"You are not taking this fight seriously!"

Gohan sat up rubbing his sore cheek, his face crumpling into a frown. He studiously extracted the rest of himself from the shattered rock face and dusted his frayed gi.

"I've told him many times but he refuses to listen… Piccolo-san is not my enemy. I don't want to attack my friend…"

Piccolo's ears twitched. He knew he wasn't meant to hear that incoherent grumble but, of course, he still did.

'Why is Piccolo-san only nice to me when I'm asleep? Why can't he be that way all the time?'

"Enough! Stop wasting time!" Piccolo roared.

The boy's griping pricked his ears and bled into his mind incessantly. Shutting out thoughts that were being inadvertently projected to him was a skill he was still learning to master on his own. Most of his abilities and skills were acquired knowledge but reading minds was not one of those; it was something his sire never felt the need to suppress in the first place. People usually safeguarded their thoughts to some degree; unfortunately for him, that wasn't the case with his apprentice now. In fact, it was the exact opposite, as though the boy was deliberately offering up his mind for Piccolo to dissect, and somehow– this made his own mind extra receptive to the fledgling's every word and emotion.

Gohan had resumed a fighting stance but his thoughts were still somewhere else.

'I wonder why Piccolo-san is so grumpy all the time…'

"Concentrate on the fight at hand! Don't let your thoughts wander elsewhere, gaki!"

"Waarrgh!"

Piccolo made sure to punctuate his command with a kick, and sure enough, the boy was, again, unprepared to deflect or dodge it. He does, however, successfully manage to deface the adjacent mountain slope with his skull.

"Stop waiting for me to hit you! Attack me!" Piccolo barked impatiently.

"Can't I-" The boy coughed, wiping his face of dirt and wincing at the new bloody gash on his forehead, "—stick to defense for now? Please, Piccolo-san?"

"There's a very specific reason I decided to train you, and it's not to stand around and wait for the enemy to beat you to death! Which I can assure you they will most certainly do, if you give them the chance!"

"Uwaaaaahhh!"

Another punch and another kick delivered in a swift combo sent the small body hurtling sideways, and this time, he ended up partially impaled in one of the rocky buttes jutting all around them.

"If you don't go on the offensive, you will never learn to fight! What's more, you are pathetic when it comes to defense! Relying on defense alone will get you killed!"

"B-but, I don't want to fight! I want to protect!"

"If you don't fight, you die!" Piccolo landed another punch, this time to his gut, which made Gohan reflexively curl onto his knees, grimacing in pain. "Only good-for-nothing fools think they can survive without fighting! There will always come a time when you will need to fight. That is what it means to protect something!"

"There are people who survive without fighting!"

"Yes! And they're all weaklings and snivelling cowards!" Piccolo thundered, advancing at Gohan who had just resumed a half-hearted stance. "You were born with power, you are meant to fight!"

Gohan had managed to par every single one of the blows aimed at his face but he drops to his knees again, when Piccolo's knee connects with his unguarded midsection.

"I'd rather- nnhh, be a c-coward t-than, kkkuhhff! hurt another, hunngh- living creature!"

The Earth-born Namek stood his full height, unamused at the boy's words, watching idly as the boy wheezed and tried to get some air into his lungs before choosing to speak:

"And that's exactly why your father died."

Gohan's tear-rimmed eyes went wide.

"If you continue to deny your destiny, you will only lose more people who are important to you."

With that, Piccolo turned to leave. For once, he was quite satisfied to hear no complaints or comebacks thrown his way. Some extra hours of meditation was the better alternative any day over entertaining pointless childish tantrums.

"My destiny isn't to hurt my friends…!"

The energy levels steadily rising from the boy halted Piccolo's departure.

"Piccolo-san isn't my enemy, but my friend!"

"Heh!" Piccolo scoffed, turning back with a leer. "You're still yammering about that? I only let you have your illusion of friendship to shut you up!"

"LIAR!"

A fantastic blaze of Ki sent Piccolo skidding back, just as he barely managed to block the tornado of punches and kicks that followed. By the time Gohan relented he was panting hard, tears streaming down his face.

"Not bad," the Namek smirked. "But you're not supposed to stop until you've taken me down!"

"Warrgghhhh!"

-x-

"Piccolo-san is such a liar…"

The four-year-old was in a sour mood that night, grumbling to himself again as he nursed the sore spots all over his body with a damp strip of cloth from his torn gi.

"Why do you insist on lying?" he asked out loud.

"Shut up and sleep."

"No!" Gohan's aching limbs juddered in protest as he forced his spine ramrod straight, standing as tall and as firmly as he could manage in front of his meditating mentor. "Answer me!"

"Because you are a spoiled little brat who thinks he knows everything!"

The Namek hadn't intended to spit out such a juvenile response but once again, the situation was getting the best of him.

"I don't think so. I know so! Stop lying!"

The Ki spike combined with the child's booming voice seemed to silence even the owls and crickets in the far distance. Piccolo's ears were ringing sharply from the auditory assault and it caused what was left of his patience to be extinguished in a snap. It was his turn to get on his feet and loom over the boy.

Gohan met his slicing glare without flinching.

Good. Thought Piccolo. At least he's finally growing a backbone. How ironic that his ridiculous obsession with their imaginary friendship is what's spurring it! Humans and Saiyajins really have the most peculiar driving forces behind their power.

"Stop lying," the boy repeated in a low snarl, teeth bared, tail whipping behind him. "Please."

"I don't care what you think!" Piccolo spat. "You and your planet's inane rituals mean nothing to me! I don't know why such worthless things are so important to you Earthlings but it is of no use to me!"

"You don't know that yet! Friends look out for each other- help each other! It's what you do for me! It's what we are!"

*"Kudaranai koto! I made it this far without it and some snivelling runt is not about to change that!" (*What nonsense!)

"You say that…" Gohan's tiny fists clenched hard. "…And you think I don't know… But you protect me and look after me! I know it!"

"You are only a means to an end," Piccolo grated out. "When I'm through with your father and those invaders, I'll be done with you as well!"

"You and my father can be good friends. Friends are more useful than enemies, you know. They stand by your side, keep you company when you're lonely, and cheer you up when you're sad."

Piccolo laughed disdainfully. "Do I look like I need such foolishness?"

"I know you do." Gohan's gaze bore into his mentor's; searching, imploring. "I can prove it!"

"You know nothing!"

"You could have killed me anytime but you didn't!"

"That's because you have yet to serve your purpose!"

"You won't kill me." Gohan's expression of ironclad determination didn't falter. "It's not what you really want."

"Do you want to try me?" Piccolo growled menacingly, pearly-white fangs catching the glint of the crescent moon's illumination.

To anyone else, it would have been a hair-raising sight, but to the demi-Saiyajin, it was no less than spectacular.

"You heal my injuries by morning! You clothe and feed me when I'm too weak to get my own food or hunt for game! It's the truth!"

"Something I wouldn't have had to do if you weren't so despicably weak!"

"You can pretend all you want but you aren't fooling me, Piccolo-san. I swear, I will make you admit we're friends!"

The Namek burst into more raucous laughter. "A runt like you who can't even throw a punch? It certainly will be interesting to see you try!"

"If I promise to train more diligently, will you promise to admit we're friends and never deny it again?"

"I will admit to no such thing!"

"I understand, Piccolo-san. We can't act like friends now, but when this is all over and we've driven away the invaders, we can be proper friends!"

"Keep this up and I just might be tempted enough to kill you right now," Piccolo snapped crossly, settling back into a cross-legged position, attempting to regain composure. He always regretted getting ensnared into these square offs but the brat was intolerably persistent. "I don't understand why you feel the need to antagonize me with your absurd Earth rituals anyway! When this is all over, you'll go home to your family and we'll never have to see each other again! That is, if you even manage to live that long."

Gohan's shoulders drooped, his voice losing its edge. "That's exactly why, Piccolo-san… I'd like very much to still get to see you even after this…"

The Namek took a moment longer to comment, unsure of how to react to the alienating sensations blossoming in his chest; even more than to the boy's strange admission.

"Don't you already have your parents to pester for companionship?" Piccolo finally spoke. Then he muttered to himself, "Well, I suppose if I had a mother and father like yours, I'd be desperate for better companions too."

"It's different. We're family and I'm their offspring, that makes us friends by default. It's kind of compulsory, so it doesn't actually count. At least- not in the same way it does with others outside family… Being friends with you is something I chose, simply because I like you, Piccolo-san. I think making friends that way is more special somehow… Don't you think?"

"You talk too much." Piccolo averted his face to hide his warming cheeks. "Go to sleep."

"Okay. But before I do, I want to make a deal with you, Piccolo-san!"

Piccolo's brow lifted a notch. Ever so slowly.

"If I promise to obediently do whatever you ask me to from tomorrow onwards, even if it means attacking you to the best of my efforts, in return, you must promise me that you'll admit we're friends and will never deny it again! For all of ever!"

Piccolo couldn't stop the tide of laughter that bubbled up. He laughed. A real laugh. The brat could be amusing with his utter stupid cheekiness.

"I refuse!"

"Huh?! B-but why?"

"I do not wish to associate with cowardly weaklings or spoiled selfish brats who do nothing but whine!"

"Fine then!" Gohan sprung to his feet. "I will defeat you in battle! I will become stronger and braver, and you'll be so impressed with me that you'll be proud to call me your friend!"

"You? Defeat me?" Piccolo snorted, mildly scandalized and greatly amused at the diminutive Earthling's growing audacity. On the other hand, perhaps this could be worked to an advantage after all, and he could finally get the insufferable crybaby to man up.

"I- if I do, w-will you promise?" Gohan prodded nervously.

"Like that's ever going to happen," Piccolo sneered.

"Give me your word!"

Crud, the pesky brat can be loud, Piccolo winced, doing his best to refrain from covering his ears.

"Alright, whatever! If it will get you to shut up and go to sleep!"

Gohan's face lit up faster than Christmas.

"—But only if you defeat those Saiyajin invaders."

"What?!" Gohan face-fell. "That's not fair!"

"You heard me."

"But… but… That's a bit much… isn't it? I'm not that—"

"If you can't do it, I have no use for you as an ally."

The young half-breed looked so crestfallen that irritation welled up in Piccolo's chest for different reasons it usually did.

"If you want something badly enough, you'll always find a way. However, it's entirely another matter if you don't—"

"I do!" Gohan interjected so forcefully that it sent echoes rippling through the valley. "I do…! And I will! Okay, it's a deal, then? Now, we, uhh, err… pinkie swear!"

"'Pinkie'— what?" Piccolo gaped, eyes bulging at Gohan's outstretched finger.

"It's an oath to seal a promise between men. Me and Father do this all the time!"

"Figures."

"Just give me your pinkie finger, Piccolo-san! You aren't afraid to swear an oath, are you?"

Piccolo felt his stomach twist into knots as he spied the tiny finger wiggling in front of his nose. Clearly, the brat was not letting up until he surrendered his finger to this idiotic godforsaken ritual…

Reluctantly, somewhat cautiously and utterly repulsed, he brought up the smallest of his fingers and Gohan locked onto it instantly. The unbridled expression of horror on Piccolo's face made Gohan chuckle. He had never seen his master so discomposed before.

"There! Now that we've pinkie-promised, you must remember! If you break your promise you'll have to cut off your finger!"

"Is that supposed to scare me?" the Namek deadpanned.

Gohan tittered sheepishly. Then his gaze fell on their interlocked fingers. "Oh, right… You only have four fingers!"

Piccolo yanked back his digit and tucked it away as he crossed his arms. "What do I need five for? I don't pick my nose or make stupid pinkie promises!"

"I think it's really cool! I wish I only had four fingers too."

"That can be arranged."

"Can I at least ask for a change of clothes before I sleep? Even if I washed up in the river these clothes are all torn now and they smell funny."

"Don't push your luck, gaki."

"Always so stingy," Gohan mumbled as he settled on the ground and tried to find a comfortable lying position that put as little pressure on his worst bruises as much as possible. "You're going to give me new clothes when I fall asleep anyway, why do you always have to pretend you won't? You can be so silly, Piccolo-san."

"SLEEP!"

"Hai."

Gohan yawned, suddenly fatigued, easily yielding to the overpowering weight of his eyelids, contentment settling in his being now that he had a newfound motivation to look forward to the next day.

"Good night, Piccolo-san."

When Gohan had fallen asleep, Piccolo found himself doing exactly as the boy predicted, magically replacing his tattered gi with a fresh clean one, feeling strangely sentimental as he decided to add one final touch—

His own monogram.

End.

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To Shiikun: (Sorry, forgot to put this in when I hit "publish".)
Thank you for letting me know your thoughts! I do appreciate hearing from readers, it helps me lots. Yes, I agree with you, Gohan-kun has always been that sweet to Piccolo-san. That is definitely canon right there. Honestly, I tried to end the 2nd chapter on a serious note, but him and Kririn-san wouldn't let me, haha. So even if I tried to fight it, it wouldn't end any other way. I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks again! (n_n) Hope you liked this chapter too. Take care!