"Morning Kayos!" Goku chirped as he jogged back into the little campsite we'd made the night before. He grabbed a bucket of water and dunked his head inside before I could answer, leaving it there for… a bit longer than was probably safe… before finally yanking his head out and letting out a relieved sigh. "Ah, that felt good! I worked up a bit of a sweat with my morning training. You working out too?"
I nodded, doing a few more bench presses with the small log left over from our campfire the morning before. "Yeah, I either like to get a work out in early in the morning or late in the evening." Isco moved to take the log away and I got to my feet, looking my arms over. While I would never be as muscular as Goku was that didn't mean I had to settle for being a pile of flab and thus gone right back to my normal routine of a thirty minute power walk and alternating days of strength training. In this world I was in decent enough shape but hanging around the likes of Goku and Piccolo meant that I was going to need to work even harder to stay fit… if only so I could run away from danger.
After all, you didn't need to be the fastest… just not the slowest.
"Good start!" Goku said, walking over and looking me over. "But maybe you should get some workout clothes? I don't think those jeans can be all that comfortable to fight in."
"Goku, if I am fighting someone then we are already screwed because it means you and all your friends are dead."
"Aw, come on, don't be like that!" he said with a laugh, slapping me hard on the back… and using enough force to make my teeth rattle. "Its like I told Master Roshi… I bet if you put in the work you could get really strong."
"And like I said we all know our strengths and weaknesses," I told him with a smile. "You are a genius at fighting. I am a genius at scheming."
"Well I am a genius in knowing when we should get up and moving," Chichi said as she came around from the other side of the tent, stirring a pot. She'd decided to put on her old workout clothes, mumbling a bit the day before about how tight they fit which might have explained why she had gone on a run with Goku after supper. It would allow her better range of movement which I had a feeling was going to be rather important. "Come on now, I made porridge-"
Goku was instantly gone from my side and Chichi blinked as she realized the pot she'd been stirring was no longer in her hands.
"GOKU!" she roared as her husband wolfed down the contents. "That was for everyone!"
"It was?" Goku asked, mouth full. "But there is hardly anything in here!"
"With you there is never enough food!" Chichi scolded before turning to me. "Sorry Kayos-"
"its fine," I assured her. "I still have some of the capsules Bulma gave me… there is cereal in there so I'll just have that."
"You have Bulma's capsules?" Goku asked, excited. "Filled with food?"
"yes Goku and Isco has been instructed to destroy them if you try and snag them!" I snapped, knowing that the food-crazy idiot would eat everything and then ask why there wasn't more.
Sure enough the Saiyan began to laugh bashfully at that. "Aw, come on Kayos, I'm not that bad!"
"yes you are," Chichi, Isco, and I said at the same time.
Goku looked at us before returning to eating the porridge.
Chichi shared a look with me before moving to the tent and calling for Gohan, the little boy yawning as he emerged. He was dressed in training paints and a tank top, rubbing his eyes and blinking the sleep away as Chichi fussed a bit with his hair. His tail twitched back and forth, which Chichi noticed, causing her to raise an eyebrow.
"Gohan… I thought we talked about this."
"Aw, but mom…" he whined.
"No, Gohan," she said and he shot me a disgruntled look. Honestly I'd forgotten how bratty Gohan could be before Piccolo had gotten ahold of him. "And don't blame Kayos. He brought up a good point and I agree with him. So does your father."
It had happened during our supper, when I'd become worried about the chances of a full moon. It was something I needed to let Chichi know about; I understood not telling Goku, so he didn't realize he'd killed Grandpa Gohan during his rampage. But Chichi needed to know so she could make sure Gohan never harmed anyone or himself by accident. Isco had assured me that the full moon wasn't for a while but Goku had overheard me and wanted to know what was up. When questioned about why I was staring at Gohan's tail I had been forced to quickly come up with a lie. I'd mentioned that Raditz had been smart to wrap his tail around his waist, as Bulma had mentioned that Goku's tail had been rather sensitive. Chichi had stated the same was true with Gohan and clearly thinking about the horrors that would come if he caught it in a door or something, had declared that Gohan needed to begin wrapping it around his waist himself.
The little boy was NOT pleased.
"She's right, son," Goku told him as he stuck his finger into the pot, running it along the side before giving it a lick. "That tail can do a lot of great things but in a fight it is a weakness. You need to be careful with it."
"Okay," Gohan said with a sigh, carefully wrapping it around his waist like a belt.
Chichi shot her husband a dark look. "NOT that Gohan will be getting into any fights, right Goku?"
"Heheh, of course not!" Goku declared quickly. "Though he still should know how to protect himself."
"Hmmmpf," Chichi murmured simply, looking over her son one more time before moving to make more breakfast.
As the Son family ate I walked over to Isco and tapped him on the shell. "Wakey wakey."
"Oh… I was having such a lovely dream," Isco stated as he powered up. "All you annoying humans were gone and I didn't have to deal with your goo-spewing orifices."
"I'd complain but I must admit that is something that sounds rather nice not to have to deal with."
"Doesn't it?" Isco said happily. "Now then, what can I do for you?"
"Just curious how close we are to the Dragon Ball," I asked.
"Roughly about an hour or so away," Isco stated. "Though I should warn you that the forest we have now entered does not have the greatest of reputations."
"Of course it doesn't," I muttered.