Ultimate Gohan

Mariko stared at Gohan, unable to believe her ears. She was so doubfounded her eyes even looked for Chronoa, almost hoping to get a confirmation of what she just heard – but the goddess seemed just as disoriented: her lips were quivering visibly, as if she was torned by the urge to protest and the inability to contradict their beloved guest.

And by Shenron, that was quite a satisfying show.

But of course, that spell couldn’t last. “Our… Our first-year students aren’t meant to take part to such intensive trainings,” Chronoa finally replied, “Time is a delicate thing to deal with, and it takes lots of it to form proper Patrollers…”

But no matter how she argumented them, the goddess’ words still sounded like a weak excuse after Gohan’s reproaches. Mariko was honestly surprised by how authoritative the guy could be if he wanted to: when he had scolded her, her cheeks had immediately gone warm out of shame. She knew well enough that she still was too reckless and emotional to be a proper Patroller, but it burnt a lot more to be accused of it while also being aknowledged for her potential. It was like getting the silver medal at a competition: the closer the missed achievement, the sorest the frustration. 

So, it was only natural for her to hesitate when Gohan offered to train her. The moment the boy mentioned ‘going a step furter than the average mentor lesson’, a surprised choir rose from the crowd, ranging from amused chuckles to horrified gasps, the latter mostly from his fangirls. Mariko was quick to cast her classmates an irritated glare before turning back at Gohan, studying him with a distrustful pout.

She should have been grateful to him, really – Mariko knew it. He had taken her defenses with Chronoa, sparing her another detention and even openly praising her potential. But although having always dreamt of being in the centre of attention thanks to her skills, Mariko had never pictured such a moment to be so embarrassing and awkard. She dreamt of earning glory by herself, not because someone else came and saved her like a pathethic damsel in distress. That was beyond embarrassing – it was humiliating, so much she even considered going for Chronoa’s detention instead, just for a moment.

Yet… She could have come up with her move, her own move. A unique attack, not a mere copy of someone else’s. Even Goku’s trademark technique wasn’t his own creation – he learnt the Kamehameha from Master Roshi, after all. With her own attack, Mariko would have already started off a step ahead of the greatest hero of all times. It would have been the first step toward History, toward matching all the legendary fighters she hoped to equal in might and glory.

It was too much of a tempting offer to refuse.

Still, she had to at least downplay it a bit: no way she would have let Gohan come out as her provvidential saviour, Mariko didn’t need one. So, she shrugged and shifted her look on a side, somewhere on the ground, as if grass suddenly looked a lot more interesting than Gohan’s proposal. “Okay, I guess,” she muttered, trying to not speak too quickly and betray her eagerness. “If Chronoa allows it, it’s fine by me.”

Now, Gohan may not be the best with people, but he did understand where Mariko was in this situation. A person of authority had just talked down to her while acknowledging her potential. In hindsight, it was ironic that Gohan had been the one to say it, seeing as Mr. Piccolo and Goku had said it to him in the past. Or maybe it was just poetic justice. Regardless, he could see from her glare that she was, at best, distrustful. At worst, she didn’t believe him. Perhaps she thought he wanted something out of it in return. Perhaps she was annoyed at him for calling her out like that. But frankly? Gohan didn’t care. He was a little disappointed with the group of students Chronoa had gathered. 

Sure, they looked like a good group of kids, but none of them looked like potential Z Warriors. They were just...well, kids. Probably not much younger than himself. The only difference was he’d been fighting these battles his whole life, and he had no idea what these people have been doing. He was sure they all had power sleeping within them, but power alone is useless. The drive to mold it and use it was what was important. And these students? Most of them seemed content just being strong enough to help history. To keep going where they were at now. That much was obvious with the large number of students who had chosen a simple energy wave to throw his way. Most just fired a generic blast. Only a handful tried a named attack. 

But only Mariko tried something new.

He saw a little of himself in her, honestly. He saw someone so young, struggling to find balance in life. When he was younger, he’d struggled to balance fighting and academics. Truth be told, he hadn’t exactly found a perfect balance yet, but he was working on it. He wasn’t sure what she had to balance in life, but he saw a certain seed of determination in her. He could tell there was someone she looked up to that she wanted to surpass. In the same way he looked up to Grandma Gine, Mr. Piccolo, and his father. Why else would he use their moves? It was a sign of honor. Carrying on their legacy as a means to repay them for all they’d done for him. He wanted to help Mariko do that too. He saw her desire to not just save History, but to make History.

“My, my. You’re certainly straight forward.” Hikari said after he let her go. “Most guys at least buy me a coffee first.” She said before waving the awkward mood away. “But I digress. You just proved to me that you’re as strong as I thought you were. Not only did you jump super high and fly. You did it while carrying me like I weighed nothing.”

“So that clinches it! I definitely want to fight you now!” 

“I-I di-didn’t mean it that wayy.” The flustered boy tried to cover his bit of boldness that her comment addressed, failing to hide a creeping blush suffusing his cheeks. Thankfully she changed the subject, which gave him something else to focus on instead of the fact that his hand had nearly touched her butt. But his blush only grew deeper when she heaped on another compliment, pointing out that he’d just proven his strength to her in his panic.

Goddamnit Gohan. Maybe if you’d actually gotten to school on time none of this would have happened. 

The bell rang, signaling just how late he’d ended up being. His eyes practically shot out of his sockets, the thought of all the trouble he’d be in... His near-perfect attendance record (which would be perfect had it not been for Buu) would be shot, he’d miss handing in his assignments. He’d get another earful when he finally went back. And then his mother. Oh Dende his mother would be pissed. No, beyond pissed. Like... Super Pissed. Like Kaioken x100 Pissed.

“I c-can’t fight you! I’m in enough trouble as it is...” Part of him was telling him to just do it. If he was already in trouble, why not at least get something entertaining out of it. He knew his dad wouldn’t rat him out to mom, and he knew mom couldn’t sense energy, so the worst that could happen is Mr. Piccolo, Goten, or Trunks picking it up. Vegeta and the others wouldn’t really care all that much. Although if the fight got serious enough...

“Name’s Hikari Murakami. I’m an Esper who comes from a different dimension.” She said flat out, not even trying to hide behind a lie. “My own world got boring, so I came here in search of strong opponents and awesome adventures!” She placed her hands on her hips. “You may not think I’m strong because of how lean I am, but I pack one hell of a punch! Bet I could even send a big lug like you flying.” 

Welp. That ah...certainly explained why things weren’t adding up. The name was simple enough, but did she really have to drop such a bomb on him when he was seconds away from missing homeroom? You’d think that after fighting a universal threat made out of bubblegum and getting chummy with literally God, nothing would surprise the Half-Saiyan. Apparently not so. “So..you...you’re a psychic?” He seemed as much confused as he was intrigued, taking awhile to recover from the shock of the reveal. He’d seen a little bit about Espers on the TV one day, talking about a city of super heroes. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was real news or just something from a show, but hey. It had inspired the design for his Saiyaman Suit. A certain hero called The Caped Baldy had such awe-inspiring physical power- reminded him a bit of his father, honestly. It was nice to have his old doofus of a dad back.

“I’m sorry,” he said to her, scratching at the back of his head. “That’s just a lot to take in.” Honestly, he wasn’t suspicious. That explanation was just so out of left field that it had to be true. “I don’t doubt your strength. You look like someone whose seen plenty of fights and gone through plenty of battles. But I really should get to class. If the teacher finds me out here I’d-”

And there goes his energy signature.

“Ah. We got ourselves a goodie two shoes here.” She said while pointing at him, though her tone was playful. “Why go to school when you can fly like that?” She said as she stepped closer to him, caring not for his personal space. “I can tell from just looking at you. You’re hella powerful. You’ve probably been through a lot of battles too.”

“Just thinking about fighting you makes me excited! I’m positive that you’re the decent challenge I’ve been looking for! Someone I can finally test my full power against!” 

No. No no no no. No. This was bad. How could she read him so easily? It’s not like he was wearing his gi or anything, he’d at least worn the clothing he’d always wear to skill. It covered his muscles well and made him look a bit slimmer, just a precaution so that he wouldn’t be swarmed by people ‘asking if he lifted’ or something like that. Not to mention being accosted by anyone with two X chromosomes. “Y-you must be kidding. I c-can’t f-fly.” This was getting even worse. Gohan may be a great fighter, but he was absolutely terrible at coming up with cover stories. You’d think that going to school would have helped him, but he’d relied on sheer luck to get this far.

“I should just go, I really don’t wanna be late.” As intriguing as it sounded to fight someone at full power, he didn’t want to hurt this girl. He barely sensed any energy from her- She just must be someone like Videl. Someone who’s trained in martial arts her whole life, or something to that extent. That’s the only way for it to make any sense. 

But...hang on. Something seemed off here. He didn’t sense any Ki from her... So why did she have one of those burning looks? It was a look he’d seen numerous times before- a powerful warrior looking upon someone they expect to be an equal. It just didn’t add up. How could she have the eyes of a warrior but no Ki? Even the weakest human still had a little bit of energy. She just...didn’t. She didn’t seem like an android either.

It’s been a little slow here as of late. I was a bit burnt out, but I should be back to full strength soon. Maybe even today, not sure. For now I’ll be editing some icons for a friend and another set for a new muse.

Anon Headcanons | Cook Master

Faces Memes | Head Pats