The Year Hope Died

Yumemi looked down at Karin, then sighed softly as she stood, gently setting Karin down. "Karin, why don't you go down to eat." She turned to Bulma, smiling slightly. "I'd like to get started now, if that is okay, Ms. Briefs."

"Sure thing. It's probably better then waiting, anyway. Let's get Karin situated first." Bulma had an idea of where to take them as her mother was currently busy but of course Yumemi never turned down a chance to look after the young Karin when she got the chance.

They were lead to another room with a few people, May was around looking after a young Dysis and Jessica were drawing something together; the two had hit it off since they met and had been more or less stuck at the hip. Reizo was there, but no Cassie or Kurie. He seemed slightly tired though for some reason.

"Heya guys. Just wanted to drop off Karin before me and Yumemi did something." Bulma greeted, addressing May first. "Is that all right? Don't want to just assume if-"

May smiled shaking her head. "Of course not at all. We aren't doing anything, she can always spend time with Jessica and Dysis since they're the closes to her age."

"Good." Bulma was happy to hear that, before grinning at Reizo. "And how have you been young man? Your partner in crime isn't with you?"

Reizo shook his head. "I'm fine, I guess. Just tired from training. Kurie is doing some solo stuff with Cassie but they'll be here soon."

Upon pulling himself away from what he was working on, Dysis was of course excited to see Yumemi as they made a bee line over. Showing a drawing he and Jessica had been working on. "Yumemi! Look what we made!"

Karin moved over to sit down after hugging Yumemi. Yumemi herself knelt down to look at the drawing, looking it over carefully. "Hm, what is this?"


(Sorry it's so short)

"It's of everyone! ..I think?" The last part sounded almost unsure of himself but that was fleeting as he happily and proudly showed their work. It was hard at first to tell who was who until he pointed out the little unique features that could tell everyone apart, one of which was for example Vargus who was not only much taller then everyone, but had what seemed to be a massive tree trunk called a sword.

Bulma had spied a bit on it and grinned. "Not too bad. You got my looks down too. If you two keep it up maybe you can go be professional artist, but it takes work. Don't forget that. Me and Yumemi have some business to take care of but we'll definitely see you later."

She motioned for the young woman to follow. "So have you been adjusting to your body? I haven't really asked but I did make it as life like as possible."

Yumemi looked down at her hands for a moment. "It's... been strange. Before, I only had enough sense of touch to know that I was in contact with something, and whether it was hot or cold. Now I can feel all sorts of things... and smell things, and taste things... and I don't just... automatically go into sleep mode at midnight, I can choose to stay up if I want, or go to sleep early... it's just... so very strange, but wonderful."

Bulma was happy to hear about that as she frequently checked in how she was adjusting. Yumemi along with others she tended to look out for as one of the 'younger' members of the group. Mentally Yumemi was a young adult but there was an almost a slight adorable innocence about them as well. Something she hadn't lost completely thankfully.

This also meant she had to tease.

A sly grin began to form. "I'm glad. You know, that touch thing can become Very handy one day when you meet that special someone and become intimate. You'll get to feel all sorts of things then."

Yumemi blinked, looking at Bulma with confusion for a moment. "...I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you are talking about." She looked a bit... distressed, that she wasn't aware what Bulma was talking about.

The expression Yumemi wore was simultaneously adorable but also felt like pushing down a box of puppies a flight of stairs. She really was like a kid still in some ways, though her reaction to things did give Bulma something to think about.

The grin slowly faded as she became more serious. "I wasn't expecting that. Sweetie, you know what sex is right?" Was she going have to give the talk to Yumemi?

Yumemi blinked slowly again. "...It is the categorization of a species by gender, isn't it? Humans, and most animals, are identified as being of the male sex or female sex..." That is what she was taught, so... why did she feel like she was missing something?

Bulna gave a small sigh, but she shook her head as a another more warmer and geuine smile formed. "That's one answer, but it has other meanings to." The door to her lab opened as the lights instantly turned on not too long after. "You see, its also other things about repduction if you're being more clinical but also love and things of that nature. You see Yumemi, there's a lot more to things and I want to give you a basic idea so no one takes advantage of you.."


From there she began giving an explanation as best as she could, answering any questions she may of had the best she could. Bulma was by no means shy so questions would amuse more then embarrass.

*  *

Gohan was tired after his training session with Atsuko and Vargus, and he showed it as he slumped down in the artificial area that had been created by Bulma not to long ago. It was basically a combination of a holodeck with a 'harsh conditions' effect to simulate. Except it only changed environments and didn't yet have anything else, and Bulma was unsure since she worried about creating self aware A.I. so it may remain as it was.

"..I think..that's enough for now. We don't want to completely spend ourselves out."  It annoyed Gohan he still couldn't beat the androids but at least he felt his progess, and of course so had Atsuko and Vargus. Atsuko was actually stronger then him, not counting Super Sayain of course.

By the end of it, Yumemi actually had the faintest of blushes on her cheeks. That particular function of her body wasn't exactly fine-tuned yet, but it was still possible. "I see... I didn't realize that human reproduction was like that." She paused. "I don't have either of those parts though, I believe... at least I think so. I admit, I... have not actually looked over my body yet... I don't... actually believe I have changed my clothes since I got my new body. It never occurred to me that I could remove them..."

~~~~~~~~

Atsuko walked over, groaning softly as she stretched, grinning brightly. "God, what a work-out though, eh?" She plopped down beside Gohan, ruffling his hair affectionately. "You're catching up, kid. Before long, you won't even need Super Saiyan to give me a run for my money!"

Vargus was walking over as well, pointedly ignoring the way Atsuko's tanktop clung to her body, dripping with sweat... well, he could ignore it, but he imagined that was harder for Gohan. Amusing, honestly. "I'm glad you're back in the swing of things. Tomoya's birth seemed to take a lot out of you..."

"Eh, yeah, but he's a healthy boy, so a bit of pain of lack of energy for awhile was worth it."

Bulma could of teased more though this time she was in her more serious mode. Giving the birds and the bee's to someone was something she expected to maybe give to her kids one day, though in a sense Yumemi was in some ways almost like one. In a sense she was still very much new to the world despite her older body; she only been existing for a few years.

"Never took your clothes off huh? We're going have to change that, you Can take off your clothes and change but I guess you're still not used to things. And you can be intimate with people that body is uh..functional." Something Yumemi said hit Bulma as well. "I know you don't sweat and such like normal people but its still important you take showers. Geez, I feel like there's a lot I need to catch you up on. Do you have any questions sweetie?"

_________

At his current age Gohan was no longer completely oblivious the opposite gender so Atsuko in that outfit was distracting for a growing young teen. That being said he wasn't going to be rude and gawk at them the whole time, but he couldn't pretend he didn't notice either. This really wasn't helped by the women he semi regularly hanged around, but usually he was too busy to think much about these things except in more fleeting moments.

"Yeah. I just wish I knew the Kaioken so I could of taught you two. I really don't know if humans have any kind of super forms or not. I guess it doesn't matter if you do with the androids being as strong without them but it take longer." It was also annoying he wasn't progressing nearly as much as he should he felt.

Yumemi shifted a bit, a little embarrassed. "I have... nothing but questions. It's strange... I was always the one answering questions. Questions about the stars... now a whole new world has opened up to me... I don't know what to think of it... there are so many things I don't know, or understand..."

~~~~~

Atsuko shrugged a bit at that. "Hey, it is what it is. You've told me about the Kaioken before though... never how it supposedly worked though. How much do you know about it? Maybe between the three of us, we can figure it out, eh? Not to toot my own horn, but I'm kind of a prodigy when it comes to Ki control, despite not having the kind of power output you do. And Vargus here... well, he's just a freak, but we don't hold that against him. Do we, Vargy?"

"Har har..." He was grinning, despite his dry response.

Bulma could only smile softly at that bit. "You're going to find a lot of things you won't know even as you get older. Hell, smart as I am there's still plenty of stuff I don't know. I haven't told you this but..you're like a daughter to me Yumemi. I've watched you grow so much from how you first started and you still got a lot of room to grow kiddo, but I'm confident you'll be just fine if you keep that good heart of yours."

___

Gohan wasn't sure but he tried to think back to put pieces together for something Atsuko could potentially work with. "..I really wished I had asked my dad. But um, let's see.."

There wasn't much that came to him, the only thing he could remember was a brief conversation he and his dad had about it. "Dad said it was something about using the Ki within your body in a tight burst; like when you power up but letting it expand. I know there's a lot more to it but that's the gist of what I remember. It sounds pretty dangerous though, they might explode. Doesn't really help too much though.."

Yumemi's eyes widened a bit in surprise. She admittedly wasn't exactly 'up' on familial relations, but she'd seen enough to know the bond between a parent and child. "...I... really?" She blinked rapidly, trying to parse how that made her feel. It... was good, at least.

~~~~~

Atsuko hummed to herself a bit. "So a double-edged sword, sounds like... unfortunately, that's not much to go on. Well, was worth a shot to think about."

In Bulma's opinion, the young woman was adorable when she got like that. She was far from dumb, though she was lacking in the life experience department. "Of course. I've grown very fond of you over all this time. I always wanted a daughter myself but..you know, life happens and I never really got the chance to."

She patted Yumemi in the back. "In the mean time let's just take it easy. You want something to drink?"

___

Gohan was thinking of something he might of missed, but was unable to think of anything that might help them put together the pieces of the puzzle. "There's another technique I wish I learned. You remember the Destructo Disk Krillin knew? If we could figure it out, we could take them out both. Krillin managed to cut Frieza's tail and he was much weaker. We would only get one shot though, and evens till..I don't know where we would even start to recreate it."

Yumemi cocked her head to the side, thinking. She was new to drinking anything, so wasn't sure. "...Yes please, though I don't know what..."

~~~~~

Atsuko raised a brow. "Hm... so a disc of Ki, that can cut through opponents even much stronger than the user... so essentially a Ki construct of sorts... Ki blasts and beams are one thing, but actually forming Ki into a solid shape that holds together when thrown is a much bigger deal..." She chuckled softly. "Good thing that I've been doing something somewhat similar for years, forming my Ki around my body like a forcefield. Give me some time, I'll figure out this Destructo Disc thing, no sweat!"

"Heh. So your insane training ideas have born fruit even here, it seems."

"Of course, Vargy. I'm a prodigy, duh."

Gohan thinks a bit. It was a sound idea if they could get it to work, the issue would be holding them still so they actually could be hit. "The two are pretty cocky, so we can maybe goad them to getting hit at once. Because if one of them goes down and the other doesn't, then I don't have to tell you what would happen after the fact. If there's anything I can do to help just let me know."

Atsuko gave him a thumbs up. "You got it, Gohan. I'll let you know my progress, if any. I'll need to test if I'm even capable of forming my Ki into anything other than this forcefield of mine, first."

Gohan would be happy of any progress of that kind of technique. If they couldn't beat them with raw power like the path they were going on right now, then trying to defeat them with tricks was probably the best option. There might of been other ways, but the young man couldn't think of anything that would really be plausible at the moment.

His stomach growled, and similar to a physical tick his father had he scratched the back of his head. "I guess all that training and planning gotten to me. I'm going to get something to eat. You guys coming?"

Vargus stretched a bit, working his muscles a little. "You two go on ahead. I'm going work on my Ki control a bit. I'm still too far behind in that for my tastes."

"Suit yourself, Vargy." Atsuko hopped to her feet, holding a hand out to help Gohan up. "Alright kid, ready to treat me to some food? You can think of it as a date if that gets your engine going." She smirked a bit, while Vargus rolled his eyes.

Gohan being a growing teen wasn't going to say no to spending any length of time with Atsuko; it helped they were pretty close already as is. He knew it wasn't a date or anything of course so he didn't go to far ahead of himself. "Sure. There's always something to eat."

Technically. Due to how things were stuff did have to rotate so some days they may have been missing some things so they had to improvise a bit. Gohan found a spot that wasn't occupied and didn't have a bunch of people around so that was perfect far as just eating. "This should be enough for now."

'Enough' was of course still a lot of food being half Sayain.

Atsuko took a seat next to him, sighing softly as she glanced around. "...You know... I still struggle to figure this shit out... just thinking that just a few years ago, I was the winner of the World Martial Arts Tournament... and now I'm a single mother and part of a resistance against two people that have put the world under siege..."

Gohan took a bite of his food before he answered. "I know. I didn't really want this kind of life style either but we're both here now. I didn't think I had it in my to carry on like this so far, but I've been doing ok with your help I think."

Atsuko turned to him, brow furrowing. "...Doing okay?" She shifted over, reaching forward to turn his head to face her and look her in the eye. "You are doing more than 'okay', Gohan. I know you're too humble to see it this way, but you realize you are giving everyone hope, right? You are the strongest person here by a long shot, and are training the rest of us. You're helping us gain the power to actually fight back against these androids, something that normally would be beyond any of us."

Her eyes softened, and she gently took his hand. "And you are doing all this, despite the fact that in many ways, all of this hit you hardest of all. Your family and friends were made up of people who were leagues ahead of even you, and you lost all of them. If anyone here had a right to be feeling completely hopeless, it's you. A young kid who lost everything and understands better than anyone just how powerful these androids are. And yet... here you are. Keeping on your feet, and training the rest of us to be able to hold our own."

She pulled away, smiling warmly as she ruffled his hair a bit. "You should be proud of yourself, kid. I have no doubt your parents are, and your friends. I am, for sure, and I don't know you half as well as they did."