Mount Paozu's Dining Table

Autumn on Mount Paozu was the liveliest season of the year. More than half the maple leaves on the back mountain had turned red, and pine needles had begun to fall, carpeting the huge boulder in the yard—polished smooth by Son Goku's years of sitting cross-legged on it—with a yellow-and-green blanket. Chi-Chi got up before dawn, tied her apron tight, and began preparing a feast second in scale only to the Co-Prosperity Conference victory banquet—what the Saiyans called "the first meat meal of autumn." In truth, it was a rule Chi-Chi had set herself: on the first weekend after autumn began each year, everyone had to return to Mount Paozu for dinner. No excuses, no lateness, no bringing containers to pack food away; they had to sit at the table and finish everything in their bowls before leaving. The rule had been introduced several years ago, after Chi-Chi discovered that Son Goku had eaten instant noodles in the Gravity Chamber for an entire week and, in a fury, established this family law. Later, its scope gradually expanded—from Son Goku alone to every warrior with a regular seat at Mount Paozu, then to the Saiyan representatives from New Vegeta City, until even Beerus ended up on the notification list.

Today. Tonight.

Ji Ming stood on the stone steps at Mount Paozu's entrance with a broom in hand, sweeping fallen leaves toward either side of the yard. He had long ago noticed something interesting—when your normal combat power was enough to easily blast apart a planet, things like brooms and spatulas became especially handy. They forced you to control your strength precisely, or else the slightest excess force would snap the broom handle. Among Ultra Instinct's everyday applications, keeping a broom from flying away was probably the hardest lesson.

"How did sweeping the yard make you flare up with energy?" Vegeta's voice came from outside the gate. He pushed it open and walked in, a Silver Blue glow flowing quietly around him. He wore casual clothes—a black long-sleeved shirt and dark gray trousers, no battle armor. Since Instinctive Destruction had stabilized, he had been able to maintain his Super Saiyan form in his sleep without turning gold. In casual clothes, he looked like an ordinary middle-aged man in excellent shape. Of course, that was only how he looked—his stance gave away a warrior's instincts. Even while waiting for a meal, his feet naturally stood shoulder-width apart, his center of gravity slightly lowered, every joint ready for battle at any moment.

"It wasn't energy. The paint on the broom handle flew into the air and caught the sunlight." Ji Ming leaned the broom against the wall and dusted off his hands. "Where are Krillin and the others?"

"On the way. He and his wife spent fifteen minutes arguing in the supermarket over whether to buy beef or chicken. By the eleventh minute of me standing there, Nappa arrived from New Vegeta City with half a cleaned wild boar and asked Chi-Chi to marinate it for roasting."

Ji Ming raised an eyebrow. Back in the day, when Nappa had followed Vegeta on campaigns across the stars, his sole understanding of cooking had been to put meat over a fire until it blackened. But after settling in New Vegeta City, he had somehow developed an intense interest in barbecue. He often dug pits on the hills behind the Saiyan residential district to roast whole lambs, nearly causing forest fires several times. King Vegeta had personally issued a fire ban and ordered him to pass a basic cooking exam before continuing his barbecue career. Nappa had actually gone and taken it, spending several weeks in New Vegeta City's culinary training class. He sat in the back row taking notes every session, showing the same seriousness he had once displayed while studying Ji Ming's combat-power data in the Gravity Chamber.

"And when King Vegeta heard Chi-Chi was making an autumn gathering, he sent over a dozen Saiyan warriors to pack up more than half the desserts from New Vegeta City's bakeries and deliver them here." Ji Ming read this aloud from the latest version of Chi-Chi's list. Vegeta merely snorted, offering no comment on his father.

In the kitchen, Chi-Chi was handling more than three tasks at once. A huge pot of braised pork simmered on the stove, thawed prawns were lined up beside it, steamed crab roe soup dumplings sat in the steamer, and beef was still being sliced on the cutting board. Hearing the commotion in the yard, she poked her head out the window and shouted toward the gate, "Don't just stand there—go move the table outside! There are too many people today; we can't all fit indoors!"

"Which table?"

"The biggest folding table in the yard! It's at the very back of the storage room—forget it, forget it, you'll definitely knock over the pickle jar. Get Gohan to move it with you!" Chi-Chi decisively withdrew the order halfway through, her spatula cutting a warning arc through the air.

Standing in the yard, Ji Ming watched Son Goku get chased out from the direction of the storage room by Chi-Chi, carrying the wooden lid of a pickle jar with the sheepish grin he always wore after doing something wrong. Son Gohan came out behind him with the folding tabletop over his shoulder, not even bending at the waist. He had long since grown taller than Ji Ming. Over the years, he had grown from a shy little Saiyan into a researcher invited by medical teams from various universes to give academic lectures. As he helped Chi-Chi carry the table, he automatically used a trace of low-output energy cushioning with his shoulders, reducing the sound of the tabletop landing to a minimum. The entire movement carried a hint of Ultra Instinct's essence.

Krillin's family arrived first. As always, Android 18 coolly nodded to everyone before heading straight into the kitchen and setting the insulated container she carried beside Chi-Chi's stove. Krillin pulled Ji Ming into the yard and demonstrated the calisthenics-style training method developed after the third trial, while Marron joined Goten, Trunks, Pan, and the other children in gathering leaves from the maple piles. Android 17 arrived shortly afterward from the nature reserve outside New Vegeta City, carrying a basket of apples freshly picked from the reserve's orchard. He glanced down at the maple leaf pile in the corner of the yard and reminded the children, in the distinctive tone of a park ranger, not to step on any ant nests. Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu brought several varieties of unusual stuffed dumplings from their martial arts grounds deep in the mountains and happened to meet Piccolo at the gate. Not a speck of dust had gotten on Piccolo's cape today. As soon as he entered, he went straight to the corner of the dining table and pulled the three plates of steamed pumpkin Chi-Chi had set out in advance toward himself.

By the time Nappa arrived, the half-wild boar he had brought had been marinated thoroughly through, and he began loudly announcing the upcoming barbecue process from a long way off. King Vegeta stood at the gate with only a single adjutant beside him. He did not walk inside, instead pausing quietly outside the threshold to survey the people filling the yard. Ji Ming walked toward him, but before he could offer a welcome, Vegeta spoke behind him. "Come in, Father." King Vegeta silently stepped over the threshold.

Beerus and Whis came following the scent of barbecue. Whis raised his teacup with a smile in greeting, while Beerus headed straight into the kitchen, only to be driven out by Chi-Chi wielding her spatula. Even the God of Destruction could only sit properly by the dining table in front of Chi-Chi, keeping his distance from Champa. Zeno arrived last, and most quietly. When he tottered into the yard, he was still hugging the panda plushie he had taken away from Mount Paozu last time. Chi-Chi crouched down, wiped his hands with a wet tissue, seated him beside Whis, and placed a set of special children's tableware before him.

Everyone was here. Ji Ming sat at the spot nearest the gate, watching the tabletop gradually fill with dishes. During a lull when everyone was picking at food, bickering, and telling amusing stories about judging on Zeno's Planet, he rose to his feet and lightly tapped the rim of his bowl with the end of his chopsticks. Everyone stopped and looked at him.

"There's only one thing I want to say today," he said. "A few years ago, when I had just returned to Mount Paozu, my bandages hadn't even been removed yet. I slept under this table for a while. Back then, the Tournament of Power hadn't happened yet, Majin Buu had just been defeated, the God of Destruction had just awakened, and all I could think about was how many more battles lay ahead and how many more people I had to protect."

He looked at his open palm. That hand had learned to clench into a fist when he was very young. But that same hand had also been held by many people.

"Later, I slowly came to understand something. What was truly powerful wasn't my fist. It was the fact that every time I came back to Mount Paozu after a battle, there were still people waiting for me here. It was every person sitting around this table."

He looked at Chi-Chi. "Every time my mom buries tempura prawns in my bowl, that gesture carries more strength than all my Ultra Instinct." Chi-Chi lowered her head and quickly wiped the corner of her eye with the edge of her apron. Under the table, Son Goku quietly squeezed her hand.

He looked at Son Goku. "My dad has never lectured me. But when he put down the Power Pole, walked over, and pressed a Senzu Bean into my hand, the words, 'Save the Senzu Bean for someone who needs it more,' were the weightiest military order I've ever received."

He looked at Vegeta. "You once said you weren't following how strong I was—you were following the direction of the Saiyans' future. But later, you also showed me that you could give up fighting alone for the shared direction of all of us. With every punch of Zero Style, you taught me what precise pride meant."

He looked at Piccolo. "You're the proudest teacher I've ever met, and also the gentlest. You don't need to say anything. Your antennae can sense from kilometers away when something is wrong with my energy, and by then, you're already flying over."

He looked at Krillin. "You said in the trial grounds that you didn't want to become the strongest. You only wanted to go home and eat beef stew. You bore every interrogation the trialists threw at you. You might be the bravest person in this yard, and you don't even know it."

He looked at Son Gohan. "Whenever I went out to fight, you held down Kami's Lookout. Every time, you absorbed every bit of pressure from the rear without leaving a trace. No one has ever given you a medal, because medals simply aren't worthy of what you've done."

He looked at Android 18, Android 17, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Nappa, King Vegeta; at everyone seated there. Then he raised his cup—it held the plum wine Chi-Chi had brewed.

"There are many more names, and I can't say every one of them. Beneath this starry sky, every day, Saiyans born in peacetime practice their straight punches. Every day, children on Planet Namek learn sealing formations. Every day, Earthlings plant new Senzu Bean seedlings. I used to think these things were postwar reconstruction. Only now do I understand—this is what we were truly fighting to protect."

"Thank you for not giving up on a single person. Thank you for letting me become your companion."

He was the first to drain his cup of plum wine, which had already cooled to warm. The evening breeze of Mount Paozu swept through the maple leaves filling the yard and the cups and plates that still held the warmth of food. Chi-Chi picked up her spatula again, Beerus took advantage of the silence to snatch the last garlic pork rib, and Zeno burst out laughing as he chased after Beerus. Ji Ming sat back down and saw Son Goku place the fattiest piece of Dongpo pork into his bowl. As usual, Vegeta took the garlic slices from Ji Ming's dipping dish without looking sideways, while Piccolo divided two pieces from his three plates of steamed pumpkin and placed them in Ji Ming's bowl. Ji Ming picked up his chopsticks again, lowered his head, and began to eat.