Aeris was genuinely thrown off by Goku's sudden request.
Teach him how to train?
Come on.
She already had enough of a headache teaching Bulma. Now there was another one? And unlike Bulma, Goku was an actual martial artist. The problem was, Aeris didn't really know how to teach people. Bulma had been a special case.
"Mr. Goku, I'm not very good at teaching," Aeris said, trying to dodge the issue. "If you want me to train with you, that's one thing. But teaching you properly? I don't think I'm qualified for that."
Goku immediately stood up and bowed at a full ninety degrees.
"Please, Aeris."
That only made things worse.
Aeris suddenly felt awkward.
Because let's be real here, if she actually tried to "teach" him, there was a very good chance she'd just ruin him instead. Bulma was one thing. Bulma's situation had been weird from the beginning.
Goku saw that she still had not agreed and lowered his head again.
"Aeris... please..."
In the end, she could only sigh.
Before he could continue, she stood up and pulled him back upright.
"Let's talk about this tomorrow," she said. "My kind of training isn't really suitable here anyway. And shouldn't you talk it over with Chi-Chi first?"
Goku instantly lit up.
"Thanks, Aeris!"
Then he scratched the back of his head and flashed that trademark dumb, honest grin of his.
Aeris rubbed her temple.
"Fine. We'll leave it at that. I..."
Then she suddenly remembered why she had come out in the first place.
Shit.
She had completely forgotten the actual reason.
Ever since meeting this muscle-brained idiot, she had been acting weird. It was annoying. Really annoying.
And she had been gone a little too long already. Bulma was probably worried by now.
After thinking about it for a moment, Aeris looked back at Goku.
"Mr. Goku, do you have a phone at home?"
"A phone?" Goku tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Uhhhh... Chi-Chi has one. I'll go get it."
Then he ran back toward the house.
The whole process somehow sounded like total chaos from inside.
Honestly, what a fascinating little creature.
A short while later, Goku came back out holding an old, outdated phone in his hand.
Aeris stared.
She had already gotten the impression that Goku's family wasn't exactly well off...
but damn.
Was it really that bad?
A phone wasn't that expensive, was it?
Still, she didn't say anything.
Because the moment she remembered Saiyan appetites, everything suddenly made perfect sense again.
Yeah.
That explained a lot.
She took the phone and called Bulma.
The second Goku heard that the person she was calling was actually Bulma, he looked genuinely shocked. He clearly hadn't expected Aeris to know Bulma, let alone live at her house.
After chatting with Bulma for a bit and reassuring her that she was fine, Aeris handed the phone back.
"You know Bulma?" Goku asked. "And you're staying at her place?"
"Yeah," Aeris said, pressing a hand to her forehead. "You could say we're somewhere between teacher and friend."
"You taught her how to train too?" Goku looked even more surprised. Bulma had never exactly struck him as someone passionate about martial arts.
"I only taught her a few self-defense basics and how to fly. That's about all I can teach, honestly. I'm not good at instructing people."
That part was true.
If the topic was killing people, sure, she was very experienced.
Teaching?
Not so much.
"I see..." Goku nodded, half understanding and half not.
Then he looked at her again, curiosity bubbling up.
"Can you tell me more about our race?"
Aeris paused.
"This, huh..." She looked up at the night sky. "I don't know that much either. Like I told you before, all I really know is that we're called Saiyans. We look almost the same as humans, except for the tail. And since I was abandoned as a kid, that's more or less all I've got."
The moment she finished speaking, she frowned inwardly.
What the hell was wrong with her today?
Why was she talking so much?
"I see..." Goku repeated again, sounding like he understood even less this time.
"All right, enough of that. Get some rest. Tomorrow I'll take you somewhere that should suit you."
With that, Aeris took out a capsule and tossed it onto the ground.
Pop.
A tent appeared in the clearing.
Without another word, she went inside.
After washing up, Aeris lay down in her sleeping bag and stared at the ceiling of the tent, thinking about how strange she had been acting all day.
At least she had not said too much.
That alone counted as a blessing.
Still turning those thoughts over in her head, she eventually drifted off to sleep.
The next morning...
Aeris woke up slowly, stretched lazily, and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Mmm... nice weather today. Perfect day to go cause some trouble."
After moving around for a bit, she packed up the tent and put it away, then started her usual morning exercise.
She ran laps around the Mount Paozu area wearing weighted gear, enjoying the rhythm of it. After a while, she spotted Goku up ahead.
Her eyes shifted.
Then suddenly lit up.
A very fun idea had just occurred to her.
Aeris suppressed her presence completely and crept up behind him without making a sound.
Then she let out a creepy, drawn-out laugh.
"Son... Gokuuu... I'm so lonely... come play... with me..."
Goku's whole body went stiff.
Goosebumps exploded across his skin.
He turned his head with visible effort and found himself face-to-face with Aeris, who now looked like a ghost from a horror story, her face deathly pale, blood tears streaming from her eyes.
"GAAAAH!"
That reaction was immediate and glorious.
And once Goku realized the terrifying ghost in his face was actually Aeris, his expression became even better.
"Aeris!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Aeris doubled over on the spot, laughing so hard she almost collapsed.
"This is amazing. That was amazing! Your face just now was priceless! I can't do this, I'm dying, hahahaha!"
She even started imitating his expression.
Then that reminded her of his actual face again, which only made her laugh harder.
"Stop laughing..." Goku said helplessly.
To be fair, anyone would have been scared if someone hit them with that kind of jump scare at point-blank range.
Aeris laughed until her stomach hurt, then finally forced herself upright again.
"Okay, okay, I'm done. I'm done..." She wiped at her eyes. "I just didn't expect you to actually get scared, Mr. Goku."
She looked at him with obvious delight.
Goku stared at her with a strange expression.
What kind of person was this?
Yesterday she had seemed pretty normal. Today she had suddenly become some kind of chaos-loving menace.
Was scaring people really that fun?
Aeris, meanwhile, paid absolutely no attention to his emotional state and simply walked over to a nearby stream to wash her face.
As she splashed water onto her cheeks, she asked, "By the way, Mr. Goku, did you tell Chi-Chi you wanted to go train?"
Goku nodded repeatedly and looked very much like he wanted to leave right now.
That told Aeris everything she needed to know.
Yes, he had probably mentioned it.
No, he had almost certainly not gotten proper permission.
Even with the short amount of time she had spent around them, she could already guess how this worked.
Still, she had no intention of getting involved.
It wasn't her problem.
At most, she was taking Goku to her gravity chamber.
That was it.
Why would she go looking for extra trouble?
She checked the time.
"It's seven in the morning. We leave in half an hour. If there's anything you need to bring, hurry up. I'm not waiting forever."
"Okay!"
The moment she said it, Goku called down the Flying Nimbus and zipped off on it to get ready.
Aeris watched him disappear in a rush, then leaned back against a nearby tree to wait.
Half an hour later, Goku came back carrying almost nothing, which honestly felt very on-brand.
Aeris looked at him once, said nothing, and tossed out another capsule.
Pop.
A small ship appeared in front of them.
Goku's eyes widened.
"That's handy."
"Get in."
He did.
Aeris followed after him, entered the controls, and sent the ship into the air.
Once they were on their way, Goku glanced around the cabin with open curiosity. It was clear he had a lot of questions, but for once, he kept himself under control.
Aeris appreciated that more than she expected.
For about ten seconds.
Then he spoke.
"So where are we going?"
"My gravity chamber."
"What's that?"
"A place where you train while the gravity gets heavier."
Goku blinked.
Then his whole face lit up.
"You can do that?!"
Aeris glanced at him sideways.
"Yes. Try not to look so excited. It makes me nervous."
That did absolutely nothing to calm him down.
Instead, he leaned forward even more.
"That sounds incredible! How much gravity can it use? Have you trained there a lot? Is that why you're so strong? Can I try it right away?"
Aeris stared at him for a moment.
Then sighed.
Yep.
There it was.
The real Goku.
"I've trained in it a lot," she said. "And no, you're not jumping straight to the stupid part."
Goku blinked. "The stupid part?"
"The part where you get crushed into the floor because you got overexcited and cranked it too high."
That shut him up.
For a moment.
Then he laughed awkwardly and scratched his cheek.
"Yeah... I might do that."
"You absolutely would."
The trip took a while, and during it Aeris explained the basics. Not much, just enough.
The gravity chamber was dangerous.
Extremely dangerous.
It was not the kind of place where someone improvised for fun.
You started low.
You adapted slowly.
You learned your limits.
And if you ignored those rules, the chamber would happily kill you.
Goku listened with unusual seriousness.
That was probably because the subject was training.
At last, the ship reached its destination.
Once they landed, Aeris led him inside.
The first thing Goku noticed was the chamber itself.
The second thing he noticed was all the dried bloodstains that had clearly been cleaned but not perfectly erased.
He looked at Aeris.
She looked away.
"Don't ask."
Goku grinned.
"So you really almost died in there?"
Aeris gave him a flat look.
"Several times."
"That's amazing."
"No, it wasn't."
To Goku, however, it really was amazing.
He stepped closer to the chamber, practically glowing with enthusiasm.
Aeris could already tell she was going to regret this.
She crossed her arms and said, "Before you even think about using it, I'm setting the rules."
Goku turned immediately.
"All right."
"One: you don't touch anything without me telling you to."
"Okay."
"Two: if I say stop, you stop."
"Okay."
"Three: if you try to act clever, I will knock you unconscious myself before the chamber gets the chance."
Goku laughed.
Aeris did not.
A few seconds later, he realized she was serious.
"...Okay."
"Good."
Then she explained how the controls worked, how to breathe under increased pressure, how to brace his body, and how to recognize the difference between strain and actual danger. It was a rough explanation, not polished in the least, but it was practical.
That, more than anything, was Aeris's style.
Goku listened, asked a few questions, and then stepped into the chamber.
Aeris kept the setting low at first.
Very low.
The gravity increased.
Goku's body dipped slightly, then steadied.
"Oh," he said, surprised. "This is weird."
"Good weird or bad weird?"
"Fun weird."
"Of course that's your answer."
She raised it a little more.
Then a little more.
Goku adapted quickly. Incredibly quickly.
Aeris watched him with narrowed eyes.
This was exactly why Saiyans were such ridiculous creatures.
Give them pressure, pain, a wall to smash their face into, and they'd come back stronger just out of spite.
Minutes passed.
Sweat started running down Goku's face, but his grin only got wider.
"This is great!"
Aeris stared at him for a long moment.
Then finally muttered to herself, "Oh no."
Goku looked up.
"What?"
"I just realized something."
"What?"
Aeris slowly smiled.
A dangerous smile.
The kind of smile that meant the gods had left the room.
"I've found a new hobby."
Goku, unfortunately, did not understand what that meant.
He would.
Very soon.
Because once Aeris realized how much fun it was to watch someone willingly throw themselves into suffering for the sake of getting stronger, something in her brain clicked into place.
This was entertaining.
Extremely entertaining.
A little later, after Goku had been through several rounds of controlled gravity training and was sprawled on the floor panting, Aeris crouched beside him and looked almost delighted.
"So," she said sweetly, "ready for the next round?"
Goku looked up at her, drenched in sweat, exhausted to the bone, and still somehow excited.
"Yeah!"
Aeris's smile widened.
Yep.
This was definitely going to be fun.
A lot more fun than she had expected.
And just like that, Aeris discovered a brand-new source of entertainment.
Chapter 6: A New Kind of Fun
Aeris was genuinely thrown off by Goku's sudden request.
Teach him how to train?
Come on.
She already had enough of a headache teaching Bulma. Now there was another one? And unlike Bulma, Goku was an actual martial artist. The problem was, Aeris didn't really know how to teach people. Bulma had been a special case.
"Mr. Goku, I'm not very good at teaching," Aeris said, trying to dodge the issue. "If you want me to train with you, that's one thing. But teaching you properly? I don't think I'm qualified for that."
Goku immediately stood up and bowed at a full ninety degrees.
"Please, Aeris."
That only made things worse.
Aeris suddenly felt awkward.
Because let's be real here, if she actually tried to "teach" him, there was a very good chance she'd just ruin him instead. Bulma was one thing. Bulma's situation had been weird from the beginning.
Goku saw that she still had not agreed and lowered his head again.
"Aeris... please..."
In the end, she could only sigh.
Before he could continue, she stood up and pulled him back upright.
"Let's talk about this tomorrow," she said. "My kind of training isn't really suitable here anyway. And shouldn't you talk it over with Chi-Chi first?"
Goku instantly lit up.
"Thanks, Aeris!"
Then he scratched the back of his head and flashed that trademark dumb, honest grin of his.
Aeris rubbed her temple.
"Fine. We'll leave it at that. I..."
Then she suddenly remembered why she had come out in the first place.
Shit.
She had completely forgotten the actual reason.
Ever since meeting this muscle-brained idiot, she had been acting weird. It was annoying. Really annoying.
And she had been gone a little too long already. Bulma was probably worried by now.
After thinking about it for a moment, Aeris looked back at Goku.
"Mr. Goku, do you have a phone at home?"
"A phone?" Goku tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Uhhhh... Chi-Chi has one. I'll go get it."
Then he ran back toward the house.
The whole process somehow sounded like total chaos from inside.
Honestly, what a fascinating little creature.
A short while later, Goku came back out holding an old, outdated phone in his hand.
Aeris stared.
She had already gotten the impression that Goku's family wasn't exactly well off...
but damn.
Was it really that bad?
A phone wasn't that expensive, was it?
Still, she didn't say anything.
Because the moment she remembered Saiyan appetites, everything suddenly made perfect sense again.
Yeah.
That explained a lot.
She took the phone and called Bulma.
The second Goku heard that the person she was calling was actually Bulma, he looked genuinely shocked. He clearly hadn't expected Aeris to know Bulma, let alone live at her house.
After chatting with Bulma for a bit and reassuring her that she was fine, Aeris handed the phone back.
"You know Bulma?" Goku asked. "And you're staying at her place?"
"Yeah," Aeris said, pressing a hand to her forehead. "You could say we're somewhere between teacher and friend."
"You taught her how to train too?" Goku looked even more surprised. Bulma had never exactly struck him as someone passionate about martial arts.
"I only taught her a few self-defense basics and how to fly. That's about all I can teach, honestly. I'm not good at instructing people."
That part was true.
If the topic was killing people, sure, she was very experienced.
Teaching?
Not so much.
"I see..." Goku nodded, half understanding and half not.
Then he looked at her again, curiosity bubbling up.
"Can you tell me more about our race?"
Aeris paused.
"This, huh..." She looked up at the night sky. "I don't know that much either. Like I told you before, all I really know is that we're called Saiyans. We look almost the same as humans, except for the tail. And since I was abandoned as a kid, that's more or less all I've got."
The moment she finished speaking, she frowned inwardly.
What the hell was wrong with her today?
Why was she talking so much?
"I see..." Goku repeated again, sounding like he understood even less this time.
"All right, enough of that. Get some rest. Tomorrow I'll take you somewhere that should suit you."
With that, Aeris took out a capsule and tossed it onto the ground.
Pop.
A tent appeared in the clearing.
Without another word, she went inside.
After washing up, Aeris lay down in her sleeping bag and stared at the ceiling of the tent, thinking about how strange she had been acting all day.
At least she had not said too much.
That alone counted as a blessing.
Still turning those thoughts over in her head, she eventually drifted off to sleep.
The next morning...
Aeris woke up slowly, stretched lazily, and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Mmm... nice weather today. Perfect day to go cause some trouble."
After moving around for a bit, she packed up the tent and put it away, then started her usual morning exercise.
She ran laps around the Mount Paozu area wearing weighted gear, enjoying the rhythm of it. After a while, she spotted Goku up ahead.
Her eyes shifted.
Then suddenly lit up.
A very fun idea had just occurred to her.
Aeris suppressed her presence completely and crept up behind him without making a sound.
Then she let out a creepy, drawn-out laugh.
"Son... Gokuuu... I'm so lonely... come play... with me..."
Goku's whole body went stiff.
Goosebumps exploded across his skin.
He turned his head with visible effort and found himself face-to-face with Aeris, who now looked like a ghost from a horror story, her face deathly pale, blood tears streaming from her eyes.
"GAAAAH!"
That reaction was immediate and glorious.
And once Goku realized the terrifying ghost in his face was actually Aeris, his expression became even better.
"Aeris!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Aeris doubled over on the spot, laughing so hard she almost collapsed.
"This is amazing. That was amazing! Your face just now was priceless! I can't do this, I'm dying, hahahaha!"
She even started imitating his expression.
Then that reminded her of his actual face again, which only made her laugh harder.
"Stop laughing..." Goku said helplessly.
To be fair, anyone would have been scared if someone hit them with that kind of jump scare at point-blank range.
Aeris laughed until her stomach hurt, then finally forced herself upright again.
"Okay, okay, I'm done. I'm done..." She wiped at her eyes. "I just didn't expect you to actually get scared, Mr. Goku."
She looked at him with obvious delight.
Goku stared at her with a strange expression.
What kind of person was this?
Yesterday she had seemed pretty normal. Today she had suddenly become some kind of chaos-loving menace.
Was scaring people really that fun?
Aeris, meanwhile, paid absolutely no attention to his emotional state and simply walked over to a nearby stream to wash her face.
As she splashed water onto her cheeks, she asked, "By the way, Mr. Goku, did you tell Chi-Chi you wanted to go train?"
Goku nodded repeatedly and looked very much like he wanted to leave right now.
That told Aeris everything she needed to know.
Yes, he had probably mentioned it.
No, he had almost certainly not gotten proper permission.
Even with the short amount of time she had spent around them, she could already guess how this worked.
Still, she had no intention of getting involved.
It wasn't her problem.
At most, she was taking Goku to her gravity chamber.
That was it.
Why would she go looking for extra trouble?
She checked the time.
"It's seven in the morning. We leave in half an hour. If there's anything you need to bring, hurry up. I'm not waiting forever."
"Okay!"
The moment she said it, Goku called down the Flying Nimbus and zipped off on it to get ready.
Aeris watched him disappear in a rush, then leaned back against a nearby tree to wait.
Half an hour later, Goku came back carrying almost nothing, which honestly felt very on-brand.
Aeris looked at him once, said nothing, and tossed out another capsule.
Pop.
A small ship appeared in front of them.
Goku's eyes widened.
"That's handy."
"Get in."
He did.
Aeris followed after him, entered the controls, and sent the ship into the air.
Once they were on their way, Goku glanced around the cabin with open curiosity. It was clear he had a lot of questions, but for once, he kept himself under control.
Aeris appreciated that more than she expected.
For about ten seconds.
Then he spoke.
"So where are we going?"
"My gravity chamber."
"What's that?"
"A place where you train while the gravity gets heavier."
Goku blinked.
Then his whole face lit up.
"You can do that?!"
Aeris glanced at him sideways.
"Yes. Try not to look so excited. It makes me nervous."
That did absolutely nothing to calm him down.
Instead, he leaned forward even more.
"That sounds incredible! How much gravity can it use? Have you trained there a lot? Is that why you're so strong? Can I try it right away?"
Aeris stared at him for a moment.
Then sighed.
Yep.
There it was.
The real Goku.
"I've trained in it a lot," she said. "And no, you're not jumping straight to the stupid part."
Goku blinked. "The stupid part?"
"The part where you get crushed into the floor because you got overexcited and cranked it too high."
That shut him up.
For a moment.
Then he laughed awkwardly and scratched his cheek.
"Yeah... I might do that."
"You absolutely would."
The trip took a while, and during it Aeris explained the basics. Not much, just enough.
The gravity chamber was dangerous.
Extremely dangerous.
It was not the kind of place where someone improvised for fun.
You started low.
You adapted slowly.
You learned your limits.
And if you ignored those rules, the chamber would happily kill you.
Goku listened with unusual seriousness.
That was probably because the subject was training.
At last, the ship reached its destination.
Once they landed, Aeris led him inside.
The first thing Goku noticed was the chamber itself.
The second thing he noticed was all the dried bloodstains that had clearly been cleaned but not perfectly erased.
He looked at Aeris.
She looked away.
"Don't ask."
Goku grinned.
"So you really almost died in there?"
Aeris gave him a flat look.
"Several times."
"That's amazing."
"No, it wasn't."
To Goku, however, it really was amazing.
He stepped closer to the chamber, practically glowing with enthusiasm.
Aeris could already tell she was going to regret this.
She crossed her arms and said, "Before you even think about using it, I'm setting the rules."
Goku turned immediately.
"All right."
"One: you don't touch anything without me telling you to."
"Okay."
"Two: if I say stop, you stop."
"Okay."
"Three: if you try to act clever, I will knock you unconscious myself before the chamber gets the chance."
Goku laughed.
Aeris did not.
A few seconds later, he realized she was serious.
"...Okay."
"Good."
Then she explained how the controls worked, how to breathe under increased pressure, how to brace his body, and how to recognize the difference between strain and actual danger. It was a rough explanation, not polished in the least, but it was practical.
That, more than anything, was Aeris's style.
Goku listened, asked a few questions, and then stepped into the chamber.
Aeris kept the setting low at first.
Very low.
The gravity increased.
Goku's body dipped slightly, then steadied.
"Oh," he said, surprised. "This is weird."
"Good weird or bad weird?"
"Fun weird."
"Of course that's your answer."
She raised it a little more.
Then a little more.
Goku adapted quickly. Incredibly quickly.
Aeris watched him with narrowed eyes.
This was exactly why Saiyans were such ridiculous creatures.
Give them pressure, pain, a wall to smash their face into, and they'd come back stronger just out of spite.
Minutes passed.
Sweat started running down Goku's face, but his grin only got wider.
"This is great!"
Aeris stared at him for a long moment.
Then finally muttered to herself, "Oh no."
Goku looked up.
"What?"
"I just realized something."
"What?"
Aeris slowly smiled.
A dangerous smile.
The kind of smile that meant the gods had left the room.
"I've found a new hobby."
Goku, unfortunately, did not understand what that meant.
He would.
Very soon.
Because once Aeris realized how much fun it was to watch someone willingly throw themselves into suffering for the sake of getting stronger, something in her brain clicked into place.
This was entertaining.
Extremely entertaining.
A little later, after Goku had been through several rounds of controlled gravity training and was sprawled on the floor panting, Aeris crouched beside him and looked almost delighted.
"So," she said sweetly, "ready for the next round?"
Goku looked up at her, drenched in sweat, exhausted to the bone, and still somehow excited.
"Yeah!"
Aeris's smile widened.
Yep.
This was definitely going to be fun.
A lot more fun than she had expected.
And just like that, Aeris discovered a brand-new source of entertainment.