Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Bathing ❯ Bathing ( Prologue )

I know it might sound odd to you, but it never really bothered me that Papa watched me bathe. In fact, I often found myself wondering when I was a child why he didn't join me more often. Of course, back then I would never have called him Papa. He wouldn't accept such sentiments. I was his seito and he was my sensei, nothing more. Outwardly, anyway.

But back to the bathing part.

I dunno...for me, it was a time that I remember very fondly, when we weren't training and when we weren't resting, either. He never shouted orders at me, nor lectured me while I bathed, nor did he ignore me. I could venture to say that it was ...sacred. Well, maybe it wasn't sacred, but it certainly was special.

One particular time comes to mind. I was barely ten years old, and training was in full swing. On that particular day, although it had been hot and humid, I found Piccolo to be in a particularly peaceful, even pleasant mood. He didn't yell nearly a much as I was used to, and during training he was especially patient and even a bit lenient. And although I was surprised, I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

By the end of the day, I was dirty and sweaty, and ready for a bath. Piccolosan looked to be the same way, but not nearly as winded as I was. He gracefully floated to the ground, a sharp contrast to me crouching to the ground, panting. I looked up at him, and he raised his eyebrow at me.

"You look in need of a bath, Young One." He smirked. "Was I too rough on you?"

I smirked back between pants. "Naw, I'm fine..."

"Ii desu. Then let us see about that bath, shall we?"

"Yeah." I replied distastefully, looking down at myself. I was a mess. And with that, I walked toward the small pond and waterfall not too far from where we were. It was one of my favorite spots; the water was clear and cool, and the rocks were smooth and moss covered.

As I was taking off my clothes, I got my arms stuck in my shirt. I growled a little and struggled, but then I felt hands grab the sides of my tunic and yank it off my head. I looked up through my tossled hair and saw Piccolo holding my tunic. He smirked.

Why is he being so nice today? I wondered, then shrugged and worked at my pants and boots. As I was naked and about to head into the water, I suddenly felt my feet lift off the ground. I looked up and saw Sensei holding me up by the arms. I squirmed, feeling vulnerable. It wasn't the fact that he was seeing me naked. We were used to that. We saw each other naked several times, and it didn't bother us. But the fact that I was hanging above the ground naked bothered me.

"Sensei, what are you doing...?" I asked. "I wanna take a bath."

He smirked still, then shrugged. "Alright. Take one, then." And with that, he whirled me around my feet flying out behind me. I was about to ask him what he was doing when suddenly he let go of my arms. I flew out over the water and landed smack in the middle of the small lake. I screamed as I hit the cold water, then floated back up, coughing. He was chuckling on the beach.

"Very funny, Sensei!" I shouted, coughing and swimming toward shore, at least until I could get my footing on solid bottom.

He quieted his chuckling. "You did not find it amusing?"

"No, not really! You could have given me some warning!" I shouted, then reconsidered. "...well. Okay. So maybe it was a little funny." But then I chortled a little. "Okay, so it was really funny."

"Then why are you complaining?" he smirked, setting his turban and cape down. He was slipping out of his gi, and I smiled a little. He was going to take a bath. Now was my time to get even.

"It's about time, Sensei! You were beginning to smell!" I taunted playfully, treading water. I was hoping that he'd come out there after me for it. But to my surprise he only smirked after he was nude and waded out to his waist. He materialized a rag in his hand and started to wring water over himself. I frowned a little.

"Why don'tcha come out deeper, Sensei?" I asked.

"Because."

"...because why?"

"Because I do not want to. Your smelly person is taking up enough of the space out there." he smirked, but evaded my question. I shrugged, but smiled to myself and dipped under the water. I held my breath and kicked hard until I saw his legs. Bracing myself on the bottom, I grabbed his legs and yanked with all my strength, pulling him under the water and further out. He thrashed around surprisedly, and kicked furiously as I came up to the surface, laughing.

~Gotcha, Sensei!~ I laughed, treading water again. I looked into the water. ~Teach you to toss me into the water!~

But Sensei didn't come back up. I laughed a little more and kept my legs up so he couldn't grab them, but as the seconds ticked by, there wasn't any sign of him coming back up. I frowned a little, my laughing dying.
~Sensei? C'mon, this isn't funny...~

~RYVEN!!!~

I blinked. Sensei sounded ...scared!

~Sensei!?~

~RYVEN GET ME OUT OF HERE I CANNOT BREATH!!~

~Oh shit!~ I swore, then took a deep breath and dived under the water. Luckily, I hadn't dragged him too far out into the water, and I found him in no time. He was halfway lying on the bottom of the lake, kicking and waving his arms like mad, trying to swim. But his body remained on the lake floor. He was obviously drowning. My heart skipped a few beats as I grabbed onto his arms, powered up and pulled him to the surface as quickly as I could manage, as I was running out of air myself.

As we broke the surface we both took in a huge breath of air, and I slung his arm over my shoulder as I kicked toward shore. He kicked as much as he could as well, coughing up huge lungfuls of water as he clung to me as tightly as he dared, so not to pull me under as well. As we reached the shallows I sat him down, so the water just washed over his waist. He nearly doubled over as he coughed, and I patted his back worriedly. I felt horrible. How was I to know he couldn't swim?! But as his coughing slackened I backed off a little, sure that he was going to pound me.

"Sensei, I-"

"Nameksei-jin...."he paused a moment, seeming to think a moment before speaking again. "... cannot swim, Young one." He cut me off raspily, casting a glance toward me. I could tell he was irritated, but to my surprise he wasn't angry. I nodded, hugging my knees to my chest. Inwardly, from his tone, from his hesitation, I knew that it wasn't just nameksei-jin that couldn't swim. I had a feeling it was Sensei who couldn't swim, or at least didn't like to, and didn't want to admit it.

"I didn't know...how come you didn't tell me sooner?" I asked quietly. "I wouldn't have, if I would have known."

"I did not think it neccessary. Seito usually do not ambush their sensei." he replied, somewhat testily. I blushed ashamedly.

"I'm sorry." I apologized sincerely.

He nodded and coughed a little more, took a deep breath, then stood up and summoned another cloth. He glanced at me, and then began to wade back out again. Again, up to his waist, and he resumed his cleaning. I watched for a few seconds, then waded out and swam a little farther out. His good mood was ruined. And now an awkward silence hung over the little lake. I sighed and washed myself as well, turning toward the waterfall and watching it as I washed. But I heard something behind me, and my ears twikkied. I spun around in the water, and there was Sensei, hovering above the water, smirking. I could do little but cry out when he pushed my head under the water, held me there for a second, then relented. As I came back up and coughed, he was smirking.

"Now we are even, Young One." he stated, then turned and went back to where he was bathing. I smirked through my coughing.

Heh, just wait till next time, Sensei....this has only just begun.

End