Son Goten; A Father!? Chapter 11



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Kayu smiled. This boy looked so helpless.. if she didn’t smile, she was sure she would start crying again. She didn’t think that would help the situation. Her father had gone to the police station to find out more about this boy. He was expected to meet them any time now. “How old are you, Xell? 16?”

Xell smiled, and tried to nod his head. Another spasm of pain rippled across his face. Kayu gasped, stepping closer. When he opened his eyes again, they were fighting back tears. He smiled, and twitched his shoulders as if to shrug.

“Toben sweetie,” Kayu put Toben on the floor. “Go find Kaasan and tell her where I am, okay?”

“Okay ‘yuko,” Toben ambled out of the hospital room, and searched for his mother.

Seeing the shocked look on Xell’s face, Kayu decided to explain quickly. “Don’t worry about him, our mother isn’t far. And even if someone tried to kidnap him, he’d start screaming like a banshee. Saiyajins have remarkably loud voices.”
Another questioning look. “Oh! Oops.” Kayu shifted sideways, so Xell could see her tail. His eyebrows shot up. “Saiyajins are… aliens I guess. I’m not a real Saiyajin though. I’m a quarter Saiyajin. My mom is human, my dad’s half-Saiyajin. Saiyajins have tails, great stamina, strength, and so on and so forth.” Seeing that he wasn’t totally following her, she just smiled again. “I’ll explain it better when you’re more healed.”

“Yuko…” Toben came back into the hospital room, but Paresu was nowhere to be seen. “Kaasan said that I could come back here.”

“You lie, Ben-chan.”

“Nuh-uh! She said I could!” Toben huffed.

“You and I both know that Kaasan would never let you go off alone. I was expecting her to come here and yell at me.”

Toben pouted. “Fine. I don’t wanna go by myself.”

Kayuko sighed, glancing back at Xell. He however, looked quite amused at the siblings. He’d never had brothers or sisters of his own, considering… No. He wouldn’t think about his parents. For now he was somewhat happy with these new acquaintances, and thoughts of them were not going to ruin that.

The nurse chose this exact moment to walk in. “Oh, you’re still here. Your mother is looking for you.”

Kayu frowned. “Thank you.” She turned to Xell, smiling apologetically. “Hey, Xell, we’ll be back later all right? I think you should get used to having me here, I’ll be dropping by often” She grinned.

Xell smiled. He would enjoy that.

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Three months had passed, and Xell was coming along great. His broken bones and fractures were healed, and coming along nicely. Kayu had visited him every single day, immediately after school. This restricted her time with Sets and Oreo, but they said they understood. After the first three weeks, Xell’s throat had fully healed. He and Kayu would talk for about an hour, until she had to go.

When Xell started noticing Kayu with bruises and scrapes on her arms and face, he was concerned. Kayuko tried to explain about Vejita, but it just seemed to upset him. So, whenever she went to visit him, she tried to conceal them as much as possible. The ones on her face she couldn’t do anything about, but she wore baggy sweaters to cover her arms.

After six weeks, Xell stopped making a big deal out of the bruises, so Kayu didn’t worry about them as much.

And now, after three months, Xell was ready to leave the hospital. The only problem was…

(one month earlier)
Goten walked into the hospital room to see Xell sitting in his bed, looking bored. His face brightened as soon as he saw Goten. Xell had thought of him as his second father, and would prefer it if he were his father. Every day he half-hoped that no news would come of his parents. He didn’t want to return to that life…

Goten’s face was grim. “Xell… I’ve found your parents.”
Xell’s face was a conflict of emotions. He was trying not to show the sadness in his face, and trying to look normal so as not to come off as ungrateful. He also didn’t want to be thought of as cold, even if he’d rather his parents died…

Goten blinked as Xell’s face changed to unhappy and back to stable again but never happy. No smiles… Did he know? “Xell… I’m sorry. Your parents are… dead.”

Xell blinked. He’d found his parents, but they weren’t alive? Again with the conflicting emotions… He cleared his throat and looked down to hide his face. “Oh. …Thank you, Goten-san.”

I’m sorry Xell, Goten thought. “Kayu should be by in a few hours. I can tell her not to come today, if you want…”
Xell’s head shot up. “No! No, please don’t. She’s….” He blushed slightly. “She’s like my little sister. I love it when she comes and complains about school. Please don’t tell her not to visit me, Goten-san.”
Goten smiled and nodded. “I’ll see you later then. Unless you want me to stay with you?”

“No thanks, Goten-san. Don’t you have to work today?”

“Hai. Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Don’t worry, Goten-san. I’ve been ready to face this for awhile now.”

“You’re a strong boy, Xell. Good bye.”

“Bye.”

Where could he go now? Kayuko had suggested going to live with them, but he hadn’t replied. How could he possibly ask to do that? They’d saved his life, visited him often. Kayu had even insulted a stand-in nurse that wasn’t treating him gently enough. Xell had laughed, and for once there was no pain. They were his family.

No. No, they weren’t his family. He had to stop thinking like that. It would only hurt him if they declined – which they would…

It was four o’clock. As if on cue, Kayu, Goten, Paresu, and Toben walked into his hospital room. He wouldn’t be in here for long…

“I asked them, Xell-kun.” Kayu said, smiling.
“Asked them what?” Xell blinked, wondering who and what she was talking about.
“If you can come live with us. Be part of our family.”

Xell’s stomach plummeted. His heart was in his throat, and his stomach trying to escape another way. He glanced around nervously.

“Xell..” Paresu started, holding Toben in her arms. “Would you like to come live with us?”
Xell’s eyes swelled with tears. He had been ready for rejection… not this! He nodded, blinking back his tears. Kayu glomped him, knocking the wind out of him.

“I’m gonna have a big brother!” Kayu squealed.

Goten looked nervous. “Kayu, don’t be too rough! We want him in one piece, remember?”

Kayu laughed, still hugging Xell. He maneuvered so he could hug her back, and Toben started gurgling.
“Toben,” Kayu glanced up at her little brother. “Don’t act like a baby in front of your new brother!”

Toben hopped out of his mother’s arms and onto the bed, staring up at Xell. Xell stared back. Toben grinned and nodded, “Okay. You passed the test.”

“Test?”

“See if you were worthy,” Toben giggled. “You passed, though.” He giggled again.
Xell smiled. He looked to Goten and Paresu, and played new names through his head. Tousan… Kaasan... Yeah, I like that. Goten’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh! I can’t believe I forgot. Xell, you have your very own room and we bought you some clothes. If you don’t like them,” He smiled. “We can return them. I wasn’t really sure on your size, so I bought them in my own size. I really hope they fit.”

“Th…thank you! I can’t believe this… wow. Thank you so much, Tousan. Kaasan…” Xell stood up and hugged them both. When he let go, he turned to Kayu. He blinked at the shocked look on her face. “What?”

“You’re like 6 feet tall!”

Xell fidgeted, only now remembering that they’d never seen him stand. He glanced around, noticing his height in comparison. He was the same height as Paresu, and only a fraction shorter than Goten. Compared to Kayu however, there was almost a foot between them.

He laughed. “You’re just short, that’s all.”

Paresu smiled. “It’s a good thing we bought those clothes in Goten’s size after all.”

Xell smiled, nodding.

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