Dragonball and Yu Yu Hakusho don't belong to me (unfortunately), and I'm
not making any profit or anything, just having fun...

Kaleidoscope - Part 1

"Hey!  Isn't your brother that girly Minamino?"

Hatanaka Shuuichi winced at the shout that came from the other side of
the street.  "He's not girly!" he yelled back at the gang of boys as
they crossed the road, heading towards him.

"Oh yeah?  Then why does he have such long hair?  Why does he look so
pretty-like?"

"And why's he always sucking up to the teachers and all?"

"You're just jealous," Shuuichi replied scornfully.  "Just 'cause he's a
lot better than you at school and sports and everything!  You're just
sore losers!"  He finally recognized them as belonging to the school
that had been defeated by his brother's volleyball team just the day
before - defeated almost single-handedly by Minamino Shuuichi.

<It was great to see Niisan in action the other day; but now...  What a
bunch of jerks!  I'm glad that Niisan thrashed their team!>

"Jealous of that gay teacher's pet?!  No way!"  The leader of the group
poked at Shuuichi's shoulder harshly.

"He's not gay!"  He batted away the offending finger.  "And so what if
he was?  What difference would that make?  You would still have lost the
game!"  The boys gathered close, circling around until he was crowded
against the gutter, with his back to the road.

"Gay freaks shouldn't be competing with real men!"

A sudden shove sent him sprawling backwards into the street, his ankle
twisting painfully as he collapsed to the ground.  <Damn.>  He landed
flat on his back, his head thumping hard against the solid ground,
darkening his vision momentarily.

A horrible screeching filled his ears, echoing through his pounding
skull.  He blinked his eyes dazedly, trying to clear his vision, which
was now clouded with dancing sparks.  As soon as they started to fade
away, he almost wished that they hadn't.  A truck was headed straight
for him, wheels skidding swiftly across the surface of the road, despite
the driver's obvious attempts to break.

<Oh shit!>  He tried desperately to roll out of the way, but his dazed
and bruised body was unresponsive. <This is going to *hurt!*>

He shut his eyes, bracing himself for the truck's impact, and waited.

Nothing.

No pain, no truck, nothing.  He opened his eyes.

"Are you alright?"  He found himself staring directly into a pair of
concerned dark eyes, surrounded by a crown of spikey black hair,
belonging to a boy who looked to be a few years older than himself.  The
boy was kneeling beside his shoulders; he reached out to steady him as
he tried to sit up.  The throbbing in his head worsened with the
movement.

"Just take it easy a minute," the dark eyed boy suggested.

"Um, thanks."  Shuuichi took a deep breath, willing his head to stop
hurting, deciding firmly against shaking it.  He blinked his eyes,
peering past the boy.  The truck was stationary just a little way behind
him; he could see the stunned expression of the driver through the
windscreen.

"What happened?  I thought it would hit me for sure!"

The boy grinned at him.  "You must were lucky, I guess."

A groan arose from the nearby sidewalk.  The leader of the boys - the
one who had pushed him - was down on the ground, one eye darkening with
the start of a bruise.

"What happened to him?"  Shuuich asked the strange boy.

"Looks like he found out the meaning of that old saying: 'what goes
around, comes around'!"  He chuckled.  The leader managed to sit up and
glare at him.

"You - " He started towards the spikey haired boy.  "I'll get you for
that!"

"Um, maybe later..."  The other boys were quick to drag their leader
away, flashing strange looks between the boy and the truck as they
practically ran back down the street.

Shuuichi followed the direction of their gazes and felt his mouth drop
open in shock.  Two handprints were now embedded in the front of the
truck.  The driver, who had recovered sufficiently from his shock to get
out and survey the damages, was running his hands across the imprints in
disbelief.

"I've got to get going, now,"  the dark eyed boy informed Shuuichi
quietly.  Shuuichi turned back in time to see him eyeing  the driver. 
"Will you be alright?"

Shuuichi nodded, getting to his feet - almost collapsing again as his
ankle gave out under him.

"Easy, now."  The boy caught him by the shoulders, steadying him once
more.  "Let me take a look at that."  He crouched down, probing at
Shuuichi's ankle with deft fingers.  "I think you sprained it..."

"Hey!  You two!"  The truck driver was shouting at them, still looking
somewhat shaky.

"Ooops - time to go!"  Shuuichi found himself being scooped up and
carried down the street at a rate that made it seem as though they were
flying.

"Hey!"  He protested mildly.  "You can put me down!"  Being carried
around like a baby by a stranger was not doing his self-esteem any
favours.

"Sorry," the boy apologized.  "I'll put you down in a minute."

A minute later they were quite a distance from the truck and the
driver.  <How did he get so far so fast? While carrying me, too!>  The
boy set him down carefully, supporting him with one arm so that he
wouldn't have to put any weight on his abused ankle.

"You live far from here?"  he asked, concerned.

"Uhn,"  Shuuichi acknowledged, staring at the boy.  "How did you do that
with the truck?"  he burst out, unable to contain his curiosity. 

"Uh..." the boy stalled, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Never mind," Shuuichi told him, smiling, suppressing his desire to find
out.  "Thanks a lot!  Those guys were real jerks."

"No kidding.  So how are you going to get home?"

"Uh... I *was* walking..."  He trailed off.  <It'll be more like
'limping', now...>

"I'll help you home,"  the boy told him.

"Thanks - but no carrying, got that?"

The boy laughed.  "Whatever you say.  I'm Son Goten, by the way."

"Hatanaka Shuuichi.  Yorishiku."

*******

"Tadaima!"

"Nice place you have here,"  Goten commented as he helped Shuuichi into
the house.  It had been quite a walk with Shuuichi having to lean on his
arm most of the way, joking about how the young should have been
supporting the elderly and not the other way around.  Goten had snorted
at the light-hearted remark.  <He must be a couple of years younger than
I am...>

They made it to the living room, where Shuuichi promptly collapsed onto
the sofa.

"Finally," he groaned in exaggeration.  "I thought we'd *never* make
it!"

"Not with you moaning and groaning every step of the way!" Goten
replied, laughingly.

"Shuu-chan?"  A soft voice inquired.  Goten turned around to see a
beautiful red-head enter the room, gentle green eyes widening in
surprise at the presence of a stranger, an older, dark haired woman
following her.  <Probably his mother and sister I guess...>  "What
happened?" 

"Uh, Kaasan, Niisan, I tripped on the way home and hurt my ankle,"
Shuuichi lied after a mere moment's hesitation.  "This is Goten; he
helped me home."

<'Niisan'?!  That's a *guy*?!>  Goten blinked bemusedly, before
realizing what Shuuichi had just said.  <So he doesn't want his mother
and brother to know...  Must have been him they were arguing about.>  He
watched as the red-head knelt beside his mother to inspect his little
brother's twisted ankle.  <They were certainly right about one thing -
he definitely *is* pretty!> 

"It looks like you'll have to keep of your feet for a couple of days,
Shuu-chan,"  his mother informed him, before turning to face Goten. 
Shuuichi's brother seemed to pull bandages out of thin air, and started
to expertly wrap his ankle.  "Thank you for bringing him home,
Goten-kun."

"No problem,"  Goten replied with a smile.  "It was the least I could
do."

"Would you care to stay for afternoon tea?  I have some freshly made
cake, and the kettle's just boiled..."

"Uh,"  he hesitated.  <Something's not quite right here - something
*feels* out of place...>  As his mind was dithering over wild
speculation, his stomach decided to answer the question.  Loudly.  He
coloured slightly, smiling sheepishly at Mrs Hatanaka.  "Actually, I
have to go meet a friend."  <And I'm late as it is...  I hope that
Trunks will forgive me.>  He frowned, reminded of why he had left Trunks
at the alley, needing some time alone to think things through.

"Let me pack some of that cake for you to take with you - and some for
your friend, too."  Mrs Hatanaka laughed gently.  "I know how much food
you growing boys need!"  Goten nodded in appreciation, and she left the
room to get the cake.  <If only she knew how much food a Saiyajin can go
through!  Except for Trunks...>

It was hard to believe that this was only the second day since they had
left their own dimension behind, and started their wanderings through
the endless possibilities that time conspired to form.  <This world
doesn't seem all that different from ours; the buildings look a bit
strange, but there are still families, and homes - and bullies...>  He
snorted at the memory.

"Goten?  Is something wrong?"  The soft voice pulled him back to the
reality of the two brothers kneeling and sitting before him.

"No nothing's wrong."  He felt his eyes begin to moisten, and hastily
blinked the excess liquid away before it could escape and give him
away.  <I can remember Niisan bandaging my knees when I tripped and
fell...>  "I've just had a busy couple of days."  <Yeah, busy.  I
discovered that my best friend has a homicidal alternate ego, stopped my
brother from killing him, and used an unfinished dimensional transporter
to get us out of there - and now we have no way of going back home. 
I'll never see Niisan again.>

"Hey, why don't you take your own advice," Shuuichi suggested with a
grin.  "Take it easy!"

Goten grinned back at him, and winked, pushing aside his somber
reflections.  "Sure thing!"

"Here you go,"  Mrs Hatanaka returned, and handed him a small package. 
"I hope you like it!"

"I'm sure I will!"  <I could eat a horse and enjoy it right now - but
I'm not going to tell *her* that!>  "Thanks a lot!" 

"No, thank you for taking care of my brother," the red-head said as he
opened the door for Goten.

Their bodies brushed against each other momentarily as Goten walked
past; they both froze, black and emerald eyes locked in a myriad of
questions - and no answers.

"Goodbye, Goten," Mrs Hatanaka appeared behind her son, bidding farewell
to him.

"Uh, bye!"  He managed to wrench his eyes away from the emerald green
pools that threatened to drown him in mystery, and walk away, leaving
them behind.

<What the *hell* kind of a ki was *that*!?!>

***********
Rhionae
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3226/fanfics.htm