Disclaimer: Standard ones apply.

Note: Trunks is six. I don't know if I'm doing a good enough job at description but this entire series takes place in a technologically advanced year in the future. As things became easier and less expensive to accomplish crime skyrocketed and everyone suffered as a result.

Parings: Goku x Vegeta, Gohan x original character


Fractured Souls

Chapter 1: The Young Recusant Society

Monday had never been his favorite day of the week but with the onset of school it was at the bottom of the list. First there had been the shopping for new clothes and all of the prodding that went along with it. His father would pick up a shirt or a pair of pants and promise him everything short of the stars themselves to try it on. If he allowed his father to have his way, he would be going to high school for the first time wearing slacks and a tie.

"Tousan, come on!" he protested. "I don't want to look like a nerd."

Goku continued to hold up the shirt with a hopeful smile. "Just one time, okay Gohan? These clothes say that you want to be a successful young man."

Gohan sighed. He just didn't understand.

"Let the boy choose what he wants. He knows better than you or I what's in style." Vegeta turned to Gohan. "Show us what you'd like to wear."

It was nice to have someone on his side but it would have been even better if it was his father. Gohan picked up a pair of jeans that were at least three sizes to large for him and a t-shirt to go with them. "You can afford Tommy Hilfiger, right?"

"I can also afford for you to put them back," Goku said. "I'm not going to pay thirty-four hundred yen for a t-shirt!" Then he looked at the price tag on the jeans and almost had a heart attack. "That's like a week's worth of food!"

Vegeta snickered. "Not hardly. We're saiya-jin, remember? That'll barely cover a week's worth of snacks." He received a "You're not helping." look for his effort.

"Fine, Otousan," Gohan said with more than a little anger. "I'll just go shop at Goodwill then. When I come home bruised and battered because the other kids beat me up for looking poor don't say a word."

His father just smiled at him. "Okay, I won't." Gohan threw him a look and stormed off. "Veggie, I think he's gotten worse since he became a teenager."

"Maybe, but everything'll right itself again when he turns eighteen and moves out."

"That's still four years away!" Goku was tempted to just buy him whatever he wanted, it wasn't as if he couldn't afford it. But he knew that if he gave in now that he would continue to give in his son's whims for as long as he lived. He had to get the parenting thing right the first time or his mistakes might be repeated on Trunks and Goten.

"We can always explain to him why cheaper things are just as good sometimes," Vegeta suggested. "I wouldn't buy a fourteen-hundred yen microwave but that's just me."

Goku was seriously considering going back to the mall bookstore for that parenting book he had seen. Maybe then he would have a better understanding of his fourteen-year-old son.

"Here Tousan," Gohan said, his bad mood completely gone. He showed him the clothes he had picked out and none of them were outrageously expensive. Goku and Vegeta exchanged confused looks. Would they ever understand his behavior?

After the mall they went to the office supply store to begin phase two of the back-to-school preparation mission. Gohan wanted to bypass pencils and paper in favor for a laptop but his father pointed out that the school wouldn't allow him to use it in class. The teen began to sulk for the second time that day and Goku was more than a little sick of it.

Right before he opened his mouth to yell, Vegeta stopped him and sent him away for a little while. "Why are you disagreeing with everything?"

Gohan mumbled something and looked down at his shoes. A normal person wouldn't have been able to understand him but Vegeta wasn't exactly a normal person.

"So you're intimidated by the other kids and wish that you could be home schooled." Vegeta carefully thought out his wording so that he wouldn't make everything worse. "Gohan, I can't say that I know how you feel because I've never gone to school before but all of those kids were freshman at one time too. You'll have friends there, won't you?"

"Iie," he shook his head. "I won't have any there. Most people my age are all too immature." He smiled at Vegeta. "Can I call you my friend?"

"We're going to have to talk when we get home. In the meantime please pick out some school supplies and maybe a backpack or something. Your father's about to burst a blood vessel."

Gohan went up the aisle grabbing notebooks, pens, pencils, and various other school supplies and tossed them into the handbasket. His shopped for a little while longer, using the time to form a good apology to his father.

He found him in the computer section checking out hardware for their system. Goku had gotten two computers: a new one for Vegeta to organize his business on and a home computer for the entire family. Every single store they went into that sold computer related merchandise was carefully explored. Gohan didn't mind, he loved upgrading the computer and getting more software. Vegeta and Trunks could care less.

Gohan stood next to him for a moment, searching for the courage to speak first. "Um, Tousan?"

He looked up. "Hai?"

"I'msorryformakingyouangry." It came out in one long explosion of breath. He put spaces between his words with effort. "I'll try not to do it again in the future."

"Well, trying is all that anyone can do, Gohan. I accept your apology." Goku made a note of how much the memory and hard drive cost. "Are you ready to go back home?"

He nodded. "Sure. I was so close to explaining to the munchkins why playing in my room was a bad thing. I come home sometimes and my things are everywhere!"

"They look up to you, son. You're the best big brother in the world to them. Haven't you noticed Goten and Trunks following you around and imitating the things that you do?"

"They do?" Gohan was inwardly pleased. "I never noticed that."

"Why don't you spend time with them once and a while? It'll be worth it."

Gohan nodded and took a place in a checkout line. School shopping always made him melancholy because it always meant that his summer freedom was coming to an end. New school, new faces, new teachers, new challenges.

He really, really hated change.

***

"You only have to go a few blocks out of your way, Gohan. Please do this for me just this once." Vegeta continued to search for his car keys as he spoke. "Your father got called to the hospital and I have a seven-thirty appointment at the office. It won't kill you to take your little brothers to school."

Gohan finally gave in and nodded. He couldn't really find a good way out of it anyway. His day, so far, had hit rock bottom. First his hair was spikier than usual, then it took him five minutes to find his other shoe, and now he had to take the chibis off to elementary school. He smoothed his shirt and took Trunks and Goten's hands.

"I can cross the street by myself!" Trunks said loudly. He was ignored. Gohan said goodbye to the man who had been just as much his parent as Goku and went off to school.

'Everyone looks miserable,' Gohan said to himself as he observed the behaviors of the other schoolage children. He recognized the twin boys from next door that Goten and Trunks often played with and instantly felt sorry for them when he saw their school uniform. He was lucky enough to be going to a school that didn't require them but it did seem to be the current trend among public and private schools alike.

Goten was bouncing up-and-down in place, happy as can be on his very first day of school. Trunks was bored with the entire thing as it was his second year and could hardly wait until the end of the day when he was once again free.

"School, school, school, school, school!" Goten sang as loud as he could. Gohan was torn between covering his ears and keeping his little brothers close by. After several more moments of wincing he finally gave up and blocked out Goten's voice as best he could. Trunks immediately took off running down the sidewalk, his best-friend right behind him.

"COME BACK HERE!" Gohan shouted as he ran after him. He had to dodge little kids, parents, and even cars when the boys darted across the street. The teen involuntarily flinched every time a car came too close and just wished that the entire day was over with.

He caught up with them at a very busy intersection and was relieved when the two of them had the sense to stop and wait for the light to turn red before crossing. Gohan grabbed them around the waists and took them from their feet, holding both struggling boys underneath his arms.

"Are you two insane?!" he shouted. "You could have been killed!"

"No we wouldn't have," Trunks said with certainty. "Tousan and papa are super strong. We have to have some of that, too."

Gohan paused on the sidewalk and looked at him. "How do you know? I've never seen them do anything really abnormal."

"One day last week when you were at the park, tousan picked up the couch and moved it all by himself." Trunks raised his arms to show him just how he held it. "That's why it was by the window when you came home."

He hadn't even noticed when it had been moved. Vegeta had been at the store and came back after he did. Logically his tousan shouldn't have been able to do that.

"Tousan could beat up Superman!" Goten said with a grin.

"No he couldn't, baka. No one can beat up Superman."

Gohan started walking again, he didn't have much time until school began. "Knock it off, Trunks. Name calling isn't allowed."

Makuda Elementary was a plain brick two-story building that sat on one of the busiest streets in Tokyo. He made sure each boy was in the correct line for his class and waved goodbye to them. He had only fifteen minutes to make it down the street to his own school.

The bell finished ringing just as he slid into his homeroom. He went to a corner seat in the very back and tried to make himself as unnoticable as possible. He didn't want to attract attention from the future convicts.

Gakusha-sensei began to call off names, handing a offical schedule to those he called up. When Gohan's was finally called he quickly went up and got his classes, hoping that nothing embarrassing happened on his way back down the aisle. A boy he recognized from his old school greeted him and he mumbled something unintelligible before making it safely back to his seat.

Nothing bad had happened so far.

When the bell rang for the next class, Gohan suddenly wished that he had sat near the door so that he could be the first one to leave. By the time he made it into the hallway it was already packed full of students, most of who were taller than he was. Intimidation settled like a stone in the pit of his stomach and he made his way silently to Beginning Band.

"Gohan!" Someone called from behind. He looked briefly over his shoulder and saw no one even looking in his direction. He shrugged and continued on. The same voice called again and he was suddenly staring at the face of a girl he hardly remembered. She grinned at him and grabbed him in a sudden hug. Gohan froze almost instantly. He had a thing about people invading his personal space and she had crossed the line from crowding to smothering.

He let her touch him for about five seconds before saying something. "Who *are* you?"

She laughed, her voice high and shrill. "You're so funny, Gohan! Pretending like you don't know who I am!"

Gohan basically was at the end of his patience with her. He pried her arms away and took several steps back. Crazy people are potentially dangerous at all times. "I really don't know who you are. Sorry."

At first he thougt that she was going to cry but she only frowned at him and walked away without another word. He shook his head at the sheer strangeness of people sometimes and continued on to his class.

"She was definitely weird."

***

There are only two types of people as far as cafeteria groups were concerned: those who ate with others and those who did not. Gohan fell into the latter category partially by his own self-isolation and partially because the other kids seemed to be avoiding him.

It hadn't seemed that big of a deal, really. In gym third hour he was terrified when he realized that he had to change clothes *and* shower in front of people that he didn't know. After changing into his school-issued gym clothing and running track in them he stared at the other boys sort of wide-eyed in awe. Big Mistake Number One, he discovered, was: never pointedly look at the other boys in the gym locker room.

"What are you doing?!" A tall tenth-grader said loudly as if he had been committing some felonious act. The other boy wrapped the white towel around his waist even tighter and said something to his friend. Both of them, and those in the surrounding area, broke out into laughter and Gohan blushed brightly. He quickly went around to the other row of lockers where his own was located and turned the dial. It took him three tries in his haste to get it open.

"They scare you, don't they," a voice asked from behind. He jumped and spun around to face the new boy with the deep voice. His eyebrows rose of their own accord as his eyes moved from the top of his dyed black hair down to the toes of his black combat boots.

"Who are you?" Gohan turned back to his locker and got his regular clothes from it. "I'm Gohan, by the way."

"Yuji, Harada Yuji. I've seen you around in middle school, back when I was unaware."

He was starting to scare him just a little bit. Gohan decided to bypass a shower to save himself some embarrassment but Yuji didn't leave him alone.

"There's a group of us in this school and most schools across the world. We're the ones who don't fit in to any other group, the ones who are ignored."

"I'm not ignored," Gohan said as he tied his shoes. "I prefer to be alone."

"That may be true," he said, "but everyone needs someone to talk to." The bell rang just as Gohan had grabbed his backpack and they walked to the cafeteria together, Yuji talking the entire way.

Now he sat, alone, at a small table in a corner and watched the world on the other side of the plate glass window go by.

The YRS was sort of interesting though he didn't see how he fit in. He hardly ever wore black to school and didn't own any silver jewelry or leather. He was taken with the main goal of the group, though. They were nonconformist and he had never cared enough to follow the latest trends -- usually. There were times when he was tempted to just blend in but standing out as an individulist was even better now that he thought about it. Your personal sense of style showed the world just a little bit of your personality.

"This is Trinity and her sister, Toriniti," Yuji introduced after he greeted Gohan. The twin sisters had both also dyed their hair an inky black but they had brown streaks running through it. Trinity wore black leather pants with a tank top while her sister had on a black lace dress. "They are the leaders of our society."

Trinity handed him a computer-printed flyer with a smile. "We welcome all those interested, Gohan. The YRS is a group where all can feel welcome."

"We're having a meeting after school if you would like to attend," Toriniti added. "No pressure."

"I'll be there," he promised as he finished up his lunch.

The remainder of the day went by slowly with people whispering behind his back. 'Curiosity isn't a crime,' he told himself. 'I've read in a book that all boys do the size comparison thing at one point in life. My mistake was being too obvious about it.'

Sixth hour was cancelled that day by order of the principal. There was to be an assembly in the auditorium instead, one that no one, not ever the teachers, knew the topic of. The kids filed through both sets of doors in an orderly fashion and was seated by in groups according to homeroom teachers. Gohan felt an almost paralyzing fear. What if the principal knew where his eyes were in the locker room and there really was some sort of rule concerning it? He knew the odds of that were low but there was always the chance he would be called out as a pervert in front of the entire student body. He trembled uncontrollably as he imagined all of the mocking laughter and looks of disgust that he was sure to draw. Life would definitely be miserable if such a thing ever was to happen.

Aizawa-sensei was a short balding man with a serious bad attitude. He wore small, rounded classes perched upon his sharply pointed nose and his fingers seemed to be always be smoothing down his ugly brown suits. "Welcome teachers, students, and other faculty," he said. "There is an important issue I would like to address, first, before getting into the real reason I called this assembly."

He cleared his throat and leaned forward slightly over the podium. Gohan felt that his gaze was focused directly on him. His next words eased his fear just a bit. "The years following the Self-Expression Act of 2009 were a troubled time. No longer could authorities take away a person's natural right to freedom of expression without facing dire consequences. At the same time others, who were unwilling to acquire their own nice things in a legal manner, murdered over a single pair of expensive shoes. These unlawful acts eventually faded away until they had become nonexistent until just recently.

"I am pleased to announce that a law that I've been pushing for several months has finally gone into effect as of last week. From this point onward all students attending public and private schools in the city of Tokyo will be required to wear uniforms."

There was dead silence throughout the room for a moment before all hell broke loose. The principal smiled in a kind manner and said, "We are only concerned with your personal safety. There will be no more fighting over clothing and no more tension over appearance."

A boy sitting behind Gohan muttered to his friend, "Now there'll be wars with the other schools over who has the best uniform. How pathetic."

"You must give your clothing sizes to your homeroom teacher!" Aizawa shouted over the din. "If you are not wearing your uniform by the end of tomorrow then you will be expelled!"

The assembly was ended and Gohan was released from the confines of the auditorium in a very bad mood. He wondered what the YRS would have to say about Aizawa-sensei's proclamation.

They didn't disappoint him with their anger. After the twins officially began the meeting the group of malcontented recusants voiced their opinions on the matter.

"Please state your name for our guests first," Trinity said with a smile.

"I'm Dirk and I'm disgusted with Aizawa's words. How can they take away our right to individuality? We aren't all the same exact people and the school board knows it. Everyone is different and freedom of expression was a way to show that to everyone in the world. I agree that it's sad people choose to hurt others over small things like appearance but why punish everyone for the actions of a few?"

There were many murmurs of agreement throughout the group and Gohan found himself comfortable around his peers for the first time in a while. These weren't people who spent far too much time on things of a frivalous nature.

Gohan raised his hand to speak and stood after Trinity pointed to him. "My name's Gohan. I don't think that there's much that we can do to change the uniform rule. We could draw up a petition and take it to a city council meeting but the adults will only use the, "We're doing this for your own good." line. I'm as angry as the rest of you but we're stuck."

Yuji looked at him as he shook his head. After waiting for one of the twins to call on him, opened a pamplet and pointed to a place on the second page. "The second rule of the YRS is: never give in to authority. They want to control every aspect of our lives, Gohan. The uniforms are only the beginning, next they'll press regulation haircuts, and then computer monitoring chips. In just a few short years our privacy could be completely taken away. There won't be a single thing you say or do that they won't know about."

"How can you get to that conclusion from a single uniform rule?" Gohan wondered aloud. Either these people were extremely paranoid or they knew far more about the government than he did and none of them looked like the paranoid type.

"Several members of the RS discovered small microchips in common things that they had purchased from a department store downtown. After taking the objects apart they found that the government had tiny equipment monitoring their every move." Toriniti handed him a sheet of paper documenting their findings. "When something is possible it will be done."

Gohan agreed sadly. It was yet more evidence to the downfall of humanity.