The Roundabout Way [The sequel to A Brief Interim]
By: Chocolate-chan
Warnings: yaoi, family stuff, and of course it had to be another lemon!!


“This is nice.”
“Yeah.” Trunks quickly shoved another bite of salad in his mouth, and Goten watched him and laughed.
“Even if you were late today.”
Trunks flashed him a grin. “Sorry I’m in such a hurry.”
The two were in a rather nice restaurant where they’d planned to meet for lunch. Only Trunks was a half hour late again, having been held up at work.
“If this keeps up I may not forgive you next time.”
“Ah, I told you...”
“Yeah right.” Goten teased him still, even though they were both grown and rather more mellow than they had been when they were kids. Goten finished his soup and waited, even though he knew he didn’t have too much more time to get back to work.
“Go.” Trunks murmured between bites.
“Nn?”
“Go to work, Goten. I don’t want to get you in trouble again. They might send you back to Kyoto.” He was joking, but Goten tilted his head without a smile.
“What would you do then?”
“Let’s just say, Capsule Corp. announces its sudden change of headquarters and moves to Kyoto.”
“Yeah right,” Goten repeated and smiled. “It’s my day to train the girls?”
“Hai.”
“I’ll see you after work. Should I bring dinner for the kids?”
“They’d love you forever.”
“Great, that makes everybody, I’m on a roll.” Goten grinned in his cocky way and got up, coming around to kiss Trunks briefly. He was glad that Trunks didn’t seem to mind it in public. He pulled on his sunglasses and waved goodbye as he left the restaurant.
//You’re something else, Son Goten,// Trunks thought as he watched appreciatively. When had Goten gotten a thing for dark clothes?
Oh well. He finished his hurried lunch and flew back to work. Something in him rebelled at going straight back inside, however. //I didn’t even get to spend any time with him today.// Trunks groused silently as he laid out on the roof.
It had been maybe six months since Goten had returned from his twelve-year stint in Kyoto. All Trunks had to say about Kyoto was ‘Lucky.’ Sometimes he missed the decade he could have spent with his then-best-friend. The rest of the time he was just glad of where they were now, even though they had their share of fist fights and arguments, it always seemed like they could see nothing past their affection for one another. Trunks’ thoughts also lingered elsewhere on that day, however.
//Ahh, Marron-chan... I wish you could see her. She’s growing up so fast....//
In a couple weeks or so was Rei’s thirteenth birthday. Trunks had been turning the back of his mind into knots trying to know what to get for her. She was becoming a bright energetic girl, moreso every day, like her Aunt Bra and of course her late mother.
Trunks dropped one booted foot from the rim of the roof and let it thunk onto the tar-topped rooftop.
//I wonder what Rei would say... what all of them would say if they knew about Goten and I...//
So far they had hidden their feelings from their children. Trunks was unsure of how much the kids may or may not have guessed, but other than the fact that they didn’t even go so far as to touch each other in front of their families they were really hiding nothing. At least, that’s what Trunks was comfortable thinking.
//I don’t really want to hide anything from them. If they asked I’d tell them the truth. But they don’t suspect, or I haven’t caught the signs, and until I have to say something I don’t want to. I’d rather be more secure with Goten first before I ask them how they feel about it.//
Trunks didn’t really expect there to be the biggest problem with it. Sure it would be awkward for everyone, with not only the traditional feelings of their father “replacing” their mother, but with the potential prospect being a guy... but he knew that the two of them loved each other and loved the kids, and Rei especially would be pleased to call Goten’s dark-haired little girl “nee-chan.” It might have been easier if he’d gotten around casually a bit, previously, Trunks realized, but maybe the fact that he hadn’t would tell somebody something.
//I don’t want to think of this. It’s depressing. I don’t even have a birthday gift for my daughter, and that’s more imminent than anything.// Trunks sighed and rose; drifted down to pry open the window to his third-story office and slip in and into his chair to the shocked eyes of his new assistant and the not-so-surprised eyes of his long-time secretary.
“You... you f-fly... fly..” The assistant tried, and the secretary covered up for him.
“The latest memo from the sister corporation, sir?”
“Yes, thanks.” Trunks took it and stewed over it in the sunlight from the window.
“Hey,” he asked suddenly, looking up. “Any of you have any idea what you would get for a thirteen-year-old’s birthday present?”

Goten kicked his muddied shoes aside as he entered Capsule Corp. armed to the teeth with cheeseburgers. No one seemed to notice that he had entered until someone cried, “I smell food!”
“Yum!”
Several pairs of feet ran out to meet him, and Goten sweatdropped slightly, once again feeling as the deer caught in headlights. //These kids are too energetic!//
Akira, the eleven-year-old boy who was experimenting with dying his hair white for some reason (boy had he gotten it from his father when Trunks first had the surprise sprung on him), took the food to the dining room as the others ran up for hugs. They’d all seemed to like Goten and his per-se daughter Ai from the first, and he came to think of them all as his own in a way after spending so much time with them.
Keisuke sniffed him and sighed heavily. “You smell like french fries....”
“I bet I know someone else who will in a minute.”
“Konbanwa Goten-san!” Ai exclaimed as she ran from the other room, a bit late on the news, and got a hug from him and a light kiss on the top of the head.
“Goten-san!” Rei’s ‘I-want-something-from-you-please’ voice cut in and she grabbed onto his waist and leaned into him. “My birthday’s in eighteen days and Tou-chan says you make great spaghetti and meatballs and that’s what I want! Do you think I could convince you to make it for me? Tou-chan burns meatballs.” She looked up at him with big shiny blue eyes and Ai laughed into the back of her hand.
“Oh, well it’s been years and years since I made spaghetti and meatballs....”
“Yeah,” Ai said with a laugh as the group journeyed into the dining room. “We eat _so_ healthy when it’s just us.” She smirked as she saw Hikaru arguing with her no-longer-matching twin brother over his chosen hair color once again. The two had previously had matching shiny blond locks which Goten termed “Marron-hair” until Akira went AWOL and turned up as atomic white. With his mother’s eyes, he looked nothing like his sister anymore, who had big blue orbs like her older sister. He also wore his hair very messy, which caused people to overlook their similarities to Hikaru’s sometime relief.
Goten shook his head at the young boy for the hundredth time. He seemed to be suffering from some type of early pre-adolescence, as his temper had been getting rather short.
“Onegaishimasu?” Rei tried again. She had gotten good at ignoring her siblings’ antics when it suited her.
“Alright, I’ll try hard. Looks like I’ll be testing a batch on Ai-chan sometime soon.”
“I’ll eat that too!” Rei insisted. Goten just laughed.
“Keisuke!” Ai admonished. “Get your head out of the bag!”
“But there’s fries down there!” He insisted, and Goten assured him that everyone would get fries.
Goten glanced around the house, saying “Did your father mention anything about being late?”
“He just said he hoped he wouldn’t be,” one of them murmured. Goten was unable to determine which was the culprit since they all had fairly high voices and all now had their faces stuffed.
“Which means he probably will be.” Goten had just finished when he sensed Trunks’ ki approaching. The kids went oblivious as they hadn’t reached that level yet... if they indeed ever would.
He rose from the table, (no one missed him at all,) and headed toward the door. When he opened it Trunks’ hand was on the doorknob and he was drawn over the threshold.
“He-llo,” Trunks said and blinked at him. Goten closed the door and snatched him up in a kiss before the kids could make a move. Turned out they wouldn’t abandon their cheeseburgers to each other’s tender mercies. Goten’s arms wrapped around his neck as he gave Trunks a kiss that made the tiring day melt away.
“I wish my day had been as good as yours,” Trunks said with a slight smile puling away.
“It’s better now,” Goten said with a grin and Trunks brushed a hand over his cheek. “I wanna talk to you later on if it’s okay.”
“Doushita no?”
“Not a thing. Just want some advice about something.”
“Oh...” Trunks said vaguely and hung his coat, kicking off his shoes and going in his socks.
“Hey, anybody miss me today?” Trunks asked and he received several “Uhn.”’s as he entered the dining room. They decided that being in the room was enough to guard their food and got up to hug him.
“‘Dju bring me that book I asked for Tou-chan?” Hikaru asked after receiving her hug.
“Uh-huh. What made you pick that one?” Trunks sat down with them at the table and deigned to steal french fries from the kids though he claimed he wasn’t hungry.
“I love that author,” Hikaru explained, then took a big bite of her cheeseburger.
They all sat fairly quiet until Goten noticed the twins staring across the table at each other.
“What?” Akira said.
“Tou-chan, are you gonna make him dye his hair back?” Hikaru said.
“But I don’t think there’s any way it’ll match your lovely shade again,” Trunks said demurely. “He’ll have to grow it back out.”
Akira passed a hand through his ragged white locks in something like half-victory.
Goten knew it wasn’t complete because of how hard his father came down on him for not even asking his permission, and then disappearing to go do it. Goten wasn’t sure if Hikaru understood that, but peace had been restored for the time being and neither father or son wanted to rock the boat. Goten remembered standing outside the door, wincing and taking mental notes of last-ditch techniques in the unlikely event that Ai should someday become a terror teen.
The family continued with their dinner with only light conversation as Goten watched Akira for a moment. He remembered probably the closest moments he’d ever had with the boy had been when he told stories of Marron, but now he was curious; it seemed to Goten that he was trying to get away from the omnipresence of his mother’s memory by attacking the physical feature that made outsiders most compare him to her, or the thing that made him most like his sister, and everybody said of her “That’s Marron’s girl.” Akira would allow no one to speak of Marron unchallenged in his presence.
“Something you want?” Akira asked, startling Goten from his reverie.
“Nani? Uhn... Iie. Sorry.” Goten sighed a bit to himself and gazed at his wrappers to avoid the gazes of the others.
“So... you already take care of your training for the day?” Trunks asked Rei and Ai.
“Uhn. Before Goten-san came. Everybody was late today.”
“Sorry,” both fathers apologized as one.
“Ah well,” Trunks said after some laughter. “I guess it’s been one of those days.”
“I’ll say,” Goten agreed.
“So, you guys have anything to show me today?” Trunks asked, doing his “nightly father thing,” as Goten thought of it.
“Yeah, after dinner,” Rei said and Keisuke nodded.
Trunks and Goten both watched the normally bubbly Hikaru, who was suddenly dead silent. After a moment of gazing at her soda in the same silence, she got up and left the table and returned with all the bookbags. She laid Ai’s down in front of Goten and the rest in front of her father.
Goten glanced at Ai, asking permission with his eyes. She nodded, “Go ahead.” He checked through, seeing nothing but good papers, fair papers in math, her most hated subject. “You’re doing good, Ai-chan. Do you need some more help in math? We can arrange something if you like.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m having some problems.”
“Kay.” Goten set it aside for later consideration and concentrated on his fries, listening in curiosity as Trunks praised each of his daughters. //What was Hikaru-chan so funny about?//
Trunks actually laughed about some of the things that turned up in his little boy’s bookbag. “Did you know you were carrying one shoe around?” Keisuke laughed.
Trunks was eerily silent as he went through the last bag. Hikaru glanced between her stone-faced father and her glaring brother, dropping her head when she saw the glare was aimed at her. Trunks didn’t usually go through bookbags and they all knew it.
“I want to talk to you after dinner,” Trunks said to Akira.
The boy ‘hmph’ed and rolled his eyes.
“Cut it out,” Trunks told him sharply.
Goten moved to throw the trash away with a sinking feeling for the boy’s sake. Trunks had seemed to have a lot on his mind lately; Akira had picked the wrong time to do something to cross him. He watched from the kitchen as the kids finished dinner and Trunks called for his son, going with him into the study and the clench -- he closed the door, which was almost unheard of.
Hikaru ran into the kitchen, suddenly crying. “He pushed me! He’s gonna hate me forever!”
Goten blinked at the abruptness as Hikaru stuttered, “Eien....” gulp, “Eien ni kirai...”
“Hey,” Goten said quickly, and bent down to one knee and caught her as she dove toward him. “Baka na, he can’t hate you forever. You two are as close as anyone I know. I know it hurts that he’s mad at you.” The two had never seemed to have any problems when Goten first knew of them. “But he can’t stay mad at you forever. What exactly did you do?”
“I -- I gave Tou-chan his bookbag and he’s... he’s failing... and I’m afraid Tou-chan will be mad at me too, ‘cause I knew before...” The words came in fits and starts from the rattled girl.
“How long before?” Goten asked gently.
“A... a week...”
//Not that long,// Goten reasoned.
“And he told me not to tell or he’d hate me, and I did..... Tou-chan will be mad I didn’t tell sooner...”
“Shh-shh... you did what you thought was best for your brother, ‘cause you love him. Let me tell you right now not to worry about his fit. You did the right thing. As for your father, a week isn’t so long, and the damage can be undone if your brother works hard. It’s his responsibility to take care of his education and tell his dad if something’s wrong, you’re not supposed to have to watch out for him.”
“He said, when I found out, “Nee-chan, it’s all a misunderstanding. I’ll get it worked out soon,” but he was lying!” This as much as anything seemed to upset her.
“He’s a young boy,” Goten said as she pulled away from his shoulder. “He’ll probably act like that for a while, until he gets a bit older, and then everything will be okay eventually. Just be patient with him.”
“Just before...” Hikaru said slowly, pulling completely away from him and nudging at the kitchen tile with her toe. “Just before Kaa-chan left for the hospital to have my chibi-nii-chan,” her occasional nickname for Keisuke, “she said “Take care of your brother while I’m gone, Hikaru-chan.” Sometimes I feel like she knew, like she was making sure, ‘cause it’s hard on Tou-chan sometimes.....” She was on the verge of sniffles again.
“You’re so fatalistic!” Goten exclaimed briefly. She merely blinked at him and he amended, “I don’t know what to say exactly. No one knew what would happen to your Kaa-chan, you know.” The girl nodded.
“You don’t believe in supernatural things?” she asked with a not-quite-grin.
“I believe in things that seem strange in hindsight. I can’t say I’ve ever had anything supernatural happen to me. Then again, “Supernatural” is anyone’s definition,” he said with a grin cast at the ceiling. “Tonikaku, I think it’s very grown-up of you to want to watch over your brother, but you’re not his mother, and you don’t have to do that. You don’t have to fill in for Marr- uh, your mother. As for your father, maybe he does have a little trouble keeping up with all four of you, but it’s all a perspective thing. Sometimes I know I don’t keep up with Ai’s life the way I should; all parents have moments like that, I know you’ll come to understand. I’ll tell you what, let’s you and me make an arrangement. I think I can help you out.”
“How?” Hikaru asked hopefully.
“I’m objective, see, and-”
“Whassat?”
“I’m not directly involved in all this, and I think this idea might work. You trust me, right?”
“Yeah...” she said slowly, trying to discern what he was getting at.
“If there’s something that you notice about your brother or anything else, and you’re worried that it may or may not be good to tell your father, you can tell me. I’m a dad- I would probably know what kind of things are really important to tell him, and I’ll help you tell him if you need it. If it’s not important, then I can keep a secret. It’s kinda like if you told a friend at school, they can’t hurt you by them knowing.”
She mulled over that for a moment. “It might... you would do that?” She looked up and saw him nod. “Hondoni? Goten-san!” She hugged him. “Arigatou gozaimasu,” she said, stepping back and bowing a little, and he could tell she was relieved.
“It’s okay, kiddo. Now come on, you’re hair’s all messed up and I think it’s time for dessert.” Goten stood and took her hand, telling her to help her sister finish cleaning up and he moved to dish out ice cream for them.
Ai slunk in the door and leaned against the counter next to him. “That was nice,” she commented.
“Mm. No eavesdropping, Ai-chan.” //I’m one to talk sometimes.//
“I was helping clean up.”
“Thanks for the support,” he murmured. She leaned against him in a partial hug before he handed her her ice cream and smiled. “You go have fun chikie.” He knew that the kids liked ice cream over video games, and Ai was becoming quite a pro.
Goten suddenly wondered why they were two kids short. He wandered out into the hall past the kitchen and snatched Keisuke up from where he was crouched at the door to the study. He carried the boy upside down to the living room; he waited until there to argue. Smart kid. Trunks was probably working himself into a good one by now, and he would have blown up on any kids he found eavesdropping. Goten sat him down with a bowl and warned him off.
“Nii-chan’s getting it,” was the only comment Keisuke would make, furrowing his little forehead like it worried him. He soon buried it in ice cream and cheering on his champion of the week, Ai.
Pretty soon the study door opened and everything in the living room paused. Akira came through the living room with a stone face and went upstairs with no comment to anyone. Hikaru stared down at the controller in her hands for a moment before the others urged her into playing some more.
“Goten!” Trunks called without leaving the study. They all paused and Goten pulled himself up from the floor, leaving one side of Hikaru’s hair undone as he moved through. He could have sworn he heard Keisuke mumble, “Wonder if _he’s_ in trouble now.”
“Dummy,” Rei said with the voice of experience. “If Goten-san was in trouble he and Daddy would just go out and fight.”
“I’m not a du-”
Goten passed through the kitchen and stood just inside the study door. Trunks was in that big “Intimidator chair” spun away from him. Sometimes he was so traditional.
“Close the door willya?”
Goten closed the door and moved slowly around the desk, leaning on one edge with his arms crossed, examining the dark carpeting. He could somehow tell that Trunks knew he knew what had passed between him and his son, and he didn’t bother to provide details.
“I feel responsible,” Goten said after a moment. “I know there were evenings when you weren’t home and I had to make sure they studied-”
“It wasn’t because he didn’t study,” Trunks said, eyes looking off through the window, but they were really in-turned. “He was skipping class.”
Goten made a surprised noise. “I didn’t hear that part.”
“I don’t think anyone else did either. He said his sister knew about his grades, but he freely admitted that he pressured her to keep silent.” Trunks’ eyebrow twitched as if he was trying to avoid getting worked up again.
“She’s kinda upset. I think she’ll be okay in a little while though, and Akira’s moods are freely shifting. I’m sure he’ll be rather indifferent in his frustration toward her soon enough.” Goten looked over at him, dusk-lighted expression still, and he was someone unfamiliar, so serious Goten had to remind himself who he was talking to.
He nodded slightly, and then finally blinked and rubbed his forehead. “This is not the day for it I guess. Not my day at all. So...” he turned toward his sometime lover and smiled. “What was it you wanted to ask me about?”
Goten’s lips pursed in thought. He looked out toward the window Trunks had stared out before, and said after a moment, “I was thinking about adopting Ai.”
Trunks was mildly surprised, but said quickly, “It’s a good idea.”
“Hmm... ya think so?” Goten was thoughtful.
“It sure is. I didn’t really think about it before, it’s just like “Ai’s Goten’s kid” and that’s all there is to the story. Why didn’t you do it before?”
“I tried. For some reason the standards are different in Kyoto. Their agency didn’t approve it on the grounds that a ‘single-parent family isn’t a stable environment.’”
Trunks snorted and leaned back. “You never mind them. You’ve been a great father to her.”
“You think she’ll agree to it?”
“Does a Super Saiyan like to eat?” Trunks said and Goten snorted slightly. “Speaking of Super Saiyans, Kaa-san and Tou-san are coming home soon. They want to stay here for a while and spend time with the kids. Rather, Kaa-san does and Tou-san doesn’t particularly care as long as he doesn’t have to babysit.”
“Ohh...” Goten said slowly, and shrugged. “Well?”
“Well what?” Trunks looked off. “I don’t think there’s much to say. Just....” he turned his head back to regard Goten.
//I know how you feel about that.// “You want me and Ai to split for a while?”
Trunks appeared startled by the question. “No of course not. I just want _you_ to understand... “ he searched for words for a moment. “...That this might be hard.”
Goten sighed a bit and moved over to Trunks and straddled his lap, kissing him affectionately. Trunks made a small sound in his throat, his fingernails scratching down Goten’s back through the thin shirt. Goten planted a kiss on his cheek and murmured to him, “You’ve been so tense lately.”
“I guess.”
“Maybe you and the kids need to take a vacation.”
Trunks half-smiled at him. “A vacation without you?”
Goten propped one elbow on his shoulder, placing the hand behind his neck and regarding Trunks silently.
“Aw, don’t look at me like that.” Trunks placed one hand over Goten’s on the back of his neck and drew him close for another gentle kiss, his exhaustion seeming once again to ebb away in his lover’s presence.
Goten sighed softly against his mouth, murmuring when the kiss was over, “Aren’t you worried about one of them walking in?”
“Let them.”
“Trunks-kun...” Goten’s tone was slightly reproving. “At the very least it’s a bad way to find out.”
“Grr..” Trunks lowered one eyebrow at him. “Are you afraid to let them know?”
“No, I....” Goten paused, thinking and peered almost shyly up at Trunks.
“You’re something else.”
“Every time you say that I wonder if it’s good or bad.”
“Nyeh...” Trunks shrugged one shoulder. Then he carefully pushed Goten off of his lap, and heading stealthily toward the door, motioned for Goten to keep talking.
“And so I said to the dentist...” Goten rattled off the punchline to a joke he’d heard recently, just as Trunks threw open the door and tackled the four kids outside, tickling them until they made a pile on the carpet.
“Now, you didn’t hear me talking to Goten about my plans for world domination, did you? I told you, you’re supposed to pretend you don’t know about that until after I’ve taken over America.” Trunks gave them the mock stern face before they all decided to pile up on him.
“Yes sir, and when they ask us where we keep the war planes, we say they’re not ours they belong to the neighbors.” Rei untangled herself and her little brother and stood up. “We’re sorry.”
“Sorry for being evil eavesdropping children?” Trunks brushed her messed hair over with one hand. “Run along.”
“Hey!” Hikaru said as the others scattered. She looked past Trunks to Goten. “I’m lopsided!” She came over and sat up on the edge of her father’s desk as Goten fixed her other Marron-pigtail.
Trunks pulled on one of them gently. “You look more like your mother every day.” Hikaru beamed.
Rei peeked around the door, Goten noticed, and she seemed to be thinking about Trunks’ line to his other daughter. After another moment she took a breath and acted as if she had just come back. “Tou-chan, Goten-san, come watch a movie with us.”
“Coming.” Trunks squeezed her shoulder as he walked past.

Goten paused before getting out of the car that night. Ai had opened her door, but stopped when she saw he was still. “Doushita no, Goten-san?”
“Just.... thinking...” He propped his chin up on the wheel. Ai shut her door and looked at him.
“What?” He asked, gazing at her sidelong.
“Last time you said “just thinking” like that you took off in the car and I couldn’t figure out where you went, and I’m not going to miss it this time.” She crossed her arms and waited for some action.
Goten paused and gave her a disbelieving yet amused look. “C’mon, let me live it down, it was a one-time thing.” She shook her head and he said, “I won’t do that. I’m thinking about you this time anyway.”
“Why’sat?” She gave him a slightly suspicious look.
“I was thinking.....”
“You said that,” she said with a rolling motion. “Hayaku, hayaku, I’m getting sleepy.”
“You’re also getting mouthy,” he teased. “You’re not getting that from me.”
“Guess I’ve been hanging around Akira too much,” she muttered. She gained a look like a high-class dog meeting the stray next door. Goten was more amused than anything, as he knew his interpretation wasn’t correct. She had said lately that something about his attitude was striking her wrong, like something was wrong with him and she couldn’t figure out what it was or how to fix it. When Goten had said “Time Travel,” she had suggested borrowing the time capsule from Trunks’ lab, so Goten hung his head and declared himself old.
“So?” She inquired again.
“You ever...” Goten said slowly. “Have you ever thought about having parents?”
Ai’s demeanor changed. “What, like adoption?”
“Mm.. yeah.” Goten moved his hands up under his chin on the wheel and turned his head toward her in the streetlight dark. Her face was still and her dark eyes were still but moved in patterns he couldn’t discern.
“Well... whatever it is, I don’t want another father but you,” she told him matter-of-factly.
Goten was touched by her claim. “I... kinda meant me.”
Ai turned to him. Her eyes seemed unnaturally large, and she was silent for a moment. At last she gained some control over her expression and voice and said, “I’d say what took you so long?”
Goten grinned at her. “I mean, you’re my kid and all, I don’t think I’d want to get rid of you now, you know, unless you broke or something, I might have to take you back to the dealer...”
“Cut it out!” She said and hugged him. After a moment she pulled back and said with a tilted head, “You said ‘parents.’”
“Hmm?”
“You said, parennttsss, plural.”
“A slip-up, I’m sure.” Goten assured her as he moved to get out of the car.
Ai did too, and said, “You kinda meant more than one.”
“What makes you say that?” He asked. Then he shrugged. “Maybe someday.”
“Who named me?” she asked suddenly on their way up the few flights of stairs.
“Why?”
“I was just curious.”
“Well, I did I guess.”
“Why’d you name me that?”
“I dunno.”
“Come on, there’s gotta be a reason. Like, it sounded pretty, or you knew somebody... everybody names their kids something cause of something like that.”
“I dunno.”
“Goten.....”
“Well,” he said as he unlocked their apartment, “I was trying to help think of something to call you. Me and Kaa-san were thinking about what would suit you, and I said we didn’t know anything about you. She picked you up, you were still real little, and said you were adorable and that we knew we loved you. So I said “Call her that then.” Kaa-san started calling you Ai after that, and so did everyone else.” Goten kicked off his shoes inside the door by hers. “What made you think about that?”
“There was something I heard in school the other that got me wondering, people were talking about it.” She shrugged. “Goodnight, Goten-san,” she said as she headed toward her room.
“Oyasumi,” he murmured, sitting down to take their machine messages.
“Goten-san?” Ai said, peeking her head out her bedroom door as the machine fell silent. “Do you want me to call you ‘Tou-chan’?”
“You call me what you want, chikie,” Goten assured her with a smile.
“Then would you _mind_ if I called you ‘Tou-chan’?”
“Of course not.”
Ai paused for a long moment as if trying it out in her head. “G’night, Tou-chan.”
“G’night.”
Ai smiled as if the term had been found acceptable, and went into her room. Goten watched after her for a moment, then smiled a bit to himself. //We’ll muddle through somehow.//

Goten kind of dragged his feet up the walkway to Capsule Corp. with Ai right behind him, and left his muddied boots with a host of others outside on the steps. Ai stooped and yanked off her boots and Goten paused with his hand on the doorknob and waited for her and the woman behind her to take off their shoes.
He walked on into Capsule Corp. without knocking as was his custom. There was noise in the kitchen and Rei poked her head out. “Oiya Goten-san...” she trailed off when she saw a strange woman with a clipboard.
“You making dinner, Rei-chan?” Goten smiled at her and she shook her head.
“Tou-chan tried to talk me into it but I don’t wanna. I don't like cooking.”
“Is your father home yet?”
“Iie, but I called and asked him to bring us some milk earlier and he said he was on his way home.”
“Goten-saaan!” Keisuke sang out and ran to him. “Lookit!” He held up a clay statuette that Goten couldn’t make heads or tails of.
“That’s great, Keisuke. I swear, you get better every time you make another sculpture. You gonna show your dad?” The boy nodded vigorously, and Goten rubbed him on the head and turned to Ai.
“Go get your gi on.” She nodded and walked out of the room, and Rei stepped out of the kitchen to reveal she was already wearing hers. “Is that... ketchup?” Goten asked, putting on his ‘disapproving sensei’ voice.
“I’m gonna change, Goten-sensei, I had to do something earlier. Tou-chan had me make the sauce. Is it time to start?” Goten saw her glance back at that woman again, but she was too polite to ask.
“If you’re done in the kitchen.” Rei nodded and ran upstairs after Ai to change her gi.
Goten turned to the woman. “This place belongs to my best friend from since I was born, and he lives here with his four kids. We come here every day.”
“Mm..” she said, tucking the clipboard under her arm. “Your friend, he’s the president of Capsule Corp.?”
“He sure is,” Goten said. “And when he was younger he used to let it go to his head.” She laughed politely. “You sure are good at making yourself get forgotten, or go unnoticed.”
“That’s why they have me do this part of the job. They say it gets results because potential parents act more naturally if they forget you’re there.” She shrugged slightly.
“Well, Ms. Okawa, I’ll admit, I might not have decided to go through the trouble of doing this adoption thing during the school year, even if it is the end, if Trunks-kun... eh, my friend hadn’t convinced me the sooner the better.”
“I’d have to say I agree,” she murmured. “Though I understand you not wanting to put too much stress on the girl. How long have you been taking care of her?”
“All her life, since I found her as a baby.”
“We’re ready,” Rei called, coming down the stairs with her quarterstaff. Ai followed her, her hair pinned up on her head, a few strands falling loose. She looked older already.
“Matte yo!” Came a cry. Hikaru ran into the room and sprang at Goten, who just caught her, and she said “I didn’t get to say hi to you yet.” She hugged him and leaned her chin over his shoulder, whispering “I want to talk to you later.”
“Sure thing, little bit. You go play now, kay?” She nodded and ran off.
Goten pulled his outer shirt off and threw it aside as they reached the practice mat in the backyard.
“Come on, I get to play and be the big mean sensei, show the nice lady how you tremble in fear before me,” he said motioning to Ms. Okawa as she sat down.
Rei and Ai trembled and bowed several times, nudging each other and laughing.
“Okay cut it out, ya upstarts. How do you wanna start off today?”
Ai and Rei shrugged and looked at each other. “Tou-chan-” Rei began but was cut off by Goten’s look. “I mean Trunks-sensei” her pronunciation of his name was the long four syllable way, since she hadn’t had the practice of stringing them together to create their English equivalent. Goten thought it was cute. “Trunks-sensei always starts us unarmed. He’s not all easy-going like you.”
“Well, let’s stick to what you know. Boy he can be just like his father sometimes ne?”
Rei shivered. “Don’t say that; O-jii-san’s coming here soon.”
“Back to work. Fall in, defensive position number one.”
The girls took a deep breath and drew back a fist, one acting protective. Goten paced them through those and other maneuvers, occasionally correcting their stance, but not until it got to higher levels.
“Ai-chan, you’re dropping your elbow again. You hold it here,” he said, coming to pull it up slightly. She looked a little frustrated. “You just need to practice that one in combat. It’ll come to you. You’ll see it one day soon when Rei takes advantage of it, you’ll be more careful of that. She’s gentle with you. I don’t know how many of each other’s bones your father and I broke, Rei-chan, sparring when we were little. And I know he would have knocked me over and put my lights out in a second if I held my foot like that. Here, watch...”
When they ran through those he said, “Create an attack situation. Rei, you are the aggressor and you will use attack methods two, seven, and twelve. Ai, you will use defensive methods five, nine, and eleven in any order.”
Rei rushed Ai, and each seemed to stalemate the other until Ai got to her last defense method. Rei sucker-punched her in the jaw over her elbow.
“I warned you,” Goten said as she fell onto her rump. He came over and examined her jaw, pronouncing it undamaged. “You’ll have a very un-lady-like bruise. You see how to use your elbow now?”
“Hai,” she said, and Goten stood up. He paused, then reached down to help her up. She ignored his hand and got up on her own. Goten smiled at her.
“You’re getting pretty good. You also seem to be gaining pride with your skills. Make sure you keep it to a minimum, because pride can get you hurt in any situation.”
Ai nodded in understanding, and the rest of the session went smoothly until quarterstaffs.
Ai swung a blow, and Rei levitated over it.
Ai gaped with a frown, and Goten called time.
“Rei-chan,” he addressed her gently. “Flying during training is forbidden, it’s cheating. Especially since Ai can’t fly. I don’t know if we’ll bother to get as far as mid-air martial arts techniques, but you won’t be practicing them with Ai, you’ll be doing that with your father or I, which means you’ll have to work hard. So don’t waste your time now.”
“Hai sensei! Demo...it was just an accident.” Rei looked sheepish. “Gomen ne, Ai-chan.”
Ai didn’t bother with a response, but Goten nodded to show he understood, and redirected her back into training. The rest came off without another hitch.
Ai sat down with a thump on the mat as Rei handed her a bottle of water. Rei said she would run inside for a quick shower, and Goten sat down cross-legged across from Ai.
“It’s not fair, she can fly.” Ai groused.
“I guess not,” Goten replied.
“You said some humans could fly, didn’t you... Tou-chan?” She was still getting used to the term.
“Yes I did.”
“Couldn’t you teach me? Please? I won’t do it to show off like Bra-san did at the rink that time, I just wanna know how. I always wanted to fly, even before I knew people could, could you please show me?”
“Slow down,” Goten said. “Flying is hard for humans. Both of Marron’s parents could fly and she never learned how. Bra-chan only did because it was expected of her. I know you’re strong for a human girl your age, but learning flying was hard for Krillin-san and Yamucha-san and everybody. I don’t want you to end up frustrated.” Goten made a face and so did she.
“You can fly. You never took me flying, even when I was little enough that you could have carried me.”
“I did a couple times. Shh, don’t tell Kaa-san. Maybe that’s where you got your love for flight. But once a big bird flew past me and I almost dropped you, so I stopped.” Goten sounded annoyed. “I could still carry you anyway.”
“Could you?”
“Ehm.... .... no?” Goten said, realizing his mistake.
“Come on, we’ll never know if I can till I try. Please show me how? I’ll work really hard on it.” Ai’s big dark eyes pleaded with him and Goten felt himself begin to lose ground.
“Ahh!” Goten sighed frustratedly. “_If_ I do, you have to promise not to show off-”
“I promise!” she said eagerly.
“I’m not done. Human children are taught to fly because their parents are exceptional people who have cause to worry about their well-being. You are taught to fly in case of emergency. Later if you learn well, you will be given full discretion of when you can fly, like if you wanna go to the store to pick up milk five minutes before dinner or something. I always did that as a kid. But until then you won’t go flying without me or Trunks with you at all times. You won’t sneak off or anything using it. Why do you think Akira can’t fly?”
Ai snorted suddenly, but Goten hushed her. “That was mean, I shouldn’t have said that. I just mean, only responsible human children learn to fly.”
“Hai!” She said, nodding happily. “I promise!” She paused. “Goten-san, iie, Tou-chan?”
“Hm?”
“Can you take me flying once now?” She really turned on the big sparkly eyes now.
“No!”
“Please?”
“No.”
“Please please? Just straight up and down, that’s all. Over the mat.”
“Well... I don’t see anyway you can get hurt, but you have to hold onto me.”
“I will!” She stood eagerly.
“I wish there were more Saiyan fathers around who had to go through this,” Goten said in consternation as he looked at her. She only smiled at him and he levitated a few inches off the ground. He waited patiently for Ai to bend down and look at the empty space under his feet in delight.
“Come on,” he said, holding out a hand to her. She grabbed his hand and he took her other and offered her one foot. She paused and put her bare foot on his, and then the other. Goten wrapped one arm around her waist and slowly levitated, until he was about as high as Capsule Corp.s domed roof.
“Sugoi!” Ai cried as a flock of birds flew close enough overhead to nearly touch. She craned her head around, looking over the rooftops, watching people go about business in their yards. Goten glanced at them too, but looked mostly at Ai’s flushed face. He could see in her eyes how badly she wanted it.
//Maybe there is hope for you, Ai-chan.//
“It’s amazing! I’ve got to have it!” Ai grinned wildly up at him.
“Yeah,” he agreed softly. “I love flying.”
“I’ll fly with you someday,” she said.
“Come on daughter-chan, it’s almost time for dinner.” He was glad that she got to feel the wind on her face before she settled down.
Goten set Ai down and ruffled her battle-mussed hair. “Trunks will be home soon if he’s not now, you go change.”
“Kay, Tou-chan!” Ai ran inside still smiling. Goten glanced after her, then looked up at the sky.
The Roundabout Way, part 2