02: Chapter 02
Gohan twitched nervously as he knocked on the door to Capsule Corp. It had been a quick flight, quicker than he’d thought it would be and now that he was here….he was, well…nervous.
After all, it wasn’t every day that he decided to tell his family that he was throwing all of his hard work away on someone they didn’t even know he loved.
“Gohan! How nice to see you!”
Gohan blinked, brought back to reality. He peered into the now open doorway to find Bulma grinning at him. He smiled back and quickly moved into the house.
“It’s nice to see you too, Bulma-san. Is everybody already here?” he asked, shrugging off his coat and hanging it on a nearby hanger.
“Why yes, they are. Everybody’s in the living room, waiting for the party to start,” she said leading the way down the hallway to what Gohan considered to be one of the best rooms in the house.
The living room was, of course, the first room in which he had talked to Torunksu for the first time in an actual conversation.
Gohan blushed. “Sorry I was so late, Bulma-san. I didn’t mean to make everyone wait,” he said, as they stopped outside the living room door.
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Go-chan. The day you aren’t late, is the day Goku-san wins the Nobel Prize. I’m used to all of you guys being late for one thing or another, so it isn’t a big deal. Besides…” she added, with a conspiratorial wink, “it would serve these guys right to learn a little patience.”
And with that she opened the door and they both went in.
Gohan swallowed nervously as his eyes scanned the room, looking for his love. There was Vegeta-san, looking as grumpy as ever as he leaned against a wall. There was Krillin, with his wife 18, and his daughter. There was his father, playing a game of ki-ball with Goten at the back of the room and there, in the corner, was…
Ah! Torunksu!
Gohan breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way to the far corner of the room. For a minute there he was beginning to worry. After all, it would be kind of hard to tell everybody that he was quitting if he didn’t have his partner there with him.
“Torunksu,” he breathed quietly, as he moved to stand beside the person that made his heart beat quicker every time he entered the room. His love was dressed very fashionably tonight, as was everyone else, and it almost made him regret the haste in which he had dressed himself.
Almost.
Why sacrifice comfort for fashion? He’d never done it before, and he didn’t really feel like starting now.
“Gohan,” said Torunksu, giving that little half-smile that always seemed to grace his handsome face. “I was beginning to wonder if you were even going to show.”
“Don’t worry,” Gohan assured him, “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Torunksu looked sharply at him. “Are we going to tell them?” he asked.
Gohan leaned over and squeezed his hand briefly. “Yes,” he said, “Just as soon as Bulma-san finishes her speech.”
Torunksu nodded, and turned to face the center of the room. “Looks like we’re about to have our chance,” he replied and before Gohan could respond Bulma began to speak.
“Attention, everybody!” Bulma said. “I would like to thank all you guys for coming to our annual party. I realize that all of you guys have busy schedules and the like and the fact that you took the time to be here really…”
“Just get it over with, Onna!” Vegeta snarled from his corner. “We’re here to eat, not to listen to you babble on about useless…”
“Shut up, Vegeta!” Bulma snapped, and turned to smile at everyone else. “Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted!” she said, turning to glare at Vegeta, “I would like to say thank you.”
“Now,” she said, turning to face Gohan. “I was told that Gohan and Torunksu wanted to make an announcement before the party began. So, if you guys would come up here,” she said, motioning to the two of them to come to the center of the room. “You can say what you need to say and we can begin the party!”
Glancing nervously at each other, Gohan and Torunksu nodded and began to make their way to what was going to be either the happiest moment of their lives or….hell upon earth.
They really hoped that it wasn’t the latter.
