Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters. Of course I own this story but I don't own the cover picture; that cuteness is a still from an anime which has touched me the most ever - 'Shigatsu wa kimi no Usa'/'Your lie In April'.

Prompt submission for 'GhVi Month 7.0 One-shot Contest'

DBZ

Human For A Day

Brought to you by GoHaNViDeLSoN.

Topic no. 7: An ironic one-shot.

Situational Irony - The disparity of intention and result; when the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect.

"Honey, I'm home!" Rang the thick voice of a Son male, as he entered through the door. He was in his mid-twenties; a well-built physique and strikingly handsome.

A beautiful woman, though not so beautiful at that particular moment, which was apparent from the symptoms of sleep-deprivation, that being black bags under her eyes and her constant yawning, appeared at the doorway. Apron tied round her waist, wooden spoon in hand, and with smears of unidentifiable cooking ingredients on her face, Videl emerged from the kitchen to greet her husband.

From her room upstairs, a shrill voice could be heard wailing; making a fuss, as to how unfair life was and how her mom hated her. Oh, how she wished she'd never been born!

Gohan looked at Videl out of the corner of the eye, a subtle smirk playing at his lips as he spoke, "Rough day, huh?" Unfortunately for Gohan, that was exactly the wrong thing to say at that particular moment.

"Rough day?" Videl spoke, threateningly calm. All the while, looking rather incredulously at her husband. Then, much like Mount St. Helen's, her demeanor did a complete 180 and she erupted forcefully without any warning.

"ROUGH DAY!? Let me tell you about my day, -honey!- First one of the pipes in our bathroom exploded, drenching our bedroom, so I have to call the plumber and get one of their workmen to come over, and of course it takes them over an hour to send somebody over. So when the guy gets here he immediately starts hitting on me, despite the fact that I repeatedly told him I'm very happily married, but does he take the hint? NOOOOoooooo. He just keeps going on and on about how there's no one else home and no one would know, so of course I kick him out, literally.-"Videl paused. A much needed one, owing to her pleas of lungs. Having taken the necessary intake of air, she proceeded with her rants.

"- Then I have to figure out how to fix the stupid pipe myself, and halfway through that Pan gets home from preschool. So not only do I have this pipe to deal with, but your daughter keeps getting into things while I'm distracted. Why I let you and your father ever teach her to fly, I'll never know. Finally I fix the pipe and get Pan under control and start on dinner. Of course, she chooses that moment to act up again, this time breaking the crystal candlesticks we got on our wedding day to get my attention. While I'm punishing her, the steam cooker explodes, so now dinner is all over the kitchen, Pan is wailing in her room, and you come in asking if I've had a rough day? You have no idea!" Videl put her head in her hands, as she began crying.

"I-I" Gohan stammered. He never had been quite sure what to do around crying women. There was one thing that always seemed to work, though. Carefully he walked over and put his arms around her and wrapped her in a warm embrace. Videl continued her rant, a little more subdued now that the tears were pouring down.

"You just *sob* have no clue. And you *sniffle* know what? *sniffle sniffle* Y-you never will! You can never understand how hard it is to raise a super-powered daughter when you're just one human without anything extra because you have extra powers, too!"

To somebody passing by at that moment, it would have appeared as if Gohan was simply holding his wife for a few minutes while she composed herself. However, anyone who knew the half Saiyan well would have noticed the far-away look in his eyes, evidence that some idea had taken root in his mind and was now even germinating. "I'll do it," he said under his breath, the idea having finally blossomed.

"What was that, Gohan?" Videl looked up at him, much calmer as he brushed away the last of her tears with the flick of his thumb. He kissed his wife gently on the forehead.

"I said I'll do it." Gohan gazed fondly at Videl's confused expression. "You said I couldn't possible understand my abilities, so I'll gather the dragon balls and wish them away Just for one day!" he hurriedly assured Videl at her look of horror over the announcement. "Just to see things from your perspective. I'll even take the day off work and watch Pan while you have a day to yourself."

Videl didn't have a single thing to say. Words just couldn't describe the emotions coursing through her. "R-really?" she managed to stutter. A part of her felt so ecstatic for the caring display of her sweet husband, but a part of her felt sorry for Gohan, realising, as to what he had in store for him.

Gohan just smiled and nodded."I'll gather the dragon balls this evening after dinner and make the wish in the morning. Now, let's see what we can salvage of dinner."

"ARISE ETERNAL DRAGON AND GRANT US OUR WISH!" Gohan yelled at the top of his lungs. The bright sky soon became pitch black as dark clouds surrounded the sun and the dragon balls glowed brighter. Lighting struck through the heavens, illuminating the sky.

"You have awakened me from my slumber. I shall grant any two wishes within my power. What are they?"

Gohan turned his head towards Videl, who nodded her head meekly, not much in agreement with her husband conscientious.

"I wish to not have any of my inherent Saiyan abilities for twenty-four hours!" Gohan called out to the huge dragon floating in the sky above him.

"It shall be done…"

Shenron's eyes then glowed bright red for a few short seconds. "It has been done. What will be your second wish?"

A strange yellow glow seeped out of Gohan. It hung around him for a moment, then vanished into the morning mist.

"That would be it Shenron. We have no other wish for you"

"Fine then. Farewell."

In a great flash of light, the dragon soared into the air, taking the balls with him, right before sending them all flying though the air in seven different directions. The sky then turned back to its normal shade of blue.

"Did it really work?" Videl asked incredulously.

"I-I don't know," Gohan replied, looking inquisitively at himself. "I do feel a little different, like I'm heavier somehow, but-" Deciding to experiment, he picked up a rock about the size of his hand and drew back his arm. Quickly he snapped it forward, intending to throw it hard enough to break through the tree standing about 40 feet away. The rock barely even made it to the closest roots of the tree.

"Guess that answers our question," Videl replied.

"Pan! Get down from on top of the fridge!" Gohan yelled as his daughter playfully jumped up and down on the large appliance.

"Catch me, Daddy!" she called out, leaping off the top of the refrigerator. The little girl landed in his arms, causing the air to whoosh out of his lungs. She was really delighted today because she had her loving father to play with, rather than her mom.

"Oof! Pan, I told you not to-" Gohan began, but was interrupted by the front door opening.

"Hi, everybody, I'm home!" Videl called out, setting her purse on the foyer table. Pan squealed in delight and dashed from the kitchen where Gohan was attempting to cook dinner.

"Mommy!"

Gohan emerged from the kitchen, bags under his eyes, apron tied around his waist, wooden spoon in hand, and smears of unidentifiable cooking ingredients on his face. Videl tried desperately to stifle her giggles.

"Rough day?" she chuckled. Gohan smiled sardonically back, and then went into a deep bow.

"All right, you win, I concede to your supreme powers as a mother of one very hyper-active, super-powered four year old." Videl laughed even harder at her husband's display.

"I think you've learned your lesson," she said, getting herself under control. "Why don't we all head into town for dinner tonight and skip the cooking." Gohan's look of pure joy at the suggestion was enough to send Videl back into another round of giggles.

"Mommy, Mommy! Can we go in to that toy store, pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase?" Pan whined. It was now after dinner, and the family had decided to take a stroll around the city while they were there.

Gohan winced. He hated going into Pan's favorite toy store, 'Noise World.' All those gadgets, each making their own separate sound, were like nails on a chalkboard to his ears. Videl noticed his look and was about to tell Pan no, when Gohan interrupted.

"Don't worry about it. You take her, and I'll head over to the bookstore on the next street." Videl smiled at him, a smile that promised wonderful things later in the evening after Pan had gone to bed. Gohan smiled a similar smile back and ducked into the alley that would take him around behind 'Noise World' and into the street where his favorite store was located. Halfway there, he felt something cold and hard jab into his back. A chill ran down his spine. He immediately recognised the feel of a gun. He shivered getting goosebumps.

"Just stay where you are, buddy, and don't make any sound," a harsh voice greeted his ear. "Now hand over all your money and any other valuables you've got stashed, and you may get out of this."

Terror gripped Gohan like it had never before. Normally a low-grade punk like this wouldn't have fazed him one bit, but today of all days, when he didn't have any of the power or strength he had come to rely on. He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat; his mind frozen from the initial shock.

The man behind him shoved the gun harder against his back. "Didn't you hear me, smart guy? Hand over your money, now!" The powerless half Saiyan heard the click of the gun. The noise seemed to make something inside him snap, as his martial arts instinct kicked in. With a swift motion, Gohan ducked under the gun and kicked it out of the mugger's hand. The motion pressed the man's finger on the trigger and the gun fired, hitting Gohan in the upper arm.

Gohan stared at the mugger in fury as the gun clattered against the wall, blood running down his arm. The man looked about ready to wet himself, and as Gohan took a step forward he ran out of the alley faster than if a herd of enraged pit-bulls were after him. Gohan was exultant. He'd survived, and without his Saiyan powers. But it was almost more than he could withstand.

Gohan suddenly noticed his arm and how it was bleeding a lot more than he thought it should. The bullet must have hit an artery. Pressing his hand against the wound to try to stop the flow, he stumbled out of the alley in search of help.

Videl stepped out of the toy store, rubbing her temples. She had a nagging sensation at the back of her mind of something inevitable. Pan was still inside, but the older woman needed a break from all the noise. In a few minutes she would go back in to retrieve her daughter.

The sight which greeted Videl, once she walked out of the store, stopped her dead in her tracks as her eyes bulged out of her sockets. The stench of blood was fresh as it dripped onto the ground from Gohan's arm. The said man was on the other side of the road, tightly clutching onto his arm to prevent any further blood loss.

Videl looked up just in time to see her husband lurch out of an alley and stumble into the street. His movements erratic like that of a drunkard. Gohan stepped on to the street to cross to the other side, while completely discounting on the factor that a bus rapidly sped in his direction.

However this didn't go unnoticed by Videl as she watched wide-eyed, the bus speeding in Gohan's direction. The eeriness that subdued, once again returning in full-force. She screamed the loudest she could muster, "GOHAN!"

She could run by his side! She could call for help! She could signal the bus to stop! But it was all too clear, that there was no time for action. She was late. It was only a matter of seconds before the impending doom to strike. Tears began to glisten her eyes, as she screamed once more.

The half Saiyan looked up at his wife's call, a dazed expression on his face. A disturbingly shrill noise broke him out of his reverie. He turned his head towards the source of the sound to see a bus approaching almost next to him, all the while bonking its horn. His breath caught in his throat at the horrendous sight. And just like that, the world encompassing Gohan slowed down. The knot in his stomach churned as his heart almost stopped beating. He could run, or could jump out of the way. But he knew he had no strength for it and that he was slow. This was when he was hit with the cruellest of realisation. The realisation as to how his life would've been if he weren't born a half-Saiyan, like he was. This wish was more than what he bargained for. And now he was to pay the price for it.

He wasn't afraid of death, mind you, being on its forefront on countless occasions. But what he was afraid of most was to ever leave behind his family. The commitment he took before of marriage, that he would be unlike his father when it came to family-issues. A loving, caring wife and a beautiful daughter. He felt remorse at the thought of leaving behind Videl and Pan. The whizzing sound of a tyre brought him back to reality. He looked at her wife one last time before closing his eyes, while unconsciously letting a single drop of tear fall off his eyes. 'Goodbye' he thought out loud with the over-bearing burden of pain and guilt in his heart. Hearing Videl's cries and seeing the bus's grill kiss him were the last things he ever experienced before eternal darkness consumed him.

xxXxx

Tragic irony - Tragic irony is a special category of dramatic irony in which, the words and actions of the characters contradict the real situation, which the spectators fully realize.