Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Panic Disorder ❯ One ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Above a barren landscape, the blazing sun high overhead, bright flashes of light, randomly placed, blossomed and dissipated.

The lights stopped and two men appeared, sweating profusely.

“Cool. That was great, Bejita. Gee, I'm beat!” “Hn. That was satisfactory,” Bejita growled. “Same time tomorrow?” “Of course. Why? Has something changed?” “Ah, no, no, just, you know, checking! Ahaha!” Goku looked slightly embarrassed. “Fool.”

Goku watched Bejita fly off with a wistful gleam in his eye. It had been two years since his second return from the Otherworld, and he still didn't feel fully settled in. Worse, he didn't know why. He had his family, his friends, sparring partners, food and fishing – all the necessities of life – but it still felt like there was something missing. It was irritating, and it itched the inside of his skull, making him behave out of character – aggressive, violent. He had hoped that with time and thought that things would resolve themselves, but so far that had only served to make them worse.

The next afternoon – back sparring with Bejita. Within a couple of hours, Bejita had already tried his patience with several underhanded moves, and he retaliated with brute force. He ascended to SSJ3 and slammed the other saiyajin back into the ground; straddling his thighs, he crushed Bejita's throat with both hands. Though still glaring death back at his opponent, Bejita's eyes darkened with fear as his pupils dilated. Goku watched the physical change without recognition, but even through a haze of aggravated madness, he could not ignore his own emotional response to how Bejita was feeling. Goku let go with haste and stood, brushing himself down self-consciously.

Bejita scowled.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Kakarot?” he demanded, rubbing his throat. It was as close as he would come to admitting that he had feared for his life, however briefly. “I, um ... hehe,” Goku trailed off lamely. “You're always telling me not to hold back,” he pointed out. Bejita sneered. “You have no control,” he growled disdainfully. Goku wasn't exactly sure why, but he felt bad about that. “Ah, sorry?” he ventured. “Hn.” Bejita's expression was unreadable, but Goku knew that he was mildly appeased. “Um ....” Goku cast about for a distraction. “Swim?” he ventured. Bejita considered. “Alright.”

Bejita sat beneath the waterfall watching Goku cavorting about in the water. He had the oddest feeling that there was something wrong with the other man that he could not place – and the feeling had nothing to do with that afternoon's incident, nor anything else that had actually happened. It lead him to wonder whether he was having an attack of empathy, similar to what Goku himself suffered from. He tried without success to push the uncomfortable feeling away.

Goku kept half an eye on Bejita. His friend exuded a distracted and melancholy air, and he couldn't help but feel that it was his doing. He felt a sudden pang through his gut, and briefly thought about food, but discovered that he wasn't hungry. He wondered what else it could be, but without result.

He put the thoughts out of his mind as he ducked down into the deep pool surrounding the waterfall.