(Early Morning)
With the sun breaking through the condensation on the window and adding a comforting glow to the inside of the mountain home, the day at the Son residence was off to a fine start. Chi-Chi in particular was having a blast standing by her favorite spot at the kitchen desk, picking away at the stove and getting her children's breakfast ready. A gentle tune filled the air as she hummed to herself, showing the world how deeply she was engrossed in her task. With the steam wafting up from her frying pan as she finished off the last of the morsels to be added to her oldest son's lunch box, the mother made sure that he was all set for a long day ahead.
What with his studying, his training, and his extracurricular activities, the teen was currently undergoing what most would refer to as the busiest period of his young life. Knowing how much work the boy had on his plate, Chi-Chi knew she had to make a little bit extra for him so that he had enough food to sustain him throughout his bloated schedule.
The woman reasoned to herself that this was just going to be another ordinary day as she fixed up her son's carrier and added the finishing touches to the enormous Saiyan breakfast before her. But just as the mother was moving plates and dishes over to the center table, she then heard the shuffling of footsteps in front of her and looked to see who of the other residents of their home had woken up first. It came as a bit of a surprise when she saw Gohan, dressed in his school uniform, staring back at her.
Ordinarily she would have greeted him with a smile and a hug. But on this occasion, the parent appeared taken aback when she panned up the teen's form and got a good look at his face. "Gohan?"
"Morning, mum," the spiky haired teen yawned, at the same time slugging his way towards the table. Catching a whiff of egg in the air, the demi-Saiyan licked his lips. "Mmm. That smells good."
Disregarding his comment, Chi-Chi stepped towards him and extended her hand, "Never mind the food. Look at your face." Despite his hair looking even more messed up than usual, the woman couldn't help but notice the pale coloration in his cheeks as well as the fact that he had bags under his eyes. These were all the signs of insomnia, something that the mother would not dismiss lightly. "Did you sleep at all last night? What happened?"
"Oh, I just… well… I had a bad dream, is all. It's nothing for you to get worked up about," the boy replied, yawning as he pulled up a seat and, setting his school bag aside, shuffled into his spot. A smile remained plastered on him, even as his mother went about straightening his collar and hair. "Really, mum. I'm fine. You don't need to worry."
Pulling away when the boy fended her off with a couple waves of his hand, the mother placed a hand over her chest as she stared at her son uncertainly, "A-Are you sure?"
"Yes. I am," the demi-Saiyan replied, at the same time giving her the characteristic Son grin. "Can I eat now?"
Breathing a heavy sigh, the raven haired woman in the apron nodded and allowed the boy to begin his feast. Pulling up a plate, as well as a knife and fork, Gohan slowly got to work devouring the eggs and rice that'd been placed in front of him. His mother had even gone out of her way to make Eggs Benedict, which filled his nostrils with a scent that had his stomach hungering for more. But unlike what he did with other meals following vigorous training sessions, he was determined to savor every bite of this one.
While he was in the process of eating and his mother was just dealing out the last of the dishes, the pair were soon joined by Goten sprinting into the room and a still half-asleep Zangya shortly afterwards. Dressed in a purple, over-sized shirt and panties, the woman with orange hair yawned as she pulled up a chair alongside her sparring partner and watched Goten, who'd decided to sit across from her, gaze down at the meal in front of him with stars in his eyes.
"Food! Food!" the boy sang, before looking at Chi-Chi with a wide grin. "Thanks a lot, mum! You're the greatest!"
"You're most welcome, sweet heart," the raven haired woman gleefully replied, just in time to watch her youngest dive into his meal with great speed and vigor.
Ignoring the bits of food flying everywhere, Zangya slowly turned to the older male sitting at the table and, seeing him eating his own food at a languid pace, beamed in his direction.
"Morning, spike."
"Morning, Zangya," the boy greeted with a cheerful nod.
It was then the Hera noticed the look on his face and recoiled somewhat, "Geez, what the hell happened to you? Did you get any sleep last night?"
"Not really," the demi-Saiyan replied with a sheepish grin, "I wasn't able to get one in this time. But I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get to sleep after a good, long training session tonight."
Staring at him inquisitively for a moment, the blue-skinned woman then shrugged and cracked a smile. "Okay then. I think I'll be able to manage one of those after today's photo shoot." She then picked up a fork and poked it in his direction. "You'd better watch out though, because I will not be taking it easy on you. I'm going to grind you so hard that you'll be seeing triple by the time you pass out."
"Uhh… phrasing," Gohan immediately replied, clearing his throat before a wide, cocky grin crossed his lips, "And yes, I'll be looking forward to it."
As the pair smirked at one another, Goten, stopping for a moment when he heard the word training, looked up from his scrambled eggs to gaze curiously at his older brother. "Can… I do some training with you as well, Gohan?"
The hero of earth beamed at the child and, reaching forward, ruffled his head playfully. "Of course you can, squirt. What kind of a sibling would I be if I didn't let my younger brother join in?" His exclamation drew a brilliant smile from the boy, who nodded his head enthusiastically before quickly moving back into his meal.
"Okay, you three. That's enough talking," Chi-Chi spoke up, interrupting the group from their banter as she brought up her own fork to begin digging into her serving. When she saw them all look at her, the mother chuckled, "You'd better eat up before your food gets cold. And Gohan…"
"Yeah, yeah. I know. School," the teen replied, at the same time returning his gaze to his dish. "Don't worry, mum. I won't be late."
And so, with any and all discussions quelled for the time being, the entire family adjourned to their morning tea. The home was quickly filled with the sounds of utensils scraping against plates as the four residents did away with the mother's bounty at their own pace. The first one to finish up was Gohan, who thanked Chi-Chi for a wonderful breakfast and proceeded to put the plates into the dishwasher. Once the machine was loaded with everything it could carry, he started it up, took his lunch, said good bye to his family, and then headed off for Satan City. All the while the teen wore a bright smile on his tired face, the latter of which he was hoping to fix up with a quick shot of coffee when he eventually got into town.
Kai knew he needed one right now more than anything…
OOO
(Later that Day)
(Second lesson)
Not many things happened at the start of school period. Being the first of their group in class, Videl and Erasa were able to share a pleasant conversation with one another over last night's literature homework until they were broken out of it by the timely arrival of their half-Saiyan crush. They initially questioned his exhausted appearance and the fact that he had a take-away cappuccino in his hand, but when he explained to them the situation and that it was all because of a bad dream, the pair let it slide and went back to talking about their upcoming assignments. As first period approached, the trio was soon joined by Sharpener and Touya, both of whom came into class bickering about the members of their favorite sports team. Any and all fist fights were promptly quelled by the arrival of their teacher, who then proceeded on with their lesson.
Things were relatively smooth sailing from that point onwards, with the only interruptions being a couple of kids having the nerve to talk in class and being called out by the lecturer. Justice was swiftly dealt by the class coordinator, allowing the rest of their peers to return to their activities and assignments. Eventually, the first couple of lessons came and went, and Videl's group was able to retire for quick spot of recess. Out on the quad, the group gathered together to share their snacks and swap stories, the main one being Gohan's many problems with learning how to use Instantaneous Movement. This story baffled Sharpener, because the guy had no idea what the hell the group was talking about. However, he soon reasoned that this may have had something to do with a television show the half-Saiyan was a big fan of, and passed it off as 'geek stuff'.
After recess was over, the group returned to their homeroom for math, a field that they all knew Gohan would fly through and would end up sleeping at his desk in the first ten minutes. The session was off to a great start too, but by the fifteen minute mark, Erasa, Sharpener and the others noticed something off about the way their demi-Saiyan friend was acting. He was sitting in his seat in between Videl and Erasa and was doing his work, for sure. But he didn't seem like he was acting like his usual self.
As he sat there glaring down at his paper, Gohan couldn't shake this double-vision he was getting and attempted to correct it with a few shakes of his head. Not only was he having trouble reading the questions or his own writing, but he was also dripping with sweat, the air was stifling, he was having trouble breathing, and for some strange reason he could not fathom, he was also getting some serious pings in his chest.
All of these strange sensations had started at the end of recess. At first he chalked it up to a mild case of indigestion. But as the minutes passed and the teacher's lesson went on, the pain in his chest gradually became worse, and the heat in the classroom began to rise at an alarming rate. What's more, his hands had started to become clammy and his vision had began to blur considerably, leaving him to wonder whether this also had something to do with the nightmare he had last night.
Unfortunately, any and all coherent thoughts that he had were soon swept away and replaced by delusions and nausea, and as he attempted to get his work done, the teen felt the pain in his chest get even worse.
Unable to ignore the ragged panting and fluctuating energy signature next to her any longer, Videl looked across at her boyfriend and, seeing sweat collecting in the collar of his shirt and dripping down his face, the girl instantly became concerned. "Gohan. Kai… are you alright?" Setting her pen aside, the girl quickly shuffled over and placed a hand on his shoulder. She then balked when she felt how damp it was.
Hearing her, the demi-Saiyan looked across at his girlfriend through a pained, half-lidded expression, and shook his head. "N-No… I… I don't know… what's wrong…" His speech was slurred and he was having trouble forming clear words due to the intense pain in his chest. When he felt another sharp ping, he cringed and, reaching up, grabbed his pectoral in pain.
Erasa, also seeing something was wrong, placed a hand over his chest and then reached up to lay once over his forehead. She was then alarmed when she felt the equivalent of an oven radiating against her palm. "Oh my Kami, you're burning up," the blonde whispered, looking across to see the equally concerned look on Videl's face staring back at her. When she saw Sharpener and Touya look up from their work, the girl stared back at her crush worriedly. "We need to get you to the nurse's office."
By the time Videl raised her hand, a lot of other students sitting around the group had become aware of the commotion going on in the middle row, and began looking in to see what the heck was going on.
Mia, who was currently down in the front row, glanced up when she heard the odd noises going on in the stands. "Videl? Is everything okay? What's wrong with Mr. Son?"
"He's feeling really ill, Ms. Hirasawa. We think it's some kind of fever. Can we take him down to the office?"
Sensing the seriousness in the girl's voice, the brown haired teacher in the sundress nodded and proceeded to watch the city's poster girl and her friend help the boy out of his seat. "Of course. Please…" She and the rest of the room then looked on as Videl and Erasa passed the class genius over to Sharpener, who then helped his mate out of the isle.
Feeling how off temp the demi-Saiyan was even from just holding his arm over his shoulder, the blonde haired jock gritted his teeth as he attempted to keep the teen upright. "Whoa. Easy there, dude. Stay with me."
"You're going to be alright, Gohan," Videl whispered in encouragement, her voice wavering fearfully as her eyes reflected concern for her boyfriend's wellbeing. "We're going to get you some help."
Slumped over the pair's shoulders, the demi-Saiyan attempted to keep his body upright, using all of the strength he could muster. However, the instant he left the row with his right arm over Sharpener's shoulder and his left over Videl's, an even greater pain suddenly hit the teen, prompting him to grab his chest tightly. This in turn caused his girlfriend to lose her hold of him and the young warrior to lose balance. In the blink of an eye, the class watched in alarm and shock as Gohan went tumbling down the stairs, before winding up at the bottom and curling into a ball.
He then screamed in agony, leading the class to believe that he'd hurt something bad, which frightened and startled them considerably. However, this was not the case.
Horrified, Videl instantly sprang down the steps and wound up on her knees next to the boyfriend. She then attempted to turn him onto his back, but the teen fought and, gritting his teeth painfully, tried to get to his feet under his own power. It was only after several seconds of looking upon the boy and hearing him cry out in agony that the teacher and the class saw that he was gripping his chest with one hand, and had a look on his face that showed he was in absolute pain.
"Gohan! Gohan! Are you okay!" the terrified Videl cried out, moments before she was joined by Erasa and Sharpener, the former of whom placed a hand over her mouth fearfully when she saw the amount of agony the teen was in.
With the rest of the class rising to its feet, the homeroom teacher quickly rushed forward and waved away the other students that'd come down to surround the crippled Saiyan. "Get back! Give him some air!" She then knelt down next to Videl and placed a hand on the boy's back. "Gohan! Can you hear me? Are you alright?!"
In response, the teen shook his head. "No! It… It burns! It burns!" He added to this by gripping the area over his chest even tighter. "It… It's my chest…"
No one knew what to do. All the class could do was clamor and look on in terror as the teen screamed out in pain and curl up on the spot, all the while he was on his hands and knees. Several moments later, they suddenly saw a golden aura explode around him and blast upwards like a flame, alarming those standing closest to him. His hair also flashed blonde for several brief seconds, before flickering back to normal a few times, indicating a subconscious transformation to Super Saiyan.
Moments later, the aura vanished, and Gohan collapsed to his side, still gripping his chest and panting heavily, gasping for air.
Placing a hand to his forehead and checking his pulse, the homeroom teacher Mia noticed how erratic and irregular it was, before then looking up at Videl and her friends in panic. "How long has he been like this?"
The raven haired girl, looking alarmed, shook her head. "Don't know. Ten… fifteen minutes now?"
"Symptoms? What are his symptoms?"
Erasa, removing her hand from her mouth, spoke up in a stammer, "Uhh… high temperature, high pulse, sweats, fatigue, fever, chest pains…" The last one was the most obvious.
"Did he show any signs of being ill earlier or say he was feeling off?"
"Well… he did say he didn't have a good sleep last night and came in looking like death."
"Nightmares?"
Thinking on it for a moment and looking at Erasa for a few seconds, Videl then looked back in alarm and spoke up, "He did mention having a nightmare that kept him awake."
This news filled the woman with a sense of dread and, still keeping a hand on Gohan's shoulder, looked down at the teenager with an anxious expression on her face. "I think I know what he has." When the teacher looked up at the girls kneeling in front of her and the rest of the students surrounding them, Mia frowned. "My friend's father experienced the exact same symptoms six years ago… before he died a few days later." When she saw the expressions on Videl, Erasa and the rest of their friends become more horrified, the teacher gave her final diagnosis.
"It's the heart virus."
OOO
(Later that afternoon)
Over in Talos Industry's company building in Satan City, in one of the large towers in the center of the metropolis, the boss of the company was currently having another meditative session up in his office. Standing behind his desk with his back to his chair and head held high, Kaiser could be seen gazing across the city and enjoying the sights of the people down below going about their daily business, and watching the clouds drift by overhead. Given that he didn't have much work to go on with or had completed all of the cases that he needed to finish for the day, this left him plenty of time to carry on with his own personal business.
But while he was in the midst of his brainstorming session, he suddenly heard the door to the office open up and heard the high heels of his secretary approaching him across the carpeted floor. When said footsteps stopped in front of his desk, the man with the mustache and beard craned his head to the side and spoke. "What's the scoop?"
Expression remaining unchanged as she held her notepad underneath her arm, Violet cleared her throat and answered in a clear and firm voice, "Our scanners intercepted an emergency call for an ambulance from Orange Star High School. They say that young Son Gohan has come down with an incredibly severe case of heart pains and is going into cardiac arrest. It's safe to say that your plan to inject him with the weaponized heart virus has been a success."
"And… what's his current status?"
"Incapacitated. They say that Ms. Videl Satan has taken the boy to West City to receive medical treatment at Capsule Corp. My guess is that Bulma Briefs is going to administer the cure for the virus that she has stored in her medical labs."
At first remaining silent at this report, leaving his secretary in an uncomfortable silence and believing that her boss was irritated, Violet then saw the man smirk in the reflection of the window before looking over his shoulder. When his eyes landed upon her, the woman stiffened, and the head of the company spoke. "Good. Now that his body has succumbed to the debilitating effects of the virus, not only is our young half-Saiyan adversary going to be left incredibly defenseless, but weakened and vulnerable to attack. No doubt his friends are going to be standing guard over his bedside to try and prevent any further issues from arising. Due to the fact his father suffered from the exact same illness seven years ago, they will simply believe this to be a hereditary infection and won't think twice about an alternative source." The mogul then turned to smirk across at his assistant. "Inform our asset in West City, Agent Hasky, to infiltrate Capsule Corp within forty eight hours. I want her to locate Son Gohan…"
"…and kill him."
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