Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Okayama Summer ❯ Chapter 8

*Okay, here we go again... ^_^ This chapter actually gets the plot going again... ^^; Sorry if I made you all wait so long before; I'm working on about five ficcies at the same time... and I do have a life (contrary to popular belief), and school, too! I'M ONLY TWELVE (almost thirteen ^^) YEARS OLD!! >< Nyeh... oh, yeah, MORE DBZ!! ^_^ Cheers.*

Chapter Eight

"How's Chi Chi?"

Kururin emerged from Kame House's front door, and joined Master Roshi on the porch. Sitting down heavily, he sighed, and shook his head. "She's asleep now... but I bet she's still dreaming about them."

"Mmm." Master Roshi rested his head on his folded hands. "We can't go on like this forever, Kururin. What are we going to do?"

Kururin was silent, and wouldn't look at the old man. He had no right to ask him that, especially since he was in danger of going insane, as well.

Though I can't help but think...

Kururin sighed, and got to his feet again, making up his mind. "Master Roshi..."

Master Roshi looked at him. "You're leaving?"

"Yes."

"Where to?"

Kururin hesitated, but only for a moment. "To find Gohan."

Master Roshi looked at him a few moments more, then shook his head slowly. "I don't know what you're expecting to find... but I wish you luck, anyway."

"Thanks." Kururin smiled. "I'll see you..." He took a few steps to give himself momentum, then launched himself into the air and began to fly away.

Master Roshi sighed. "I guess I'm all on my own..." He watched Kururin's retreating figure until it disappeared over the horizon, then turned and went back into the house.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gohan walked down a path in the woods by the Masaki family's house, somewhere between the house itself and the shrine, his hands in his pockets. He really hadn't had a chance just to walk around and do nothing for a while, without the task of exploring, so this was a new experience for him.

I wonder... He reached out and touched the trunk of the nearest tree, and felt a sort of flicker inside of him. "Did I have places like this where I used to live?"

He had thought, perhaps, that asking himself this out loud would somehow awaken at least SOME memory of his former life... but nothing. He sighed, and withdrew his hand, brushing some of his spiky black hair out of his face.

Maybe I'll never remember.

As he continued to walk, staring at the ground beneath his feet, his mind continuously pulled everything he either didn't remember or had never had form somewhere deep in his consciousness.

A mother and father.

Brothers and sisters, maybe. Or was he an only child?

Pets, or other animals. His family might be one of those weird types -- maybe he had a snake or something.

A home.

He tried to visualize what his home might look like, but it kept turning up looking just like the Masaki house. He had no idea what his parents would look like... but his supposed siblings looked something like Tenchi and Sasami...

Gohan suddenly realized where he was, and looked up. The forest had thinned out here, to make room for an enormous tree, which was surrounded by a shallow pool of water. He had been here once before, he remembered... though, this time, he felt a strange sort of tug in his chest...

He smiled, and continued walking towards it, its name slipping from between his lips without really thinking about it.

"Funaho."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"... And the search for the rogue villain known as Cell continues. He's been lying low for a while, according to our sources, but there's no saying when he'll strike again..."

Mihoshi sighed heavily. "Isn't there ever ANYTHING else on?"

"I still say you should be more concerned about the welfare of this planet!" Kiyone exclaimed angrily. "We ARE on it right now, you know..."

"Oh, Kiyone..."

The front door opened, and Gohan stepped in, a far-off look on his face. "Hello... sorry I was gone so long..."

"Oh, Gohan!" Sasami exclaimed. She would have run over to greet him, had she not been putting the finishing touches on their dinner. "You're just in time; dinner is almost ready..."

"Good!" Ryoko yelled from the couch, where she was seated next to Kiyone. "I'm starving!"

"You ALWAYS are..." Ayeka muttered to herself. "At least I'm helping Sasami..."

"Now, Ayeka, don't think that way about Ryoko!" Sasami said sternly. "You two had a truce, remember?"

Ayeka sighed. "I know..."

Gohan walked over to where the others were sitting, and sat down between Kiyone and Mihoshi. "What's on TV?" He asked Kiyone.

Kiyone sighed. "What else? This 'Cell' guy... they still don't know where he is..."

Gohan turned his attention to the TV. The news announcer was droning on statistics on Cell, the "flop" attempt at defeating him (the "Cell Games"), and theories on where he was now. A rather grainy picture of the monster himself was in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Gohan's head began to throb, and his stomach jerked. He bit his lip, wondering if he was going to throw up, and slowly got to his feet. "Sasami?" He called, his voice wavering slightly, "I'm sorry, but I don't feel that great. I'll skip dinner... I'm going up to my room..." Before anyone could say anything, he ran across the room and disappeared up the staircase.

Mihoshi frowned. "Oh, my. I wonder what's the matter with him?"

Ryoko shrugged. "Maybe he ate something weird out in the forest..."

"Yeah, but he was fine when he came in here," Kiyone mused, and pulled her knees up to her chest. Gohan seems like a nice boy... but there's something odd about him...

She turned her head to look at the staircase where he had disappeared. I wonder...

*::dances around:: YES!!!! FEEL PROUD OF ME, PEOPLE!!! ^_^ I FINISHED THIS IN ONE SITTING!!! ^_^ Thanks to xT-Zealot again, for the 'Gohan-gets-a-headache' idea... I had planned something similar earlier, but this gave me a good idea of how to carry it out. ^_^ Well... I'll start the next chapter soon, though, as I said, I have several other things to do, as well. ::sighs:: Ah, the life of a fanfiction author...*