him."
<br />
<br />
"Don't interfere with that too, father," said ChiChi and pushed open the wide door behind which Gohan's room was. Here in the castle on the Bratpfannenberg everything was bigger than in her little home. With a mixture of nostalgia, resignation and determination, she heaved her heavy box onto the large desk that stood next to the massive four-poster bed. This was once her room, now it was Gohan's room whenever he visited his grandfather. At home he could cross his room in eight paces, here he needed twenty-eight, as he had once told her by the way.ChiChi wiped the sweat from his forehead and straightened her shoulders. At some point she would manage to get Gokou to take a decent job and finally they could move into a bigger house. It hadn’t been easy for her to swap life in the castle for life in the tiny house, but she had accepted Gokou’s wish for a home of his own and that he didn’t always want to be on the pocket of the beef devil.
<br />
<br />
Determined, she lifted the cover and took out one book after the other. Wiped off the fine film of dust that had formed during transport and placed it on the desk.
<br />
<br />
"Where should I put it?" Asked her father, looking around for a place to put his box.
<br />
"Just put them on the floor over there," said ChiChi. "I'll unpack the computer later so Gohan can go through a tutorial after dinner.
<br />
"As you think", the beef devil sighed and carefully set the box down at the designated place.<br />
<br />
"Where's Gohan anyway?", ChiChi asked after she had sorted the last of the thirty books and started to organize the folders and notebooks.
<br />
"As far as I know, he's in the kitchen listing his wishes for the birthday buffet for the cook. The little one is really thorough, I've seen the notes, he has written down all of his friends' favorite foods."
<br />
<br />
"I would prefer he had already written down the solutions to his last homework," sighed ChiChi. After the unsuccessful experiment with the Head of House and Gohan's strict training plan, it had become more and more difficult lately to get Gohan to study for at least a few minutes a day, dead tired and battered, as he always came from training. Annoyed by her own helplessness in this matter, she slammed the blankets onto the now empty box.
<br />
"Don't worry too much, my little one," said the beef devil and stroked his daughter's hair."You have a good husband and a very strong and intelligent boy who is sure to become a great scientist one day, even if he has not been learning as much lately as you would like to see, he can easily catch up, after all, he is my grandson. "
<br />
<br />
"That worries me", ChiChi snapped. "You and Gokou, the three of you are so similar. Fighting is the highest of emotions for you. At least you're still a good lord of the castle and leader, but Gokou didn't even manage to get his driver's license on the first try. I want to not that Gohan will become like him, he should have a decent job and earn money one day. "
<br />
With a swing she took the box off the desk.
<br />
<br />
"I can take it for you, ChiChi." The beef devil wanted to take the box from her, but ChiChi just shook her head. "We won't stay too long, the box can stay over there in the corner until after his birthday."
<br /><br />
With a few steps she was there and dropped the box on the floor. “We would have.” She brushed the dust off her dress. "I'm going to look for Gohan, it's time he did his maths."
<br />
<br />
The beef devil sighed. “It's good, ChiChi, I'll come with you.” With a devoted face, he trotted after his determined daughter.
<br />
<br />
.....................................
<br />
<br />
For a few moments it was completely quiet in the desert, as if even the wind was holding its breath. Then it began to rumble, louder and louder and finally the dune that had devoured Piccolo exploded with a huge bang. The sand surged in all directions as the devil floated up in a protective bubble of energy, holding the Dragon Ball with the seven stars securely in his hand.
<br />
<br />
He took him to where he'd left the bag and placed it with the other two Dragon Balls before checking the radar for the fourth ball.<br />
The direction was clear. Now it was going west.
<br />
<br />
..............
<br />
<br />
<br />
Gohan yawned as he closed the last of the many books and stretched. All resisting and begging hadn't done any good, his mother had insisted that he use the break from training to catch up on at least part of his schoolwork.
<br />
<br />
Son Gokou was meanwhile, together with the beef devil, preparing everything for the big celebration. Through the open window Gohan could hear the two hammers and saws. Of course Gohan's grandfather had enough staff that could have done this job for him, but he and Son Gokou had a lot of fun doing it and they didn't want to let that be taken from them.
<br />
Gohan rubbed his tired eyes and picked up the exercise books that he had scattered all over the desk.
<br />
<br />
"Well, are you finished at last?" Asked ChiChi.
<br />
"All done, mom," Gohan nodded.
<br /><br />
“My good darling!” Overjoyed and satisfied, ChiChi hugged her son and hugged him. Soon he would be too big for such caresses. "I let you have a bath."
<br />
“That sounds good, thank you mom!” Gohan writhed out of the hug (he wasn't a baby anymore) and dashed out the door.
<br />
<br />
ChiChi closed the window and took a look at Gohan's notebook. He had actually done all of the tasks, she realized with pride. She would put a tray with tasty snacks on the table for him in case he got hungry during the night ...
<br />
<br />
Neither she nor Gokou noticed Ramagi, who had silently approached the castle. It had taken a long time before the video turned out exactly as he had planned and even longer until he had learned from the dragon (who had stayed at the house at ChiChi's request) where he could find the little boy who meant so much to Piccolo could.
<br />
<br />
With a satisfied smile, he put the video, wrapped as a gift, on the floor in front of the front door.<br />
<br />
.............
<br />
<br />
The grassy plain stretched almost endlessly under Piccolo's feet. Gusts of wind bent the two meter long stalks sometimes in this direction, sometimes in that direction, which resulted in a very nice effect, as the underside of the dark green stalks shimmered silver.
<br />
<br />
Piccolo glanced at the beauty of the plain, then turned back to the radar. A little more to the left, a little forward and ... "It should be here somewhere", Piccolo muttered to himself. He floated down and landed to look between the stalks on foot.
<br />
<br />
“Ouch!” A long cut ran down the back of his hand. The stalks were razor-sharp, which also explained why not a single animal was to be seen on this plain to enjoy the amount of green fodder.
<br />
<br />
For a moment Piccolo thought of simply burning an area down to find the Dragon Ball easier in the ashes, but then decided against it because he wasn't sure the ball would survive it unscathed.His ability to regenerate was put to the test. Again and again he cut himself on the edges of the stalks, a person would have bled to death long ago. Eventually, however, his patience was rewarded and he held the orange glass ball with the two stars in his hand.
<br />
<br />
.......
<br />
<br />
"The first present for Gohan has already arrived," laughed the beef devil the next morning and put the wrapped video on the breakfast table.
<br />
<br />
"Doesn't look like a book to me," said ChiChi suspiciously. "Who is it from?"
<br />
"There was no card," said her father. "Perhaps from someone in the area, Gohan was everyone's treasure trove of gold even as a baby."
<br />
ChiChi sighed melancholy. "Oh yes, he was so cute when he was a kid, with the cap and the Dragon Ball on ..."
<br />
<br />
Gokou took the last sip of miso soup and leaned back, relaxed. "I could look for it again, the Dragon Ball. Then you can buy Gohan a new cap and attach the ball to it."<br />
<br />
Gohan almost choked on his sausage. "But I'm much too big for that now, Papa!"
<br />
<br />
Gokou laughed. "Right, I didn't think of that."
<br />
"Although," put in ChiChi, "once he has a decent haircut again, a cap with a Dragon Ball on it would definitely look good on him, it doesn't have to be the model he wore when he was four."
<br />
<br />
Gohan didn't want to wear a silly cap at all and he was suspicious of his mother's taste anyway, so he grabbed the package to distract himself.
<br />
"Can I open it right away, mom? Please !!"
<br />
<br />
ChiChi let herself be softened. "Well, because you learned so well yesterday."
<br />
“Thank you, mom!” Within a split second, the paper was torn off and Gohan was looking at the video cassette, more amazed than enthusiastic. It read "Instructional from the television archives". ChiChi, who at first also looked a little skeptically at the gift, nodded happily.<br />
<br />
"This is a very good present, Gohan. When you've done the tasks for today, you can watch the video. It's definitely good for your knowledge of history."
<br />
<br />
Gohan bowed his head in resignation. He would much rather have gone fishing with his father or explored the castle, the innumerable rooms of which contained many puzzling things. But above all, for his celebration he still had to ...
<br />
<br />
"Cheer up, Gohan," grinned his father. "There is still enough time to prepare everything before your party."
<br />
"If you think so, papa," Gohan replied. He thanked them politely for the meal and went to his room with the video in hand to do the maths. ChiChi began to put the dishes together, and Gokou and his father-in-law set out to finish the decorations