A Day at the Mall

Goku's Morning

He had been getting up before first light for a long time but never tired of watching the sun rise. Seeing a wash of orange light sweep across the land and give everything it touched a warm glow always made him smile.

It was something he shared with no other, preferring to use the time to gain peace of mind. Those who considered him free of worry didn't know him very well.

ChiChi rose every day at seven a.m. -- unless she was ill -- and started making the large breakfast that Saiya-jin metabolisms require. Now that both Gohan and Goten were all grown up and on their own she had no one to cook for save Goku.

"Ohayo ChiChi," Goku said cheerfully as he took his place at the table.

ChiChi placed a large platter in front of him and smiled. "Ohayo, Goku-sa. After you have breakfast there are a few things I would like for you to do for me. Today I have to wait for a man to come by."

He was disappointed that his sparring time with Vegeta would be cut short but he didn't show it. "Sure, ChiChi. No problem."

It was eight o'clock when he left home and, if he timed it correctly, he could reach the mall as it opened for the day. 'Why does she need brand new silverware?' he asked himself as he walked to the store. 'I didn't know she had people to impress...' His dark eyebrows rose as a thought occurred to him. 'She's hiding something from me!'

Goku was slightly overwhelmed by all the different styles to choose from so he decided to pick one by random. 'Hope she likes the pattern.'

Taking the box up to the checkout counter, he passed a display of Ginsu Knives. Goku grabbed a box of those, too, (he had always wanted a set) and placed both onto the counter.

"Will that be all for you, sir?" The cashier was both bright-eyed and bushy tailed for such a early time in the morning. Goku leaned over the counter and took note of her slightly dilated pupils.

"Drugs are bad for you," he said seriously. "If you have gone to sleep earlier last night you wouldn't have needed them."

Her smile faltered slightly. "I don't know what you mean."

Tsking, he tried again. "The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem."

"Really, I don't know what you mean!"

Goku took her hand. "Allow me to help you. Please."

The girl yanked her hand from his grasp. "Makoto! There's a weird guy out here!" She shot him a look and fled to the storeroom.

Makoto was a burly bearded man, the exact opposite of the petite female cashier. "Sir, I will have to ask you to stop scaring my cashiers."

"You're the store manager?" he asked.

"Hai, I am."

"Then you ought to know about her drug addiction." He lowered his voice and checked around for eavesdroppers. The last thing that she needed in addition to selling her body for money to buy her supply was strangers getting themselves into her business.

Makoto blinked. "What drug addiction?"

"Her eyes are dilated."

"She's on allergy medication!"

Goku shook his head sadly. "She's told you that to stop the questions."

"Maybe I'm speaking too quickly for you to understand. "Al-ler-gy..." "Drug-"

"Med-i-" "A-"

"-ca-" "-ddic-"

"-tion." "-tion."

Makoto sighed. "Let's try this again. Allergy." "Drug."

"Medication." "Addiction."

"If I let you have this for free will you get out of my store?"

Goku grinned with pleasure. "Maybe."

***

He hummed along with the mall music, browsing the displays and buying all sorts of things he probably didn't really need. That was the risk ChiChi took by sending him out with a credit card, though.

"Excuse me, mister. Would you like to buy some cookies?" A small girl of about seven asked with a sweet smile. She wore a dark green uniform and the other girls behind her were obviously a part of her scout troop.

Goku smiled at her and patted his pockets. "I would but I don't have any money on me. If you took credit cards it would be an entirely different story."

With a larger smile, the girl pointed to a machine on the table next to the boxes of cookies. "We take Visa, Master Card, and Capsule Corp. Express."

After purchasing ten boxes (and eating three of them), Goku found himself at the video arcade. With bright eyes, he darted to the ATM machine and withdrew ten zenni from ChiChi's credit card before exchanging the zenni for change. "I've always wanted to play Satan-san's video game. It'll be interesting to see just how untrue it really is."

Goku eventually died in the middle of the Cell Game when he got fed up with watching Satan take the credit for everything. So, he killed his character on purpose. It was very un-Goku like for sure, but he just couldn't take anymore.

"I don't see how Gohan can tolerate this. Sure, the people who really matter know the truth but that isn't the point." He ran a hand through his hair and sought out another machine.

"Hi Goku-ojiichan!" Pan greeted as she ran up and hugged him. "What are you doing here today?"

He kissed the top of her head and smiled. "Just doing some shopping for your obaasan."

"Goku-san, do you want to be on television?" Bra asked. "There's going to be a game show this after noon and there has to be three groups of contestants. So far there are only two. You could be on there with Krillin-san."

"What's the show about?"

"Best-friends," Pan answered. "That's why Bra and I are going on it. We've talked to Trunks and Goten, but we don't know about them yet."

"I'll call Krillin and get back to you two, okay? What time does it begin?"

"Noon."

He nodded. "See you then."

-End of Goku's Part-