pslplz | Futureverse

When Goku was a child, he had two brothers. Then stuff happened, his parents wanted to live away from each other, and he suddenly had only one brother. He remembers being real sad for a long time, wondering whether his brother thought he didn't love him anymore for going away.

Years passed, Goku grew up (more or less...he wouldn't mind having a few more centimeters), and he spend his childhood running around with Hak Nii, who was fun and a great fighter and kind of awesome even though sometimes was an annoying idiot.

He never forgot his other brother though, sweet and warm, or so he recalled him to be, in that vague way that children create their earliest memories. As he entered his teenage years, he began to wonder more and more what had become of him. So one day he decided to just look him up.

But what do you say to a long lost brother after so many years of not being in his life?

Goku thinks about it for a long time before he sends him a message:

gogogoku>> hey!

Best to keep it short and to the point?

Mamoru's eyes burn from exhaustion as he heads back to his room. Tutoring, much like its professional counterpart of teaching, does not pay nearly enough. It's not that the work is grueling or frustrating or particularly stressful. It's that there simply aren't enough hours in the week to work at that rate and earn what would make a comfortable buffer for emergencies and surprise expenses like the dishwasher failure last month and the water damage it caused the flooring. Not while he's still in school himself with assignments of his own. Speaking of which...

He casts a forlorn look at his bed before settling at his desk and pulling out the essay notes he made between pupils. He makes it five minutes before getting notification of a new message from 'gogogoku.' He furrows his eyebrows. All of the sudden, his stomach feels as though it may have dropped out from under him.

"Rex: identify Real Name of gogogoku."

"Real Name: Son Goku."

Goku... Mamoru stares at his schoolwork as though it's morphed into some unconquerable beast. He scoots away from it and puts on his VR headset.

"Select String: Avatar Real Me; Environment City Park; Time Local; Set."

"Avatar, Environment, Time Selected."

"Send invitation to Screen Name gogogoku."

"Invitation Sent."

The scenery around him changes. His room disappears. Instead of his desk chair, he sits on a park bench along a walking trail. A moth circles one of the lamp posts and the song of cicadas hums around him. Stars hover overhead in a melancholy blanket of dark blue broken only by the last wisps of twilight encircling the horizon.

Maybe he should have sent something a little more interesting than 'hey,' but it's too late now. Besides, it's a very Goku sort of greeting, free of any lengthy introductions or explanations. And it apparently worked, because he gets a ping back before long, in the form of an VR call up. Goku perks up and quickly accepts the invite with a blink. He'd been strolling around the construct already, taking a break from schoolwork.

He doesn't usually bother with made-up avatars when he's not in-game, so there's no need to adjust his appearance before he enters the private space.

Goku materializes in the middle of a park at night, on some trail. He's arrived from a bright day-time forest setting, so the sudden dimming of light makes him blink a couple times before he can adjust. He glances around and sees a lamppost and bench. Someone's sitting on it. Goku jogs over, nervous but excited.

"Hello?"

Mamoru rises from the bench perhaps too anxiously when he sees the approaching figure. He's short, like him... like their mother. Big eyes, round face - he can sort of see the resemblance. The muscular build he can only guess to be something Goku got from his father's side, though it's hard for Mamoru to know for sure, having no solid memory of his own for comparison.

The same mix of nervousness and excitement that Goku feels is evident in Mamoru's smile. It's a little overwhelming to suddenly see his brother so much older and bigger than he remembers him being.

"It's been a long time."

It's not until he approaches the bench and really sees him that it hits Goku. It's him. When he was a kid, things weren't quite as clear, even if he did have a rather active imagination. He has the same face and feeling about him, though he's not sure if that makes a lot of sense at all. Maybe at five years old, that was all Goku really had. A feeling. And as he comes to stand closer to him, even in the VR, he can tell.

Goku breaks into a bright smile.

"Momo-Niichan!"

Mamoru is torn between humor and embarrassment hearing that old moniker again. He laughs.

"I'd almost forgotten you used to call me that! This is such a great surprise - it's so good to see you again! What inspired this?"

Mamoru doesn't mean it in a bad way, but he's a little surprised that Goku even remembers him at all. He was so young when their parents split.

The name just kind of slipped out. Of course he knows now that it's not his real name, but it feels weird calling him anything else. His brother doesn't seem to mind too much?

"Hmm, I dunno. Were we doing projects about genetics and stuff in bio. But that's not all of it, really. I always wondered what happened to you after we moved away. I thought I could ping you, and there you were."

He tilts his head and looks at him curiously and with some wonder. It's not everyday you find your brother.

It's pretty touching Goku wondered, though in a way it seems natural, too. He did lose his mother along with his brother. Mamoru wonders if Goku's dad found another partner quickly - or at all for that matter.

"You had good timing! I just got home. I tutor people after school for extra money. Tell me what's going on! What's life like for you now?"

"Life's okay, just school and friends and gaming. And Hak-Nii and Dad. We moved around lots for a few years, but we've been in New Osaka for a couple years now. I like it. What about you? How's Mom?"

It's strange to ask about his own mom. Most of Goku's own friends have both their parents, or at least keep in touch with them, if not. But Goku's not really mad about that. It would be nice to know them better, though. Especially now that they've finally settled somewhere and don't have to get going again any time soon.

It sounds like Goku's life is nice and normal. School, friends, gaming. The moving around sounds disruptive though. Mamoru's sort of glad that he's been able to stay in the same city.

"Mom's--" Mom's what? The answer waits on the tip of his tongue for half a second. "Mom's good. She misses you."

'Good' might not be the best descriptor, but that wasn't baggage to be bringing up as the first thing Goku heard about her. Mamoru doesn't know if he's seen her truly happy in years, and he's certain that not having one of her kids in her life at all is a big factor in that.

"Ooh."

His brother doesn't tell him much at all, so Goku only has the last bit to think about. He suddenly feels a bit guilty, having waited so long to look them up.

"I should call her, huh?"

Edited 2018-08-14 00:59 (UTC)

Mamoru works his jaw for half a second and almost manages a quick inner debate over whether that's a good idea or a bad one before answering:

"Yeah... I think she'd like that."

Maybe. She'll probably start crying, is Mamoru's guess. Emotional overload. Hm.

"--How about save it for this weekend? Friday night or Saturday?"

Mamoru looks weird about it.

Goku wonders if maybe he said the wrong thing. It's been a while since he's talked to his brother and mother. Maybe there's a reason for it. Maybe Mamoru isn't telling him everything.

"Is she okay?"

There is surely a very right and a very wrong way to respond to this question. The question is, which way is the very right one? How much information is too much information?

"She's okay. I think waiting for the weekend is better because she won't have to work. That makes better timing... That's all."

"Hmmm okay."

Goku wonders for a moment if that's it, but he decides not to press. Besides, he'd like to catch up with his brother instead!

"So what're tutoring? You said you're in school? What are you doing?"

"I offer in math, science, and history. I graduate this spring and have a scholarship to Neo-Tokyo U where I'll be majoring in engineering. General for the first year and moving into a specialty after that."

It's a safe category. Engineers will always be needed, and it tends to pay well. And NTU was one of the top-ranked colleges in the country.

"Wow. Sounds like you're real smart." He grins. Not that Hak's not smart or anything, but he's more of a different kind of cool.

"What're you gonna do after?"

Smart, maybe. Growing up on strapped income, seeing the toll that it takes on an adult, can make for a pretty good motivator to study hard and focus on building a future that will give you the financial freedom to pursue more than the best deals. And he did have the benefit of an in-home teacher that stressed the importance of doing well in school his whole life. Which was all to say that Mamoru attributes most of his academic success to hard work and circumstance.

"I'm not sure. The advantage of spending the first year in general engineering is that it lets you sample all of the different fields to see what you like. What about you? Do you have any plans for yourself after school?"

"Hmm, I dunno yet. It'll be nice to just settle down somewhere for a while and see what's interesting."

Having traveled around a bit, it's kind of hard to imagine what kind of a steady gig you can really have. But he's willing to give it a try.

It's a funny contrast, though not an unfitting one. Mamoru is so accustomed to structure, direction and clarity of objectives. It's hard to envision this wait-and-see approach Goku seems to be taking. It's so easygoing (like Goku himself, or at least what Mamoru remembers of him).

"That sounds relaxing. I hope you find something interesting without trouble-- and that it doesn't turn out to be trouble itself."

It's an easy destination for the young and aimless.

"I'll find something, I think," Goku says confidently. In a way, he might be interested in too many things. But he's got some ideas already, and he's pretty sure he'll fall into something eventually. How hard can it be?

"I think I'll move to the city after I graduate. Maybe we'll see each in person?"

Edited 2019-08-11 00:19 (UTC)

"I'd like that," Mamoru says with interest. "Who knows, we might even see each other in person before that."

"Yeah! We can go out to eat or something. Is that dumpling shop still there? The one we used to go to lots?"

Of course he remembers.

"I'm not sure. We moved to a different part of town after the split. I haven't been out there in a long time. But I know a few reliable places where we are now."

Futureverse

[flashback] Goku and the Peach

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