"Mother Human" Bulma

"Training?"

After hearing Son Gohan's explanation, Ribut flapped his wings excitedly. I'm going to train hard! I'll do my best to become as strong as Big Bro!

Ribut, who had spent half his life in a daze, had finally found a goal worth striving toward for the rest of his life.

"All right, wait here for a bit. I'll go inside and bring the two of them out. You can apologize to the girl and clear up the misunderstanding."

Son Gohan patted Ribut on the leg, gave him instructions, then stood and headed toward the house behind him.

"Okay, Big Bro! I'll make sure to apologize properly to that Mother Human!"

Ribut instinctively straightened up and responded crisply.

"?? Mo...ther Human?"

Son Gohan was utterly baffled.

"What kind of weird way to address someone is that?!"

"Uh, is there something wrong with it? We call female dragons 'Mother Dragons' in the Dragon race. And she's a human, so wouldn't that make her a Mother Human?"

Ribut's big head was filled with a little confusion.

"!!!"

"Wait until she comes out, and whatever you do, don't call her that! Otherwise, if she tells Goku to beat you up, I won't be able to stop him!"

Son Gohan scratched his head helplessly. Ribut's logic wasn't really wrong, but somehow it still felt off.

When he was nearly at the door, he thought it over and turned back to add one more instruction.

"When she comes out, just call her Miss Bulma. At least you can't go wrong with that."

"Got it, Boss!"

Ribut nodded quickly.

Son Gohan waved to him and went inside.

But the scene before him looked a little strange.

He saw Bulma sprawled on the floor and Goku blankly pressing random buttons on the TV remote. He had a pretty good idea what had happened: Bulma had seen that Son Goku didn't know how to use modern devices and had teased him.

"Ahem. Anyway, you two, stop messing around and come outside with me."

Son Gohan interrupted their antics and gave them a brief account of how he had tamed the dragon.

The more Bulma listened, the brighter her eyes grew.

"So we can ride the dragon through the sky!"

There were small planes stored in her Hoi-Poi Capsules, but what girl could possibly resist riding a dragon through the sky?

At that moment, Son Gohan practically glowed in Bulma's eyes!

"He's a little short and his clothes are kind of old-fashioned, but he only had to show a little of what he can do, and I can already feel myself falling for him!"

"Riding a dragon! That's the kind of treatment only the heroine of a Mary Sue novel gets!"

Bulma snuck a glance at Son Gohan from the corner of her eye. She had to admit that, apart from being a little young, this adorable little guy was exactly her type.

A handsome face, outstanding strength, a mature and steady aura, and a dramatic scene where he'd rescued a damsel in distress—she was completely powerless to resist any of it.

"ε=(´ο｀*))) Sigh? Honestly, I thought I'd get to eat it, but I'm hungry!"

Just as Bulma was staring at Son Gohan and letting her imagination run wild, a thoroughly mood-killing remark suddenly reached her ears.

Goku held his stomach and complained, looking rather dejected.

That was such a huge hunk of dragon meat! What was the point of looking at it if he couldn't eat it?

Bulma's temple twitched, and her eyes blazed with anger.

"What is this?! They're brothers, and Son Goku's the older one! How can he be this dense?!"

With her fantasy shattered, Bulma ranted about Son Goku in her mind. If her gaze could turn into actual swords, he'd have been stabbed through who knew how many times!

Son Gohan had, of course, taken it all in. He knew how lovestruck Bulma could be at the start of her teenage years, and after living with Son Goku day and night for eleven years, he knew his personality inside and out.

"No wonder Goku and Bulma went through so much together and formed such a deep friendship, but never got married in the end."

"Maybe they were the right people who met at the wrong time?"

"If Goku had grown up sooner, and Bulma had matured sooner..."

As he thought about it, Son Gohan suddenly shook his head.

"What am I even thinking? I'm still waiting to hold my nephew. Since Goku's young and can't seize the opportunity, I'll just have to make a move myself!"

Seeing the two of them about to start squaring off again, Son Gohan had no choice but to step between them.

"It's okay, Goku. Let's go outside and have it bring back some food."

With that, he led the two of them out of the house.

Ribut was indeed still waiting obediently where he'd been. He hadn't taken the chance to sneak away while Son Gohan was inside.

"The Old Ancestor's method really is the best!"

A flash of understanding crossed Son Gohan's mind.

They stopped in front of Ribut. Bulma was still a little afraid of the huge Evil Dragon, and instinctively shrank behind Son Gohan.

Unfortunately, Son Gohan was a head shorter than her now, so she couldn't hide behind him at all.

But Son Gohan understood and quickly reassured her.

"Don't be afraid. I've talked things over with him. From now on, he's our friend. Let's all get to know each other."

As he finished speaking, he gave Ribut a meaningful look.

Ribut understood at once and immediately stood up straight again.

"Miss Bulma, I... I, the great dragon Ribut, sincerely apologize for the trouble I caused you earlier. Please forgive me!"

He glanced at Son Gohan, who was standing in front of Bulma, then lowered his head deeply and bowed all the way down.

Bulma stared blankly at the enormous dragon, whose attitude had changed so drastically, and was too stunned to speak. It wasn't until Son Gohan discreetly nudged her that she came back to herself.

"Um, there's no need to be so formal, Mr. Dragon. We can put it down to a rough first meeting!"

She hurriedly returned the dragon's bow. A proper young lady had to pay attention to manners!

Bulma reminded herself silently.

"Anyway, Ribut, we've all been traveling all day, so everyone's hungry. Goku needs to go hunting, so why don't you go with him and bring back some game?"

Seeing that they'd more or less patched things up, and that Goku was already clutching his stomach and gazing at Ribut hopefully, Son Gohan hurriedly made the arrangements.

Ribut had, of course, noticed the monkey-tailed boy who had punched him earlier. Seeing the drool hanging from his mouth, Ribut had the feeling he'd be eaten the very next second.

He shook his head timidly, as if to say he was afraid they'd eat him if they went together.

Goku didn't care about that at all. He cheered and was about to set off with Ribut.

"Big guy, let's go!"

Ribut turned back toward Son Gohan with a pitiful look.

"Don't worry. I've already talked to Goku. He won't eat you."

Son Gohan stepped forward and soothed him.

"Mm-hmm! Gohan said I'm not allowed to eat you!"

Goku nodded in agreement.

"Th-then all right. How about we go to my Dragon Valley? There are countless packs of wild wolves there. Whenever I get hungry, I catch a few and eat them!"

Seeing that the two of them had promised, he finally felt a little less anxious.

"Awesome! Awesome! Wild wolf meat is the tastiest!"

Goku cheered.