Four-Year-Old Gohan

"Gohan! Focus!"

A shrill female voice stabbed into his temples, and Lin Mo suddenly opened his eyes. A cartoon tablecloth, a pencil chewed beyond recognition, and these tiny, soft little hands in front of him—what was going on? He had only stayed up late to catch up on the Dragon Ball remake. How had he transmigrated the moment he opened his eyes?

"Gohan! Were you even listening to your mother?"

Lin Mo stiffly turned his head and saw a woman in a blue apron, hands on her hips. Chi-Chi?!

His brain instantly crashed. Transmigration? This overused cliché actually happened to me? Wait, if Chi-Chi is here, then who am I?

He scrambled down from the chair and rushed into the bathroom, gripping the sink as he stood on tiptoe to look into the mirror. Reflected there was a four-year-old boy with short spiky hair and a single cowlick hanging over his forehead—Son Gohan.

It was over. He really was Son Gohan.

Leaning against the wall, Gohan felt his life turn completely gray. Of all people to transmigrate into, why did it have to be Son Gohan? In the Dragon Ball world, Raditz came first, then Buu, taking turns blowing up Earth. Worst of all, he was only four years old!

"Gohan! Come out and study!"

Chi-Chi's voice came from outside the door, making Gohan shudder. No, he had to figure out the exact timeline first.

He took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and walked out. Tilting up his little face, he put on an innocent expression. "Mom, I miss Dad. When is he coming back?"

"Your father went into the mountains to chop firewood. He won't be back until tonight. Finish writing today's Chinese characters. No dinner if you don't."

Chopping firewood? Goku was still living his carefree life, which meant Raditz really had not arrived yet.

His eyes shifted as he asked again, "Mom, when are we going to Grandpa Master Roshi's birthday?"

"That's still over a month away. Why are you asking? Are you trying to slack off again?"

Over a month!

Gohan's heart gave a violent jolt. In a little over a month, Raditz would descend on Earth. Then Goku would die, Piccolo would kidnap him for devilish training, and a year later Vegeta and Nappa would arrive and wipe out the Z Fighters. Well then, what a hellish start.

Expressionless, Gohan climbed back onto his chair and ranted internally. If I had to transmigrate, couldn't it have been to a safer world? Being Goku would have been fine. Even Krillin would have been better than Gohan! At least Krillin knew when to hide! But now, he was a four-year-old kid with no status or influence. If he wanted to train, he had to watch out for his mother, and the potential in his body was still locked behind a lost password. Difficult. Too difficult.

"What are you spacing out for? Write!" Chi-Chi tapped him on the head.

Gohan yelped and lowered his head, grabbing the pencil. Looking at characters like "person, mouth, hand, up, middle, down" in the textbook, he started grumbling internally again. This? Someone who had gone through nine years of compulsory education was supposed to write this? What an insult to his intelligence. Of course, he only dared say that in his head. In the Dragon Ball world, mothers were beings capable of beating Saiyans flat with their bare hands.

As Gohan slowly wrote, he made plans. Since he had transmigrated here with full memories of the plot, he could not just stand by and watch everything follow the original route, could he? He would change every one of those tragedies! But right now, he was only a four-year-old kid. His top priority was improving his strength. Chi-Chi was so strict that even playing with Goku got him dragged back to study, much less martial arts training. Fine, he would lie low for now. He still had over a month anyway.

At noon, Chi-Chi went into the kitchen to cook, and Gohan finally gained a brief moment of freedom.

Frustrated, he kicked the little stool by his feet.

Bang!

The little stool flew away from the kick, slammed into the wall, and instantly fell apart.

Gohan froze. He had only kicked it casually. He had not used much force at all... Was this stool made of paper? No.

Gohan looked down at his foot, then at the broken stool, and a thought suddenly rose in his heart. Son Gohan's potential... could it already be this outrageous?

He remembered that in the original story, when Gohan was four, Raditz kidnapped him. In a burst of rage, he unleashed over a thousand battle power and rammed Raditz so hard that he was left stunned.

Gohan swallowed, closed his eyes, and tried to sense the power inside his body. He followed the method Dragon Ball characters used to circulate their ki from his memories. At first, he felt nothing. After a while, he vaguely sensed a warm current slowly flowing through his lower abdomen.

Found it!

Delighted, Gohan tried guiding that current toward his hands.

Hum.

A faint white glow appeared around his little hand. It was weak, but it really was ki!

"It worked!"

Gohan excitedly waved his little hand.

Bang! Crash!

The table in the living room was directly overturned by the blast of ki, and the cups and teapot on top shattered all over the floor.

Gohan: "..."

He was screwed.

"Gohan! What are you doing?!"

Hearing the commotion, Chi-Chi immediately rushed out of the kitchen. The instant she saw the mess covering the floor, a vein popped on her forehead.

"I... I didn't do it on purpose..." Gohan shrank back nervously.

"Didn't do it on purpose? You managed to flip over a perfectly good table! You're just like your father! All you know how to do is cause trouble all day!"

Gohan lowered his head and obediently listened to the scolding, but inwardly, he was ecstatic. So this was Son Gohan's potential? It was downright terrifying! His control was a little poor, but as long as he trained properly, would he not take off in no time? Once he fully developed his potential, Raditz, Vegeta—he would make them all crawl! The only problem was still... how was he supposed to train under Chi-Chi's watchful eyes? She was an even more terrifying final boss than Frieza!

As he pondered this, a familiar voice came from outside.

"Chi-Chi! I'm back! Where's Gohan?"

It was Goku!

Gohan's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran outside. In the yard, Goku was carrying a bundle of firewood, a hearty smile on his face. Seeing Gohan run out, he immediately tossed the firewood onto the ground, crouched down, and spread his arms.

"Gohan! Come here, let Dad hold you!"

Gohan threw himself at him without hesitation. Even if this guy was an airheaded battle maniac, he was still Goku! His childhood idol!

Goku lifted him up, spun him around, and burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Gohan seems to have gotten heavier again!"

"Goku! Look at your son! He's turned the living room into a complete mess!" Chi-Chi came out of the house, hands on her hips as she began complaining. "And you don't discipline him at all! All you do all day is chop wood and train. You don't care one bit about the child's studies!"

Goku scratched his head and grinned foolishly. "Boys being a little mischievous is perfectly normal. Right, Gohan?"

Gohan nodded desperately. See? Now that was a real dad!

Chi-Chi grew even angrier. "What do you mean, normal?! Master Roshi's birthday is coming up soon, and I'm going to test him then! If he can't answer, just see how I deal with you two, father and son!" With that, she stormed back into the kitchen.

Goku stuck out his tongue and whispered, "Your mom's angry again. Come on, Dad will take you to the back mountain to pick some fruit. Don't provoke her."

"Okay!" Gohan agreed at once.

Goku perched Gohan on his shoulders and strode toward the back mountain.

"Gohan, you seem to have something on your mind?" Goku suddenly asked.

Gohan froze for a moment. He hadn't expected Goku, who seemed so carefree, to be this perceptive. After hesitating, he decided to give it a try.

"Dad, I had a dream," Gohan said quietly. "I dreamed that a bad guy was coming to our house. He was really, really strong, and he said he was looking for you."

After hearing that, Goku burst out laughing. "Oh? A bad guy is coming to find Dad? That's great! Is he a good fighter?"

Gohan: "..."

He knew that would be the reaction! This battle maniac! Was fighting really the only thing in his head?

"Dad, that bad guy is really strong," he said, trying his best to persuade him. "He said he's your brother, and that we're all Saiyans."

"Brother? Saiyans?" Goku blinked, scratching his head. "I have a brother? What's a Saiyan? Can you eat it?"

Gohan nearly spat out blood. Eat your head! Could you be serious for once? This concerned your very life!

He took a deep breath and told himself to stay calm. He couldn't lower himself to a Saiyan's level.

"Dad, I'm telling the truth," Gohan said, trying to make his tone sound as serious as possible. "That bad guy will come in a month. He'll hurt you. Can't you prepare in advance?"

Goku stared at Gohan's solemn little face for a long while, then suddenly smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair.

"Hahaha, Gohan, you're so cute!" he said with a laugh. "You can even make up stories to scare Dad. Don't worry. As long as Dad is here, no one can hurt us."

Gohan: "..."

It was over. He'd said all that for nothing.

He knew this would be the result. Who would take the words of a four-year-old seriously? Especially someone like Goku, whose nerves were thicker than tree trunks. Forget it. There was no hope of getting Goku to prepare ahead of time. He would have to rely on himself.

Gohan lay listlessly across Goku's head, completely dispirited.

Goku took him around the back mountain to pick quite a few wild fruits, and they only headed home when it was getting late. On the way back, Gohan kept making plans. First, he had to find a way to improve his strength. Though he only had a little over a month, if he could grasp the ki within his body, even drawing out a small portion of his potential would be useful. Second, he had to find a way to notify Piccolo. That guy might be a villain, but he was definitely more sensitive to threats than Goku. But... how was he supposed to notify Piccolo? Tch, this was difficult.

When they got home, Chi-Chi had already prepared dinner.

After dinner, Gohan returned to his room and leaned against the windowsill, looking outside. The moon was full tonight, and its bright light spilled over Mount Paozu. Everything looked so peaceful and beautiful. Yet who could have imagined that this peace would be shattered in a little over a month?

Gohan rested his chin in both hands as he looked at the moon outside, a slight smile curling his lips.

"Son Gohan, Son Gohan," he muttered softly, "now that I'm here, the plot has to follow my script."

Raditz, Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, Buu—it didn't matter who they were.

Now that I'm here, all of you can get on your knees and sing of your defeat!

"Gohan, time to eat!"

Goku's hearty shout rang out in the distance, breaking the tranquility of the early morning.

(End of Chapter One)