Discovery (Open)

[Nam Reikonaga]

Nam followed Ritoru through the branches and bushes without breaking a sweat. He wasn’t really paying much attention to the obstacles as he was more involved in deep thought, observing and studying the young boy. He was still in turmoil, unable to decide what the right thing to do was. Nam bit his bottom lip, trying not to severe the tissue with his teeth as he made an impossible choice.

Before he knew it, they had stopped running. The race was so easygoing he didn’t even notice the transition between running and stopping and soon found himself faced with Ritoru’s puzzled expression as he realized Nam could catch up to him. Nam gasped. The blond boy quickly embraced his leg, stating he could ‘stay’ with him. Nam couldn’t help but chuckle. He gazed at his gloved hand, finally realizing what all those giggles were about. Mickey… huh? He thought.

The cloaked man crouched and looked into Ritoru’s bright blue eyes even though he couldn’t see his. “Do you really want to come with me?” he asked. The possibilities rushed through his eyes as he did. If Ru wanted to go, then it was his choice, no? “Do you really want to help me fight the bad guys?” he repeated, clarifying his question. Still, he couldn’t help but think Ritoru didn’t know what he was talking about. He probably meant scaring off some stray dog or harassing a poor defenseless squirrel. Nam decided he would hang around the kid for a while. He wouldn’t teach him anything unless he was completely sure it was what he wanted.

If Ritoru was going to become a fighter, it’d have to be his choice and his alone. Nam was willing to babysit the boy until his path was clear. But what if the boy didn’t want to fight? What would the brunette saiyan do next? Leave him where he found him? Unlikely… He’d just have to find out as they go along.

[Deleted]

"Wait a minute! This is a partnoship!"

The boy exclaimed as Nam asked if he really wanted to help. Indignantly he crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air retorting with yet another innocent sentiment.

"We gotta split all the treasure and glory okay?"

He said looking back at Nam once more, the half smile on his face showing his eagerness to actually be doing something with another person as opposed to spending yet another night alone in the wilderness. His charming and innocent arrogance shone through as Nam continued to over analyze the situation, or perhaps rather Ru was under analyzing it. Regardless he was prepared to head out whenever Nam was.

"So Mickey wadda ya say, partno's!"

He said holding out his hand to complete the business transaction, and seal them as equal partners in a battle against the 'bad guys'.

[Nam Reikonaga]

“You got it!” he said, smiling, although Ritoru wouldn’t know with that hood over his face. Nam knew the kid had no idea what he was getting himself into. He planned to gradually, somehow, reveal it to him in a way he yet did not know; and then, he would choose. Nam shook the kids small hand, deciding to play along for now. It’d probably be best if he called him Mickey…

After what seemed like hours, the two of them found themselves laying on the tall grass under the starry sky, gazing at the constellations. Midnight was near. Nam was still wearing his black cloak and his face remained concealed. He lay with his arms propped under the back of his head and one leg resting over the other. “Tell me about yourself.” Nam spoke up, breaking the silence which tempted to lull either of them to sleep. He was curious. How does a little guy like this end up alone? How does he stay ignorant about the world in the way he is? Maybe he always ran into people like Nam who refrained from shedding light of what this world was truly like and have the kid remain within the safety of his bubble.

He closed his eyes, waiting for a response. If he didn’t say something soon, Nam would succumb to his heavy eyes. Was it safe? Was it wise? Should he just lay here and sleep leisurely with this child? He didn’t know, and frankly, he gradually started to not even care.

[Deleted]

His clothes were scattered over a large rock nearby the two half saiyans, his tail wrapped safely around the boys tattered pants, serving as an adequate belt. Ru felt the grass inbetween his toes, and the wind over his chest and couldnt help but smile, breathing deeply and enjoying the silence of the night. Any other night he would need a fire to keep him safe, but with the hooded figure he felt safe. One may not understand what Ritoru was afraid of, as a boy of such strength he could easily handle any troubles that a normal boy would run into, but for Ru normal was not so normal after all.

Then Nam spoke, asking him about well...him. It was a silly question Ru thought, what was there to tell, but he spoke freely, there was no censor on Ru like most children, and so he would just talk and hope he answered nam's question.

"I come from a place where they keep all the boys who don't have mommies or daddies. It was okay there, but one day they said I couldnt stay there anymore so I came out heye. Its coldo out heye but its fun, like having a big backyawd."

He said squirming a little on the ground, feeling the dirt scratch up against the bare of his back. Ru put both hands on his stomach and kept looking up at the large nightscape, the moon was a small crescent shape, and was complimented by the trillions of stars that surrounded it.

Ritoru had a well toned front, much more than the average child. His abs were actually formed, as were the muscles on his arms. For a child he certainly had an unnatural strength about him, and it showed.

[Nam Reikonaga]

The leaves and grass blades fluttered with the smooth wind as they tried to break through Nam’s leather cloak and caress his tan skin. Besides their voices, it was completely silent –nothing but nature surrounding them everywhere. Nam’s eyes were closed. He listened intently at the young boy as he explained. He didn’t sense and grief.

"I come from a place where they keep all the boys who don't have mommies or daddies.” He said.

An orphanage, he thought. Ritoru was probably abandoned at a very early age; in fact, it still seemed too soon. “How old are you?” he asked.

Nam opened a single eye and observed the kid’s toned body through his eyelids. He’s a saiyan, he thought. Definitely. But looking at him like this, Nam finally began to realize who the kid resembled. With the blond hair, shirtless, toned, nothing but pants; somehow, he reminded Nam of Zach. Impossible, he thought, smirking at the absurd idea. Zach didn’t swing that way –much less with a saiyan woman.

[Deleted]

"This many!"

He said holding up four fingers to the sky. Reading, writing, and math were all things Ru had not yet learned before getting cast out of the orphanage, and forced to live on his own. But thats how it had happened. Ru just assumed that it was his time to leave, but perhaps there was more too it.

But now Ru retorted with his own questions.

"Mickey why aw you out heye"

He asked, as he remembered asking early that day. Ru never ran into people out here, and so he was curious as to why Nam would be traveling out here. As far as Ru could tell there were no bad guys, and it got pretty lonely. Ru couldnt figure out why anyone else would choose this kind of life.

"Why do you covo youw face"

A follow up as Ru looked over at him, he had not cared much before, but the more he thought about it, the stranger the whole thing seemed.

[Nam Reikonaga]

“The same reason you’re here, silly!” Nam joked, skillfully evading the question and returning the gaze to Ritoru. It was almost hard to believe that a living being was actually inside the cloak, every corner of his body was covered in black as to keep the color of his skin hidden, along with any other features that could identify him. Any normal kid would’ve started feeling uneasy –especially since it was Halloween just a few days ago. He roughed up Ru’s blond hair with his gloved hand, remembering his younger days, running up to people’s houses on Central City and asking for sweet delicious candy. Does Ritoru know about Halloween?

It was one of Nam’s favorite yearly celebrations, after Christmas of course. He loved how the streets were decorated to create that scary atmosphere. It was impossible to not notice it was Halloween. Ghouls at the door of every house, spider webs, and little kids dressed like monsters and vampires, a haunted mansion at every corner, and it was always different. Humans took their celebrations quite seriously; they knew how to have a good time! Nam’s eyes softened. How he wished to relive those moments again…

"Why do you covo youw face?" Ritoru asked again, bringing Nam back to the present. He pondered for a few moments.

“I’m playing hide-and-seek…” he replied, smiling.

[Deleted]

Now that was just silly, who was he hiding from?

"Come ooooonnnn"

He said sitting up and turning on his knee's now sitting over the large man. Putting both of his hands on Nam's chest he looked into the hood, which of course bore nothing more than a shadow. Ru wanted to see his face, or at least know why he was hiding it.

"Are you really ugly under there"


He asked trying to grab at the hood, presumebly being stopped by Nam. Maybe he had scars or burns, maybe he was just really ugly, or had a big nose. Whatever it was Ru wanted to see, especially if he was going to follow nam.

"Come on you can show me!"

He said finally standing on nam's stomach looking down. Being nearly 40 pounds the child would not disrupt nam's breathing or really even cause discomfort by standing on him, and so Ru put his hands on his hip and continued looking down.

"Show me them eaws mickey!"

He said with a giggle as he tapped his foot on the pectorals of nam's chest.

[Nam Reikonaga]

Nam gulped as a drop of sweat rolled down his concealed face. He gently stopped the child’s hand from getting any closer to his face. Ritoru pouted and put his hands on his thighs. He stood over Nam’s pectorals, and although he weighed virtually nothing, he was still over Nam and he wasn’t made of stone. His flesh slightly sunk down to the little weight being forced upon it. His breathing gagged in rhythm with the sudden movements of Ru’s tapping feet.

Nam sat up and propped his hands behind his back. “Are you sure?” he asked, looking into his bright blue eyes. He didn’t know why, but something about this kid always made him succumb. He was a charmer and Nam felt like he wanted to please him. But was it wise? Wouldn’t knowing Nam’s identity put him in greater danger? Nam was a wanted man and Ritoru could end up being interrogated about his whereabouts. He swung his body upward and stood on his feet, looking down at the blond boy as he continued to beg.

Ritoru was going to travel with Nam apparently. In fact, he was glad it was his choice because he couldn’t bring himself to just walk away from the kid now that he knew he existed. Even if Ritoru had decided not to come with him, he would’ve watched over him from the shadows because the anxiety would kill him. Nam wouldn’t be able to function properly with his conscious constantly thinking about the boy he met in the plateaus and chose to leave behind. If Ritoru was going to go with Nam, then he deserved to know who he was. After-all, he’d personally make sure the kid remained safe as long as they were together. But that’s what worried him. They couldn’t be together all the time…

Nam gulped. The kid watching him with anticipation as his arms rose overhead, probably making up all kinds of weird fantastical features –like mouse ears, which was illogical. If Nam had big round ears, its shape would bulge out of the hood, but Ritoru was a kid and he didn’t expect him to consider that. Finally, he flipped the hood off…

His small locks of brown hair fluttered over his face and flickered gently with the wind. Small brown eyes gazed down at the little boy from above, shrunken through the years by countless experiences as he became mellow, wiser –and a little bit colder. His eyes had a sad feeling to it, but it wasn’t expected of Ritoru to pick that up. They were also curious and gentle. His sun-kissed face was shined upon by the crescent moon’s reflection. An accused face, he thought. A face worth bountiful rewards to hunters and assassins –yet they all failed to lay but a scratch.

“My name’s Nam.” He spoke, finally introducing himself with the young boy. No longer were there any secrets between the two –except for those he felt the child could not understand. “But just call me Mickey!” he quickly said, his eyes closed in a crescent as he smiled softly at the child. It’d be troublesome if Ritoru started calling him Nam indiscriminately, regardless of who was around them.

[Deleted]

His facial expression immediately lit, the moment Nam's face came into view Ritoru recognized it. This was the man from his dream, the one that had stopped the large orange meteorite from crashing into the earth. This was the man who saved every living creature in his dream.

"I know you!"

He said leaping off of nam and running in circles around the man, unable to contain himself. This was the first time one of his dreams proved real, usually they just felt real but were in reality a fiction, but he had never met Nam before, but he was definetely the man from his dream.

"You stopped the big owange thing from hitting the wowld"

He said doing some fake fighting moves as if pretending he were in fact punching the 'big orange thing' away. It was the last move that he did however that would likely arouse suspicion with Nam, Cupping his hands to one side, and then pushing them forward, for a split second Ru looked as though he were doing the Kamehameha wave, just as Nam had done to deflect the death ball.

This part of the fight had not been broadcasted the planet, it would make Nam out to be a hero, but Ru had seen it all, or rather from the orange orb, to Nam's defense, he had been unable to see what was truly behind the orb, or what it actually was. But he knew Nam was a hero.

"You weally DO fight bad guys, this is gonna be sweet!"

[Nam Reikonaga]

“I know you!” the boy called out in delight. Nam gasped as he hopped off his chest and began to run around him in circles. But Nam was dumbfounded. Where could he have possibly heard of him? Were rumors being spread? He thought.

"You stopped the big owange thing from hitting the wowld"

What?

The images of that fateful day flashed through his eyes by the recalling of those words. The orange thing Ritoru was talking about was actually a mix of red and purple ki with perfect black sparks of ominous power. Nam had been the single being that day that stood between that and the earth’s destruction. He had much longer hair back then, his golden locks curving down his back and ending at the waist (first SSJ 3 xD).

He watched, awestruck, as the little boy started throwing punches and kicks at the air –running all over the place. But the way Ritoru spoke of him, it was as if he thought of him as a hero. How could the child understand Nam to be a hero if Geurin spoke of him as a villain and masterfully twisted the truth to support his claims? How could a child see through his lies while the entire world could not? Or maybe he just misunderstood the global message, still broadcasted today as a retelling of their story.

Nam’s brows furrowed together and his eyes widened as Ritoru did something which blew his mind away. The boy crouched and cupped his hands behind him, then extending his arms forward in one motion. Nothing came out, but it was the stance that amazed him. How? There was currently no institution teaching the Kamehameha Wave, where could he have seen the stance? His fight? But… Ritoru was four years old… and his fight happened nearly five years ago…

“Ritoru…” he said, crouching next to him as he continued to talk on and on about how amazing he was. “How exactly did you hear about me? Where did you… see that stance?”

[Deleted]

Ritoru paused for a moment, now slightly confused at the question. His eyebrows came down slightly and the boy responded.

"Silly I saw you!"

He said as he returned to his previous kicking and punching as if what he was saying made perfect sense. Being the child that he was, he did not often think things through before speaking, and so it did not occur to him that the dreams he had were only viewed by him, and so having seen the event without actually being there was a bit perplexing. But for Ru this was the best night of his life. A real life super hero was not only in front of him, but had picked him up as a partner, Ru was like Robin! An Nam was of course Batman.

"This is great, you gotta show me all your cool moves!"

He said jumping high into the air, and flapping his arms like wings only to come back down to earth. The ability to fly, shoot energy, and be as strong as Nam was, was nothing more than a super power if ever there was one.

[Nam Reikonaga]

Nam was left with yet another vague answer. He furrowed his eyebrows and pondered. Geurin hadn’t revealed that part in his broadcast. Revealing that part would’ve hurt his cause, so he only showed the public the part in which Nam burst into a fit of rage and transformed into a Super Saiyan for the first time. He definitely didn’t seem friendly at the time, not with the mountains turning to rubble all around him as they succumbed to his new found power.

“Ritoru,” he insisted. “Where did you see me?” he emphasized on that first word to try and get the message across. It was now undeniable that Ru somehow saw his fight with Touketsuki Yakedo. Where else could he have seen it? Nam immediately thought about Korin’s Tower. It fit bill, that’s for sure.

Ritoru had the physical strength and stamina required to climb that thing, and seeing as he lived like a nomad, it wouldn’t be odd for him to have run into the colossal tower. Inside the top of that isolated tower, Nam had experienced a strange pot. He had untapped the pot only to find himself looking at water. The water began to ripple out of nowhere and within it was Nam’s very first vision of Touketsuki Yakedo. He hadn’t understood what he was looking at until later on when he was briefed on the events that had taken place in the Intergalactic World Tournament.

[Deleted]

Ritoru stopped, now Nam seemed angry with him. His confusion only intensified as he stared at Nam. He was a hero, there was no doubt about that, but why was it important how Ru had seen him. Just the fact that Ru had seen the event was proven true by Nam's reaction. But why so serious?

"I....in my dweam"

He said, now frowning and looking up at Nam, the last person he told about his dreams had been the nun that watched over the orphanage, and her reaction was to make him leave the orphanage. Was Nam going to leave him now too? His dreams had only ever brought bad things on the child. His lip quivvered a little as he spoke again

"I...Im sorry...d...d...don't leave"

He said, standing completely still, his bright blue eyes begining to well up as he spoke. He had finally found someone who he could compete with, and now that person might leave him, Ru didnt want that, not again.

[Nam Reikonaga]

Nam’s eyes softened with confusion as the child began to whimper. Wait, why is he crying? He wondered. But he couldn’t keep his analytical mind from thinking about the first words he uttered from his quivering lips. A dream? His eyebrows furrowed again. What an exquisite idea it was. Amazing! Yet, this child was crying.

Nam roughed up his hair with his gloved hand. “I’m not going anywhere…” he reassured. He tried to smile, but he could only express seriousness through his stagnant expression.

”He saw me through a dream?” he thought inquisitively, promptly forgetting all about the misty eyed child flooding the ground with his tears. He was still gazing at him, but he wasn’t looking at him and soon even his gaze shifted over the kids head. “In a dream…” he repeated, mostly to himself.

Nam looked back down at Ritoru. He kept telling himself to move on. Yes, the dream was interesting, but it was time to let go. His eyes softened and he finally managed to smile, easing the poor childs heart. “Ritoru, you want to be strong too, right?” he asked. Ritoru had witnessed, even though it was through a dream, he had seen what a real fight was like. He saw what power looked like, and because of that –because he could now imagine how power looked like, he was capable of grasping it. The whole thing was probably a game to him, fighting off the ‘bad guys’ being a ‘hero’. Nam soon learned that there was no such thing a villains and heroes –only self-righteousness. Everyone acted by their beliefs, and thus, right and wrong became a relative and bias argument.

If the kid wished to fight, then Nam would accept him. Eventually, he’d have to fight anyway. He was fated to do so the moment he was born as a saiyan. Nam kept telling himself he would refrain from teaching Ritoru any of his ideals. The kid would have to choose between right and wrong through his own eyes and experience, uninfluenced by Nam’s own opinion on the matter.