FERAL SCIENCE: CHAPTER THREE
By KitsuneGohan stared at Yari. Yari stared at Gohan. They remained like this for several minutes, until they heard footsteps
coming up the stairs.
"Gohan, honey!" Gohan froze. It was his mom.
"Quick! Hide! It's my mom!" Yari cocked an eyebrow at him.
"What? I no understand"
"Just...Hide! Somewhere! Anywhere! Here, get in the closet, before mom finds you!" With that, Gohan jerked Yari off
the bed and shoved her in the closet, slamming the door behind him. This turned out to be exceptionally good timing
on his part, because a second later Chi Chi came in. He leaned against the closet door in what he hoped was a casual manner.
"H-hi mom..."
"I just wanted to tell you that supper is in twenty minutes. You'd probably want to get to the table ahead of time
though. You know how your father eats."
"Y-yeah... Do I ever"
"By the way, were you talking to somebody earlier? I thought I heard voices."
"Uh...no you must have imagined it, mom" Chi Chi glared at him, with an expression on her face that plainly said I
certainly did not imagine anything and you had better tell me what's going on right this minute or you're in big trouble,
young man.
"Really? I was certain I heard something"
Gohan gulped. His eyes wildly darted around the room for inspiration. Finally his eyes fell on a book about the
mountains of Yunzabit highlands, which had a picture of a very distraught looking frog on the cover. (Don't ask.)
"Are you hiding something from me, Gohan?"
"What going on?! I want out, pervert boy! Dark in here!!" Gohan flinched and kicked the door as hard as he could
without breaking through it.
"Gohan, what was that?"
"Uh... It's an experiment I'm working on. Frogs...Um...Talking frogs. In the closet. I'm trying to teach them how to
speak. Their grammar just isn't very good yet."
"Really? Can I see?" Chi Chi began advancing towards the closet.
"N-NO! They'reverysensitivetolightthat'swhyIkeepthemlockedinthecloset."
Chi Chi cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Well, all right then. Just remember dinner is in twenty minutes." With that, she turned around and walked out of the
room, but not before giving him another look that said I'm not sure I believe you, but I'll find out what you're hiding
sooner or later.
Once Gohan was sure that his mother was out of hearing range, he opened the closet door again. Yari was
standing on one foot so as not to hurt her already sprained ankle, and was hanging onto his raincoat for balance. She
looked at him quizzically.
"Where frogs you talk about? I no see frogs"
A few minutes later, Gohan finished up bandaging Yari, who, even though she insisted she didn't need any help,
reluctantly sat on the bed and let Gohan apply Band-Aids and such on her. Neither of them spoke a word. Eventually
Gohan broke the silence by asking a question that had been bugging him for a while.
"Um... Why d'you ...Uh... That is... WhydoyouhaveantennaelikePiccolo?" Yari cocked an eyebrow at him, having
obviously not understood one word he said.
"Talk slower, pervert boy. I no understand one word you say." Gohan took a deep breath. He had a feeling that Yari
wouldn't exactly be at her calmest if she answered his question, judging by her reaction to him taking off her bandana.
"What I was trying to say was, well, why do you have...um,you know...those things on your forehead...the antenn-" He
trailed off when he saw the look Yari was giving him, which could've curdled milk.
"GOO-HAAAN!!!!! SUPPERTIIIME!!!!"
Gohan jumped. He glanced at the clock, and realized that twenty minutes had passed since his mom had called on
him. Yari was staring at the door, looking as if she was ready to attack anything that came in. Gohan was half out the
door when he turned around to talk to Yari.
"Listen Yari, I have to go downstairs for a little while. My mom would freak out if she found a girl in my room, so you
stay here and be quiet, okay? I'll be back soon, and I'll try to bring you back some stuff." Yari stared at him, looking puzzled.
"Freak...out? What tha-"
"GOO-HAAAN!!!! GET DOWN HERE!!! YOUR FATHER'S EATEN HALF THE DIM SUM ALREADY!!!!"
"Urk! Half the... dang, how does he do that?! Anyway, Yari, just stay in here, okay? I'll be back soon, promise."
"What going on? I no-" but it was too late. Gohan was already out the door and down the stairs. Yari stared after him
for a few minutes, and then looked down at her bandaged ankle. She twitched it a bit and grimaced. It didn't hurt as
much now, not since Gohan had put the bandage on it. What was with him anyway? She thought to herself. Why is he
being so nice and helping me like this? Then she remembered her father's advice from way back when she was little.
Don't trust anybody. They could be from there. THEY will stop at nothing to get back something they've lost. That
settled it. She could take care of herself. Besides, the pervert boy apparently lived with some monster called "the
mom" which supposedly could be very dangerous. Yari hauled herself up off the bed, yelped, and was forced to sit
back down again. Kuso. She'd forgotten about her ankle. Now if only she could reach her stick...Chi Chi stared at Gohan as he slowly ate his rice. Somehow he seemed distracted; he kept glancing out the door
towards the stairs, as if he was waiting for a monster to burst out of the wall or something. Goku was being his usual
hungry self, enthusiastically wolfing down two bowls of rice at once, but Gohan had barely
touched his food.
"Gohan, are you all right?" Gohan jerked his head up in surprise.
"Uh... Yeah mom I'm fine. Um... Do you know how long it takes for a sprained ankle to get better?"
"Oh I don't know Gohan, about a month or so. Why'd you ask?"
"It takes next to nothing if you've got a couple of senzu beans though!" Goku cheerfully added. Gohan thought about
this for a few seconds. *A whole month?! I can't hide Yari in my room for a MONTH!*
"Okay...Hey, would it be okay if I take the rest of my supper up to my room so I can...uhm...so I can keep studying?"
Goku almost choked on his rice and looked over at Gohan in surprise. Chi Chi glanced at Goku, who immediately
stopped looking shocked and tried his best to look casual. Chi Chi smiled. So that was why Gohan had been so
edgy, he wanted to get back to his studies! How nice, maybe he was finally losing interest in that awful fighting...
"Mom? Can I?" Chi Chi had become so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realized Gohan was still waiting for an
answer.
"Oh, sure Gohan, just be sure not to get any soy sauce on the books"
"Thanks mom!" Gohan stood up, bowl in one hand, chopsticks in the other, and walked out the door. As he went, he
snagged a bun from the plate in the middle of the table. Goku stared after him in disbelief as his only son went back
to his room to...study?!By the time Gohan got to his room, Yari had managed to limp over to the dresser, get her stick back, and hobble back to the bed. She glanced up at him as he opened the door.
"Uh...Hi. I'm back. And I brought food!" Yari's ears seemed to prick up at the mention of something to eat. Gohan sat
down on the bed and handed her the bowl of rice, while he ate the bun himself. He wasn't very hungry, as he'd been
snacking on berries on his way to Piccolo's. When he was halfway through the bun, he glanced up at Yari, who hadn't eaten a bite of her rice.
"What's wrong?" he asked. She glanced over at him, looking slightly sheepish. She hesitated, and then held up the
chopsticks. "What these sticks for?" Gohan grinned. He reached over, took the chopsticks from her, and showed her
the proper way to hold them.
"You eat with them, like this, see?" Gohan demonstrated by eating a bit of rice from her bowl. Yari narrowed her eyes
at him and took back the chopsticks.
"I think I get idea, pervert boy. You no eat more of my food." With that she began, however clumsily, snarfing down
her rice. There was a few moments silence before Gohan said something.
"Um Why do you have those antennae? You never really answer--" Yari narrowed her eyes at him again, and before
he could make a move, had grabbed his collar with one hand, making a fist with the other.
"No ask, pervert boy!" Gohan stared at the hand holding his collar.
"Why do you only have four fingers*?" Yari made a small eeping noise and let go of Gohan instantly. There was
another awkward silence. Yari finally looked away and said something under her breath. Gohan cocked an eyebrow.
"Pardon?" Yari looked at him again and repeated herself, but a bit louder. Unfortunately, Gohan still couldn't hear her
properly.
"Pardon? I can't really hear you" Yari sighed, as if frustrated.
"I said I sorry." Gohan blinked. After a few more minutes of silence, Yari went back to eating her rice while Gohan ate
the rest of his bun and thought to himself. *How am I going to hide Yari from Mom? She can't go anywhere 'til her
ankle heals... I wish there were some way to speed up the healing process or something...* As he worried about this, he remembered what his dad had said at supper. *It takes next to nothing if you've got a couple of senzu beans though!* Gohan suddenly grinned. That was it! All he had to do was get Yari to eat a senzu bean! Then she'd b-
"GO-HAAAN!!! BEDTIIIME!!!!" He jumped, just like he always did when his mom yelled at him unexpectedly. Bedtime already? Jeez, time sure flew...
"OKAY MOM!!!!" Yari looked up from her rice long enough to give him a questioning look, because she obviously had
no idea what was going on.
"I have to go to bed soon. You know, to sleep?" Yari rolled her eyes, as if to say of course I know that, I'm not stupid.
Gohan sighed. "Turn around."
"Turn around? Why?"
"Because I have to change into my pajamas..." Gohan was blushing bright red with embarrassment now. He wasn't
at all used to changing into his pajamas in front of girls. Yari had the barest hint of an evil grin on her face, and her
eyes were sparkling with amusement. She had obviously recognized the reason he was blushing so much. This ended up making poor Gohan blush even more. Eventually he decided to take the easy way out and change in the bathroom. On the way out of the bathroom (in his pajamas ^_^), Gohan stopped at the door to his dad's room and knocked. Goku opened the door in his polka dot pajamas and bunny slippers.
"Um... Dad?"
"Yeah, Gohan?"
"I was sorta wondering if if you had any extra..." Gohan's sentence trailed off into nothingness. He wasn't sure of the
answer he would get.
"Any extra...?" Goku said, gesturing with his hand for Gohan to finish.
"Senzu beans?" Gohan said, grinning sheepishly.
"Come to think of it, I think I might have a few extra ones lying around somewhere. You know, just if another big fight
comes along. Why'dja ask? You don't look like you need one."
"It's for a friend. Sorta."Yari stared out Gohan's window. There was a tree right outside, the wind was making its branches scrape against
the pane. If she could just get onto that first branch, then she could reach those bigger branches up top... All of a
sudden, Yari's ear twitched. She whirled around as the door opened, grabbing her stick as she went. If it were
Gohan's "mom", she would probably need to be able to defend herself. Gohan stood in the doorway looking very
uneasy about the stick Yari was pointing at him. Yari sighed in relief and sheathed her stick. It was just him again.
"Here Yari, eat this." Gohan closed the door behind him and held out half a senzu bean. Yari gingerly took it from him,
and then looked at him skeptically.
"Bean? Why you want me eat bean?"
"It'll make your ankle better. Hurry up and eat it, before my mom comes in here to tuck me in"
Yari shrugged and tossed the bean in the air, catching it in her mouth. As she swallowed, her eyes widened. She
grinned happily at Gohan, her fangs glinting in the lamplight.
"That one heck of a bean, Go-haan.." Gohan grinned back at her, relieved and happy. Then he spun around, looking
at the door with an expression of dread on his face. He could hear his mother's footsteps coming up the stairs. Then
his eyes widened as he realized something.
"Oh noooo...."
"What wrong?"
"I just realized you can't leave through my door! My mom will be here any second, and she'll see you if you go
through-" Yari grinned again.
"It okay, Go-haan. I know way out of room." With that, Yari turned towards his window.
"Go-haan, open window." Gohan looked at her, puzzled, but did as he was told. Yari stared out into the night,
grinning. She put one foot up on the windowsill.
"Huh?! W-what're you... What're you gonna..."
"Bye Go-haan." With that, Yari jumped out the window, just as Chi Chi came in the room. Gohan hurriedly leaped into
his bed, pulling up his covers as he went.
"Good night Gohan-chan. Sweet dreams." Chi Chi said as she kissed him on the forehead.
"G'night kaa-san..."
As his mother left the room and turned the lights out, Gohan stared out the window into the darkness. He couldn't see
anything, much less Yari.
All of a sudden, a thought crossed his mind. *I wonder if Yari knows how to get those band aids off ..*