The Book of Shin

The one thing, if any, that unites humans, saiyajins, nameks, and other races in this universe, is that the smaller they come, the greater their powers of cuteness. Of course it\'s a survival trait, but it\'s a trait that\'s often under-estimated. As a result, they often try to toughen themselves up, to make themselves physically stronger, which as a natural result, decreases their cuteness.

For example, let\'s take Trunks and Goten. Trunks, due to relentless training with his father, is the stronger of the two. Admittedly, not by much. But then, he still has some cuteness. Not as much as Goten though. Compare the \"puppy-dog\" look. While Trunks\' has an undeniable effect, with its endearing \"devil-in-disguise\" wildness, it is Goten\'s that demands insulin, and pronto. Wanna argue with me? Go ahead, but this theory was once again upheld the morning of the Tournament.

Kibito and I were watching from a slight distance, laying low until the time came to introduce ourselves. Trunks, as expected, wasn\'t too pleased with the idea of having to fight in the junior division, so began begging the officials to let him sign up with the adults. He gave it his best, but his eyes held a little too much of the trickster for them to leeir eir guard down enough. Now, had Goten attempted this, it would have stood a better chance of working, because while he was distracting the officials with his cuddle-me-now-dammit-adorableness, Trunks would have been writing their pseudonyms on the list of contestants. But they didn\'t, so the officials didn\'t cave, and they were both relegated to the junior division.

Of course, we all know the difference that made to them.

Kibito and I had decided to wait until after the junior division championships to introduce ourselves. So we watched as Trunks and Goten plowed their way through an opposition that never had ance.nce. Watching the two of them fight was delightful, and if one knew what to look for, told a lot about their fathers as well. Like their momentary priorities-for Trunks, the Championship was, for an instant, more important than the fact that his best friend was the opponent. For Goten, it was the opposite-for him the fact that his best friend was the opponent was more important than winning the Championship. Like goal-oriented Vegeta and Goku the people person. And yet it says something that the match was so close, despite differences in approach and, even more importantly, age.

No sooner had Trunks won than Goku was on his way, looking for food. Kibito asked if we were to approach them at this time.

\"No,\" I said, \"One should never come between a Saiyajin and food. You\'ll accomplish nothing, and the Saiyajin might become homicidal.\"

Kibito chuckled in understanding. So instead we followed at a safe distance, where we could hear but not be sensed by them, and were treated to the amusing spectacle of a human, a namek, and an android watching two saiyajin eat. Sounds like the beginning of one of King Kai\'s jokes, doesn\'t it?

At one point, Krillin asked an interesting question of Goku. Why, he asked, does a dead guy like Goku eat food if he\'s already dead? Goku\'s answer hit the nail right on the head.

\"Well,\" he said, \"I don\'t need to, but it\'s so yummy down here!\"

Amen to that. That perfectly explains the entire previous night. Why Austrian coffee? Because it tastes good. Same with German beer, Japanese sushi, and pizza in New York. The music in Ireland and the colors in Calcutta. That\'s what life is for. No sense in coming to this level and not enjoying it as much as you can, while you can. Sure, you can you still have the same senses in the other dimensions, but everything is . . . muted. Not as. . . gritty? Solid? Sharp? Language is too limited to describe. Other things take over in those dimensions, leaving the physical muffled. But, when you reach this level. . . taste, touch, sensation. . . wow, it\'s pretty great.

So we, Kibito and I, stood in the shade under those giant palm fronds, the salty breeze blowing in from the sea, taming the harsh brightness of the sun that beat down upon the island. The unfortunate lack of clouds that day would have turned the entire island into a sauna, but for that blessed breeze. I was warm enough with all those layers on-long sleeved, no less-so I was staying in the shade as much as possible anyway.

We watched as Gohan and Videl showed up, all but holding hands. You know it\'s gotta be love of some kind if you keep following around a guy dressed in something as ridiculous as that outfit.

There\'s a funny thing about Vegeta-he lets on shows more than he thinks he does, at least to those who watch. Dou nou notice his look when he heard that Trunks had won against Mr. Satan? Wanna know what he was thinking? Well, don\'t tell him I told you, but his thoughts were, Of course my boy won, he is the best, after all. Those words with a hell of a lot of pride mixed in. It was a brief moment, true, but no less remarkable despite its swiftness.

Soon after Goku had finally had his fill, though in the meantime he had buried 18 and Piccolo in a pile of used dishes, which they bore with their typical long-suffering grace, sighing to themselves over the eating habits of the Saiyajin race. Out they walked from the little pavillion, and Kibito and I stepped forward where they would see us once they came over the rise, then lifted myself to hover a few feet off the ground. Subtle, and yet so eye-catching.

We were soon within their sights, and the breeze chose that moment to change direction and flow between us, carrying the scent and sound of the jungle that surrounded the mountain in the center of the island. A casual sniff would inform you that all the fruit cycles had synchronized that summer, leaving the jungle floor littered with more brazil nuts, mangoes, pineapples, bananas, and devil fruit than the local animals could eat. Underneath these sickly-sweet scents, one sensitive enough could detect the aroma of poison-wood and gumbo-limbo trees, orchid and heliconia. Sound too was carried in that moment as they came into physical view. The never ceasing chatter of the chacalacas, the mid-day roaring of the howler monkeys, the hollow call of the motmot. All this in one instant, and then the wind shifted again, bringing once again the sea-salt-tang and aching cries of the gulls.

Piccolo, being the astute individual that he is, was the first to notice that we weren\'t just your average people standing around in the path. The others noticed shortly thereafter, though nothing beats Videl\'s, \"Say, that person is floating in midair. . .\"

There was a brief moment of silence as they visually examined Kibito and me, and as the two of us looked them over. I then closed the distance that separated Goku from me.

\"Good day,\" I said. \"You\'re Son Goku, right?\"

Surprise plastered itself on his face. \"How\'d you know?\" he asked.

I grinned. \"I heard about you.\" I said. \"I\'ve been wanting to try my hand against you in a match.\"

He apparently still hadn\'t gotten over his surprise. I continued.

\"I made it through the preliminaries also. If all goes well, maybe we\'ll get to compete against each other.\"

Still speechless.

\"Of course, it\'s not that I think I\'ve got the stuff to win, I\'d just like to see your strength first hand.\"

Vegeta was scowling, but really, what else is new? 18 had that I\'m-a-cyborg-with-a-metal-face expression going on, while her husband was beginning to look a little troubled. Not that you could blame them. How often do you see a couple that looks like Kibito and me? Weird colored skin for Earth, strange hairdos, and wearing very similar outfits. Of course they were wary-they knew of no reason why they should trust me.

\"Hey,\" I said, smiling as innocently as I could. \"Could I shake your hand?\" I extended my hand out, until it reached the midpoint between us.

Goku blinked, but in the end, years of training by his wife finally paid off.

\"Pleased to meet you,\" he said, and clasped my hand in his.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you\'re just going about your day and then you take a sip of some wine your friend brought over and then suddenly /oh-my-god that\'s something wonderful!/ ? Yeah, it was kinda like that. Like that first sip of that chilled California Reiseling on a sultry August evening. Clear and sparkly and just a little sweet. I couldn\'t help but chuckle in glee.

\"I see,\" I said, grinning. \"It\'s true. You have a fine soul.\" I dropped down to the ground and gave a little bow. \"well, I must be getting along. If you will excuse me. . .\"

I then turned, and walked away, Kibito turning to follow dutifully behind. Thus no one saw the grin that broke onto my face. It seemed the Earth had found herself quite a set of champions indeed.