottom.

Gohan said no more as he picked through the pile of blankets, selecting ones he felt would keep him from freezing in his sleep.

Bojack watched the three children as they prepared their beds. The Forester boy stood at the foot of the couch, glaring at Bojack with the potency of a poisoned snake. The great blue giant couldn't help but be amused by the youth's hostile approach at nearly anyone he didn't know. He was reminded of his own youth, and similar emotions held toward strangers. Funny how all walks of life were so different yet horrifically similar when reflecting eachother.

"What are you looking at?"

The young man narrowed his ruby eyes, "You're on my couch. I'm sleeping there, go to your own room."

Bojack smiled, wrinkling up the skin on either side of his eyes, "Well, you'll just have to wait. I'm not getting up yet."

The boy huffed, crossed his arms and leaned agaist the wall to wait. Gohan, kneeling on the ground by the blankets, looked back over his shoulder to glare at Bojack before returning to his task.

Sunow pulled a chair out from the kitched to sit and watch the children while they got their beds ready. That alien boy, Son Gohan. What a strange kid. So polite, so quiet, so good! What in the world would a boy like that be doing with such rough-looking people like the other three with him? They were totally opposite him in every way, a yin to his yan. What could possibly bring them together? It was obvious he was not one of Freeza's servants. None of them served the other, nor did any of them seem to really get along--such a strange group to see traveling together. Why why why.

"Songo?" Eesei's voice brought Sunow out of his musings. The older Aeesu-jin watched as Son Gohan pretended he didn't hear her as he smoothed out a down comforter on top of an already impressive pile of blankets he had selected. The cold must really be bothering him.

"Songo!" The little girl said louder.

Son Gohan started humming as though there were no one else in the room but him.

"Gohan?" the girl asked quietly.

The boy turned around, smiling, "Yes?"

"That big blue man," she pointed a stubby finger at Bojack, "Papa said he'd step on me. Would he really do that?"

Gohan's smile faded and he looked down at his bed and dropped from knealing to sitting, rocking back on his heels, arms folded around his knees. His tail curled around his ankles. He said seriously, "Yeah, if he wanted to."

Eesei stuck out her chin indignantly, as though that weren't the answer she wanted, "How do you know?"

Bojack and Sunow both leaned forward to hear his answer.

The boy lifted his head and forced a smile, "Because big people know these kind of things."

"Will I know these things where I'm as old as you?"

Gohan looked into her shining eyes--eyes that had never known death, never seen turmoil. Eyes that had only seen peace, happiness and regularity. He patted her on the head.

"Let's both hope that you'll be older than I was when I started learning such things."

There was a thoughtful silence that followed, leaving everyone in the room to look inward for a second in quiet thought.

A ringing sounded, coming from the computer console by the door.

"Someone's trying to contact us," Sunow said, getting up from his chair, "I'll answer it." He moved across the room.

Eesei snuggled in under the covers over her futon--hardly a sheet rather than blankets. Gohan couldn't help but marvel at the low tempuratures these Aeesu-jin thrived in; he could only hope his metabolism didn't slow durring the night, leaving the household to find his frozen dead body, curled up under the blankets, forever stuck in a fetal position in a futile attempt to conserve heat.

He sure hoped that if that happened, Bojack and Garlic would freeze to death, too. Hell, while his imagination was at it, let Freeza die as well. If he was going down, they were going down with him.

He chuckled to himself that he would be having such morbid thoughts.

"Ah, Son Gohan?" Sunow called from the computer console, "It's for you."

"Coming," the boy said, getting up. Was it just him or was it getting colder? He pulled on his dark blue undershirt, leaving his orange upper garment on his pillow.

Sunow met him half-way across the room and whispered to him, "Why would renowned Doctor Koda be trying to contact you?!"

"Oh, we met earlier today. Nice guy," Gohan said, "We have some things we didn't get a chance to finish discussing."

Sunow looked concerned, but nodded his head as he moved out of the boy's way. At the console, Gohan saw that above a series of colorful buttons--some light up and blinking-- was a small monitor screen. On the screen, he could see the emense shape of the good doctor he had met earlier; it seemed like only seconds ago he had left his office, but when he thought about it, it also felt like years.

"Ah, Son Gohan. I see you found your way to your temporary home. Any complaints? Are they treating you right? I could have a new place found if you dissapprove of your surroundings."

The boy smiled and turned slightly red, "No, no. These are good people. Better than I expected, I admit. They have a kid around my age."

The doctor scowled, his slightly puffy cheeks tightening as he sucked his teeth in distaste, "If you accually think their boy is a good person, either he, or you or you both are insane. I've wasted years of my younger life trying to teach those upstart children and they're nothing but trouble."

Gohan laughed quietly, hoping the others in the room didn't hear him, "Alright, so he does seem a little-"

"Brattish? Ubnoxious? Offensive?" The doctor offered.

"Ethnocentric," Gohan said, "But I've been around worse people, I'll survive."

The doctor shook his head in wonder, "You're a better man than most."

"So what did you want to contact me about?"

"Oh, I managed to work up a good couple of free hours tomarrow and wondered if you could stop by. I have a few strange findings on the tests I ran from the samples I took from you that I need you to explain. They just don't make sense."

"What did you find?" the boy asked, wracking his brain for any other strange genetic occurances he had found when he went on his self-research kick.

"It would be alot easer to just show you. I'm faxing your residence a paper that has the time I'm free. I hope to see you then."

Right on cue, a small slot below the monitor hummed and a long, thin piece of paper slipped out of it. The boy held it up to his face, but only saw a series of unreadable numbers in no logical order he could see. Was this how the Aeesu-jin kept track of time?

"Just show it to your host. He'll take care of it," the doctor said in reply to the boy's puzzled face, "But I really must be going now. Hope to see you tomarrow."

"Right, okay," the boy said, jamming the paper in his pocket.

"Good bye."

"Good bye."

The monitor went dead. Gohan walked back to his futon next to a still awake Eesei and pulled back the heavy layer of blankets and laydown, pulling them up to his chin.

"Is everything alright?" Sunow asked, standing at the foot of the prone boy.

"Yeah, everythings fine. I want to ask you something tomarrow morning about time on this planet."

"Alright, then. Goodnight then, I need to sleep. I've had a kind of hecktic day," Sunow said.

"I know exactly what you mean," Gohan said, turning over on his side to get more comfortable.

Sunow exited the room, turning off the lights as he went. It wasn't total darkness that followed, a soft light still drifted into the room from the lights in the hall way, but it was dark enough to sleep by. Bojack moved to get up at go to his own room when Forester's voice broke the small insertion of silence.

"You two faught eachother, didn't you."

Son Gohan rolled over under his covers to face the Aeesu-jin boy, Bojack settled back into the couch cusions.

"Yes, we did," Gohan answered, eye's hazy with unclear memories. Things had moved so fast the day Bojack arrived he couldn't remember everything- it wall all a smeared, continuious memory of chaos, concern for his loved ones, pain, and the ultimate climax when he had used his full power to defeat Bojack and his men.

"So tell me about it. Tell me the glorious tale about the battle, fighting, close shaves, great sacrafices and a hero with total self confidence."

"Impossible," Gohan snapped, his voice surprisingly harsh, "There's no such thing. Battles are nothing but insanity, a horrible, bloody nightmare ruled only by anger, hatred and fear. Only people who've never really faught before would dare think it could be 'glorious.'"

Bojack said nothing as his eyes looked thoughtfully off into oblivion.

"Okay, then. Don't tell me about your fight with him. Tell me some other fight you've had. I can see it in your eyes, you've been in more combat situations than most of my instructors, I can tell. Tell me a story. An exciting story. You're not sleeping till you do."

"Story!" Eesei jumped in, "Tell us a story, Songo!"

The boy only rolled over in his bed and said nothing.

"I'll tell you a story," Bojack finally said. All three children looked at him, "It's a story my people tell their children when their going to bed."

The two Aeesu-jin children exchanged eager smiles and egged him on with intentive faces. Son Gohan opened his eyes from under his blankets and glanced at the blue giant. But Bojack was not looking at any of them. Ribbons of nostalgia drifted before his eyes like the the wisps of smoke from burning inscense.

And he started his tale just as the tale always began.

"He was a Kami named Biraju............

"He gave up his immortality to live out his life on planet Biraju, but at that time it was without a name. He made the planet inhabitable, forming hundreds of statues shaped like people from the clay and mud on the ground--men, women, young, old, all different and unique. When he was ready, he brought them all to life, and the planet was filled with life, all loving and listening to his words. Peace prevailed on the planet for a thousand years.

"But things changed. Biraju became sick and weak. He eventually died because he gave up his immortality, leaving his two sons--Binu and Biraju--to rule after him. Binu, the oldest, was an evil ruler. He took people's hearts and devoured them, in return giving them power beyond what is normal to go about and do wicked things."

Here Bojack paused, taking the time to gather his words.

"Biraju, the youngest, was named after his father, and he possesed all the goodness and wisdom his father did. He was greatly displeased by his older brother's wickedness. He could not kill his brother, because they were blood related, so he cast a spell on him, cealing him away.

"Binu faught agaist his captivity so hard that he managed to break it enough for him to fit one finger out of his magical cell. From that day on, Binu could only tempt all of Biraju's people, the Biraju-jin, once. And whenever the people refused to give into him, they were given the power of good to protect them for the rest of their lives. But those that gave into Binu's temptation would forfeit their hearts to him and only be able to use their powers for evil-"

Bojack stopped his story here. There was much symbolism in the story, and most did not understand it's true purpose. It was more a myth than anything else, ment to warn children about the dangers of giving in to the darkness that lived in all Biraju-jin.

He looked down at the ground. Somewhere in the story, Forester had sat down on the ground to listen to him better. And somewhere else in the story, he had lay down on the ground.

And somewhere else in the story, all three children had fallen asleep. Forester looked pretty comforable laying flat on his back, his tail under his head as a pillow. He didn't seem to be cold, despite the fact that Bojack's skin was so cold it was riddled with goose flesh. Eesei's small body could be seen through her thin blanket, her tail was ontop of her curled up little body, her small pale hands here folded under her cheek. And Son Gohan.............

Bojack looked at the sleeping boy for what must have been a long time. Only the boy's head was exposed from under the thick layer of blankets. Only an abstract mound could be made out where his body was under all the cover, but he wasn't looking at the boy's body anyway. It was the boy's face. When he was asleep, Son Gohan accually looked his age, if not younger. His boyish features were relaxed, his eyes quietly closed, his mouth was slightly open. The light shining in from the hallways gleamed on the boy's eyelashed where a small amount of moisture had built up.

He looked so innocent. More than any other child in existance ever looked. Not Forester, even little Eesei could ever hope to look so perfectly blameless in all their lives as this boy looked right now. It was almost impossible to comprehend that this was the same wild, inconcievable strong, golden haired demon that had killed him. This was the same person as that emotionless, cold eyed nightmare that had driven a fist through Bojack's guts as though he were made of butter then blasted him to hell with one shot.

Flip sides of a coin. Bojack shook his head and stood, crossing to the hall that led to his room. He paused at the mouth and looked back at the sleeping mound of a boy, heard his quiet breathing as the blankets rose and fell with his chest.

"I'm going to kill you, Son Gohan. First chance I get."

"Not if I don't kill you first, Bojack," the boy answered, "Not if I don't kill you first."

Bojack chuckled and made his way to his room.

To be continued.............