By Your Side Chapter 6

                                                                    Mount Paozu
Following the same route from three days ago, Toushiro arrived at Master Roshi’s House. In a chair sitting under an umbrella next to the house, he saw the old man reading a ‘subjective’ magazine.
Roshi: “Oh! Hello Toushiro!”
Toushiro: “Hello Roshi!”
The young captain walked up to the old turtle hermit. Although he continued to be friendly and happy, Roshi knew that something was wrong. He knew because of one simple thing... Vegeta wasn’t with him.
Roshi: “Well this is a surprise! To what do we owe this visit for, huh?”
Toushiro’s reaction to that question only confirmed the old man’s theory.
Toushiro: “Well... I need to talk to Krillin...”
Roshi looked at the boy in silence for a while before calling out to Krillin. The small man came out in no time and was just as surprised and worried to see Toushiro here as well.
Krillin: “Hey Toushiro... What is it? Why isn’t Vegeta here with you?”
Toushiro: “Actually... Vegeta’s the reason why I’m here. I would have gone to Goku with this, but... I don’t know where he lives.”
Krillin: “What is it?”
Toushiro: “... ...”
Roshi: “You can tell us, Toushiro.”
Toushiro: “Well... You remember how badly Vegeta got hurt during that fight with that pirate robot, right?”
Krillin: “Yeah... Is he ok?”
Toushiro: “Not exactly. His wounds are all healed and everything, but... He’s become so depressed over the whole incident. Just a little while ago I asked him if he was ok... ... And he said that he’s thinking about retiring from fighting.”
Krillin: “What?!”
Roshi: “Did he say why?”
Toushiro: “A-huh... He said he’s not as young as he used to be, that he’s getting old.”
Roshi: “This is serious...”
Krillin: “Sounds like he’s got it bad this time.”
Toushiro thought he was just hearing things.
Toushiro: “This time?”
Roshi: “Oh yes... You see, Toushiro, this isn’t the first time Vegeta’s been depressed.”
Krillin: “He’s been like this on three other occasions that we know of. The first was right before Frieza killed him, but that one can be caused more out of fear than anything else.”
Roshi: “The second time was right after the Cell Games ended. Goku had sacrificed himself to try and stop Cell but failed. But Goku’s fearless sacrifice caused Vegeta, for reasons we don’t know, to become depressed and withdrawn. We don’t know what happened but he eventually fought off his depression.”
Krillin: “And the last time was when Coge appeared. It was hearing that Coge was attacking his family that got him out of it.”
Toushiro: “So this HAS happened before.”
Krillin: “Yeah but from what you’ve just told us, he’s got it really bad this time.”
Toushiro: “Is there anything we can do?”
Roshi: “Maybe you should tell Goku about this. He knows Vegeta better than most of us... He just might know what to do.”
Toushiro: “But... I don’t know where he lives, and although I can sense people the same way you guys can, I still have a hard time telling individuals apart from their energy.”
Krillin: “Don’t worry, I’ll take ya. I fell bad about it anyway.”
Toushiro: “Thanks, Krillin.”
Krillin: “Hey, 18! I’ll be right back, I’m going over to Goku’s for a bit!”
A voice came from inside the house.
18: “And why are you suddenly-.... Toushiro?”
Just then, Android 18 came out and the moment she saw Toushiro, she knew something was wrong too.
18: “Let me guess... Vegeta?”
Toushiro: “Yeah he’s... He’s pretty depressed.”
18: “Uh-oh...”
Krillin: “I’m going to take Toushiro over to Goku’s place. Vegeta’s got it bad so we figured Goku can help.”
18: “Better hurry then... You know how hard it is to restore Vegeta’s self-esteem the deeper he becomes depressed.”
With Krillin leading him, Toushiro was finally heading to Goku’s House for the first time! He just wished it was under better circumstances. Krillin led the way while Toushiro followed close behind. The small man had to go slow so that Toushiro could keep up. The faster they went, the more spiritual power the young captain had to use in order to keep up. Poor Toushiro wasn’t used to traveling long distances. In a few minutes, they had arrived at Mount Paozu, the area that Goku lived in. Toushiro was a bit excited to say the least. In all the years he’s known Vegeta and his friends, Toushiro has not once ever been to Goku’s house until today. The area around his place was beautiful. A thick lush forest that stretched for miles in every direction with mountains scraping the sky every now and then. Close to the edge of a cliff above a lush valley laid two houses, one smaller than the other.
Krillin: “Welcome to Mount Paozu, Toushiro! Home to Goku and his family! What do ya think?”
Toushiro: “It’s beautiful! I never imagined that Goku lived in a place like this!”
Krillin: “Hehe hehe! Well what are we waiting for?”
Krillin started to land and Toushiro followed suit. Once they were on the ground, they walked up to the front door and knocked. They were both a bit surprised when it was Grimmjow that opened the door. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was one of the arrancars that survived the war against Aizen and was allowed to live in the living world under some strict rules. So he stayed with Goku and his family with Goku successfully keeping Grimmjow out of trouble.
Grimmjow: “What the... What are you doing here, Hitsugaya?”
Toushiro: “We’re here to see Goku, Grimmjow... ... It’s about Vegeta.”
The arrancar suddenly looked surprised. He liked the saiyan prince just like everyone else.
Grimmjow: “Oh... Well come in.”
The arrancar invited the two in and told them to wait in the living room while he looked for Goku. While Krillin took to sitting on the sofa, Toushiro looked around while staying in the same room. In a short time, Grimmjow came back with Goku who looked a little surprised to hear that Krillin and Toushiro were here. But before he asked them what was going on, Goku warmly welcomed Toushiro to his home since this was his first time here.
Goku: “Welcome to my home, Toushiro!”
Toushiro: “It’s a nice place you’ve got here, Goku!”
Goku: “Thanks! Hehe... So what brings you here? Grimmjow said it’s about Vegeta... Is he ok?”
Toushiro: “Not really...”
And so Toushiro told Goku what had happened with Grimmjow and Krillin listening quietly.
Goku: “So Vegeta’s depressed, huh. I knew he’d feel bad about losing that fight to the robot but I had no idea it would be this bad.”
Toushiro: “No, Goku... It’s not the actual fight that he’s depressed about, it’s what happened during the fight and what had caused us all to run away.”
Goku: “You mean his injury?”
Grimmjow: “So he injured his back, big deal right?”
Krillin: “Tell them what you told Master Roshi and me, Toushiro.”
Toushiro: “Ok.”
Goku and Grimmjow listened carefully.
Toushiro: “Vegeta said these very words to me not too long ago... He said that he’s thinking of retiring from fighting, that he’s not as young as he used to be... That... He’s getting old.”
Goku sighed and Grimmjow covered his mouth with his hand.
Krillin: “It sounds like he’s got it bad, Goku... Really bad.”
Goku: “Yeah. For him to be thinking about giving up fighting...”
Toushiro: “I’m scared, Goku. I’ve never seen him like this.”
Goku: “I know.”
Krillin: “So can you cheer him up, Goku?”
Goku: “I don’t think it’ll be that simple, Krillin.”
Krillin: “How come?”
Goku: “Well as much as I hate to see Vegeta this way, I also kinda sympathize with him too. Let’s face it, we’re not that young ourselves, Krillin.”
Grimmjow: “But Goku, I thought that you were older than Vegeta. Why can’t you get him out of his slump?”
Goku: “Believe it or not, Grimmjow... Vegeta is actually older than me. In fact, aside from Roshi and Turtle, Vegeta and Val are the oldest of us all and since he and Val were born on the same day and at the same time. I’m only five years younger than him if you don’t count all the years I’ve been dead.”
Just then, Chi-Chi and Goten walked in. They both wondered what was going on. Just before they were about to ask, Gohan and Videl appeared. Even they were surprised to see the sight in front of them.
Gohan: “Toushiro? Toushiro Hitsugaya, what are you doing here?! It’s been awhile!”
Toushiro: “Hi Gohan, Videl.”
Videl: “It’s nice to see you again, Toushiro.”
Toushiro: “Hello Chi-Chi, Goten.”
Goten: “Hey!”
Chi-Chi: “Welcome to Mount Paozu.”
Gohan: “So Krillin, did you bring Toushiro here?”
Krillin: “Yeah. We got here not too long ago.”
Chi-Chi: “Goku, Grimmjow, what’s going on?”
Videl: “Yeah why the glum face?”
Goku: “... ... (Sigh) I told you guys that Vegeta got hurt fighting a pirate robot when he and Toushiro were helping Krillin deal with those pirates, right?”
Goten: “Yeah?”
Goku: “Well... Toushiro just told me some horrible news. It seems that that injury has made Vegeta deeply depressed about his age... ... So much so that he’s considering at this very moment about retiring from fighting.”
The room fell silent as the meaning of those words sank in to everyone.
Chi-Chi: “Poor Vegeta...”
Videl: “Poor guy...”
Gohan: “Isn’t there anything you can do, dad? You’ve come to terms with your aging.”
Toushiro: “How did you come to terms with your aging, Goku?”
Goku: “Simple really. I just looked around and saw how all of my friends and family supported me.”
At that moment, Goku got an idea!
Goku: “Hey, I know! Let’s throw a party!”
Everyone: “What?!”
Goku: “Yeah! We’ll throw a party right here and invite everyone! Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, the Soul Reapers, Ichigo, everyone! We’ll tell them about Vegeta and we’ll use the party as a way of showing him how much he means to us!”
Krillin: “Hey yeah! That’s a great idea Goku!”
Chi-Chi: “We can have a barbecue!”
Gohan: “And everyone can talk to Vegeta and maybe get him out of his slump!”
Goku: “But we can’t tell Vegeta what we’re really doing otherwise he’ll just stay away. You think you can tell everyone in the Soul Society without him knowing, Toushiro?”
Toushiro: “Easy!”
Goku: “Do it! Tell them, in... Let’s say the day after tomorrow! That’ll give us time to get everything together, and you time to get the word around!”
Toushiro: “Done! And thank you, Goku!”
Goku: “Don’t thank us yet, Toushiro. We’ve still gotta get him outta that slump. Vegeta’s the king of stubborn.”
Toushiro: “I don’t have a problem with him being that stubborn.”
Chi-Chi: “You’re just lucky.”