Summary: He always knew the kid would be his undoing

Summary: He always knew the kid would be his undoing. This was proof.

Piccolo sat cross-legged in mid air, alone and deep in meditation, his energy focused upon the large forest countryside surrounding him. Without twitching an eye, he rent trees asunder, destroying, with apparent ease, the landscape around him.

It was one of the few days he spent alone in the seemingly endless three years leading up to the Androids appearance. Two and a half years had already gone by, but it felt as if each year were a century.

The waiting was slowly and inexorably driving him mad.

Indeed, the days that seemed to drag on until they moved on in to the next one seemed to be the ones he spent training in solitude. He had grown accustomed to the company of Goku and his son, both in combat, and in companionship, and on those days that he was alone he got...well, bored.

He had learnt to tolerate the incessant jabbering of Goku's psychotic wife, Chi-Chi, which was something he had never thought he could do. She was, after all, an excellent cook, even if he was sick to death of fish.

Piccolo's energy pinpointed a particularly large tree, which he effortlessly up heaved from its resting place of no doubt a millennia or so and tossed it thirty feet, sending its shocked inhabitants to shrieking and flailing about.

Their high pitched reprimands reminded him just a little of Chi-Chi, and he "hnned" in his own private amusement, before growling irritably.

There was no challenge in this! In targeting singular objects and attacking, again and again. How could he have done this for years and years? He had trained like this, learning to focus his body and his mind, to achieve the seemingly unattainable with nothing but his own willpower, but now. Now it was different. It was...dull.

There was no jovial air about it all; there was no laughter or easy conversation. There was nothing but quiet. Cursed quiet.
He strongly wished that Chi-Chi had not demanded her husband and son home for that day.
How could he train for the androids when the strongest fighter on the entire planet was not there battling him, but running after his wife like a pansy?

"Hnn." Piccolo said again and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

What did she want them both for anyway?

As far as he was concerned, he had the better half of the deal. Sure, he missed out on that whole boy/girl relationship thing, but Namekian's did not have the other gender to have to cope with. He longed to thank the clever bastard which blessed his race with such fortune.

Plus, the sex couldn't be that great, could it?

Piccolo wasn't sure. If Goku could put up with that Jabberwocky, then there had to be something.

He wondered if he should feel a little abashed, wondering about the saiyans sex life, but decided that as long as he didn't mention anything, it should be alright.

Piccolo was snapped out of his reverie when he felt a presence soaring towards him. He recognised the ki signature immediately, smirking slightly as the kid flew towards his now well known training area, searching avidly for him.
What could he want? He thought to himself, slightly relieved by Gohan's interruption.

He was so bored.

Piccolo stopped levitating and planted his feet firmly upon the damp forest floor; waiting impatiently for his student to detect him and hurry up, so he could have a sparring partner other than himself, idly pondering as to how exactly the kid managed to escape the Earth's second Dragon.

He saw Gohan before Gohan saw him, his energy glow making him easy to spot in the clear blue sky.

But eventually his student spotted him and flew hurriedly down to meet his green teacher, his ki spiking with agitation, and his unruly hair whipping about his serious features. Something was worrying the kid. Even if he couldn't sense it (Which he could), it was written all over his young face.

Piccolo pursed his lips, but said nothing.

That was obviously why he came then.

Gohan landed lightly, his feet crunching against the dead leaves and twigs underfoot as he sighed in relief at finding his Teacher.

"Mr. Piccolo." Gohan greeted him restlessly, before hesitating, as if he didn't know what to say.

"How did you manage to escape, kid?"

"Mr. Piccolo?" His large dark eyes met the Namekian's, puzzled.

"Even I am scared of your mother." Piccolo smirked slightly, and wished he was lying.

"Oh, that." Gohan managed a slight grin and blushed. "Mum is cooking for dad; I have a good two hours before she comes to check on me. I'll be back before then!"

So he isn't staying for long. Piccolo scowled at the slight disappointment that rose inside of him.

He wasn't accustomed to this feeling of loneliness.

There was a long silence between them. His student hopped from one foot to the other. He itched at his calf with his toes, and then rubbed his head. He opened his mouth, possibly to say something, and then snapped it shut with an audible click. He rubbed his head again.

Piccolo wondered offhandedly if he had fleas.

It was either that, or Gohan was sitting on something pretty big. Perhaps both...His student was half a monkey, after all.

The silence stretched as Gohan wriggled around, and Piccolo's irritation built up at his student's reticent behaviour.

"So if you didn't come to spar, then what did you come for?" Piccolo said finally, his annoyance adding a harsher edge to his words than he intended.

Gohan swallowed noticeably, and blushed slightly.

"Well, uhh...Mr. Piccolo." He started, and then paused, his face reddening even more. "I...uh, kinda came to you know...uh. Ask you something..."He stopped. "If you don't mind that is!" He blurted quickly, and then went even redder.

Piccolo narrowed his eyes slightly, examining his student's face, to see if there were any sign of what was agitating him this much written there, amongst that incredible blush that seemed to have attacked his forehead and neck as well as the cheeks that still hadn't lost the plumpness of youth.

Gohan refused to meet his gaze, staring instead at what Piccolo assumed to be his shoes.

This went on for a little while, Piccolo eyeing Gohan, while Gohan intensely examined his small feet. And then began to fidget. Again.

"Out with it kid," Piccolo's patience for Gohan was rather large – for Piccolo – but he did not have all day. He had training to do. He always had training to do. Even if it was brainnumbingly dull.

"Well...uh. Um. Well, uh, Mr. Piccolo... "

Gohan stopped.

He seemed to be almost weighing his words, trying to see which would be the best way to say whatever the hell he was trying to say. Surprisingly, this really pissed Piccolo off. He had basically raised this kid, and he had the gall to be worried about what he was going to say to him?

He growled.

Gohan gulped.

"Well, I stole one of mum's books." He blurted out.

Piccolo blinked.

Gohan looked at Piccolo.

Piccolo looked at Gohan and blinked again.

"This, was what you wanted to tell me?" Piccolo snapped. "You came all this way in s – "

"No!"

Piccolo fell silent, scowling.

"Good." He finally sniffed. "Because if you had, I would have kicked your ass."

There was another silence. Gohan had that incredibly uncomfortable look on his face again.

"Just spit it out, Gohan." Piccolo's eyebrow had begun to twitch.

"...Well. I. Uhh...Kinda stole mum's book. One of the ones she keeps in the bottom of her third drawer."

Bottom of her third drawer? What kind of books would a mother like Chi-Chi want to hide? ...Oooh. Oh.

Piccolo went a little purple in the cheeks.

"Gohan." Piccolo cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I think this is perhaps something you should speak to your fath -"

"I don't want to speak to dad about it!" Gohan yelped. "Just let me finish, Mr. Piccolo please!"

He took a deep breath.

"Well, in this bit of the book, the main character – the girl – kissed the guy who was the spy – she didn't know he was the spy, but he was. She was supposed to marry the other guy because her dad said so, but I don't think he is very nice, and plus her girlfriend said he was a premature ejaculator...Whatever that means."

"Get to the point!" Piccolo could not believe how awkward this conversation was getting.

"Well." The boy hesitated again. "...Well. Um, Well, Mr. Piccolo..."

"I was wondering something. I couldn't ask dad because dad wouldn't really understand, and then he would get all embarrassed and I would get all embarrassed and then mum would yell at us for some reason and then it would just be really awkward. And I couldn't really ask Krillin, because Krillin is...well Krillin; and Krillin doesn't have much luck with girls, and plus mum is still mad at him for the party incident. You're the only person I can really ask, Piccolo."

Ask what? Piccolo could see a potentially very embarrassing discussion on the far too near horizon.

He had even less of an idea about girls than Krillin did, he sure as hell couldn't explain how babies were made or any other crap like that. And HE didn't know what a premature ejaculator was either.

What was this unfamiliar feeling slowly pooling in the pit of Piccolo's stomach?

"Ask me what, kid?" Piccolo dreaded the question. Whatever it was, this was not going to be easy for either of them.

He cursed the child's curiosity.

"It made me realise." Gohan continued almost desperately, as if he thought he had come this far, so he definitely couldn't turn back now. "I am twelve years old, and I haven't kissed anybody yet."

The sensation in Piccolo's stomach was getting more intense, rolling around and sending his senses haywire.

"And?" He managed to choke out, and then wondered why it was so hard to speak. Wondered why his throat had closed up and his mouth was so dry.

"...And, I was wondering if you had kissed anybody, Piccolo?"

"WHAT?"

Well that was a slap to the face.

"You know, I was kind of hoping you could give me some pointers." Gohan was bright red. "Unless of course you don't want to, that is."

Piccolo was choking on a rather enormous lump that had lodged itself in his muscular throat, and he began to turn a rather astounding shade of purple, while his guts decided they liked the look of the room's three stories down and bunked down with his toes.

He tried to tell himself that it just unending embarrassment that had aided in the decision for his stomach to so rapidly change address, and that something like disappointment hadn't factored in to it.

After a few moments of attempting to regain his lost composure, Piccolo saw something like understanding began to dawn upon the young Half Saiyan's round little face.

"Unless." He said slowly. "You haven't kissed anybody either, Mr. Piccolo...?"

Piccolo's cheeks went an even deeper purple. How did he get himself in to these messes? It's all that cursed families fault.
Damn car licenses, damn frying pans and damn pubescent kids. Stupid damn whole damn family. He cursed them black and blue inside his own head, but it did nothing to relieve his embarrassment.

Damnit!

"You haven't, have you Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked.

"What do you think, kid?" Piccolo snarled.

Gohan looked shocked.

"Gee Mr. Piccolo, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad." Gohan scratched the back of his head and looked at the ground almost shyly.

Piccolo said nothing. He was embarrassed. He hated to admit it, but the kid revealing his own naiveté shamed him in ways he couldn't understand.

He felt guilty, as if his lack of experience somehow let the kid down.

Piccolo cursed bitterly under his breath.

This kind of thing was exactly why he trained in solitude all this damn time!

"I know!!" Gohan suddenly announced excitedly. "I have an idea Mr. Piccolo!"

"What?" Piccolo frowned at him.

"How about..." Gohan paused, grinning. "How about, Mr. Piccolo, if we kiss?"

Piccolo felt as if he had been kicked, hard, and his stomach rebounded straight from somewhere below his navel to back up to his throat, making way for that still unfamiliar sensation - which seemed to only have made itself known when this stupid conversation began.

Piccolo opened his mouth to shout at the kid, to tell him definitely not, but Gohan got there first.

"Listen Mr. Piccolo!" He pleaded. "If we kiss now, then we both will know what to do so when we want to do it with someone else, and then nobody will know that neither of us had done it before!"

Piccolo spluttered in disbelief, but Gohan would not be deterred.

"And," he added, almost as an afterthought, "If we kiss right now, then if we do a really bad job nobody else will know. And we won't get laughed at!"

And he smiled a jaunty little grin that made Piccolo's stomach do somersaults.

Piccolo was in denial. He had just been subject to what was probably the most illogical sentence in the world, and he couldn't argue with it! Gohan had to have learnt that wily trick off of his damn father.

Piccolo badly wanted to pick a part that childish argument, to tear it to little tiny metaphorical shreds, but to his horror, he found that a part of him wholeheartedly agreed with the boy's logic. Most of that part consisted of the feeling pulsing closely to his loins. But this was wrong. This is not what he and Gohan should do.

And he told Gohan exactly that, despite the fact that a part of him desperately wanted to do what the kid suggested.

"Men don't kiss other men, Gohan." Piccolo said firmly, attempting to rein in his urge to shout obscenities at his student...and his other more sinister urge of doing exactly what Gohan suggested.

"...But, they did in the book." Gohan insisted.

"What?"

"They do, in the book. In mum's book. The men kiss." Gohan seemed to grow more confident in his rebuttal. "And if it is mum's book, then she obviously approves. And if mum thinks it is ok, then it has to be ok, because she doesn't think anything is ok!"

Damn. He tried again.

"We aren't even of the same species Gohan!"

"So?" Gohan said rebelliously. "Neither are mum and dad, and they still kiss."

Piccolo was secretly impressed at Gohan's ability to successfully reject everything his Teacher said with his own impudent logic: as he became more assured in his own righteousness, he became far more stubborn, and far harder to argue with. He crossed his arms, and pursed his lips in a scowl that seemed incredibly reminiscent of the Alien that had been his mentor for many years. If he had his tail, Piccolo knew it would be lashing about furiously.

"Gohan!" Piccolo snarled.

Gohan's scowl deepened. "You're just mad because you know I am right!" He huffed.

"What?" Piccolo's glare would have melted stone. "The fact of the matter is, despite what happens in your mum's book, men don't go around kissing each other. Especially if they are of a different species, and especially when one of them is a lot older than the other, and his teacher!"

Gohan glowered fiercely at his superior, his teeth bared and his eyes narrowed in rage.

His superior glowered back.

And then Gohan's face softened, and his lip started to tremble as his eyes welled with tears.
Oh God. Piccolo bared his teeth. Anything but this .This kid really knew how to press his buttons.
His student turned around abruptly and sniffled a little, wiping his eyes vigorously with the back of his hand.
And as Piccolo glared furiously at his small, well toned back, cursing under his breath for the kid's ability to manipulate him so easily, Gohan sniffled some more for effect.
Damn kid.

"...Fine!" Piccolo snapped suddenly.

His student went from a picture of slump-shouldered dejection and misery to complete ecstasy, whipping around happily to look at his teacher with bright eyes, tears still clinging to his long eyelashes like dew. Piccolo had the sudden despicable urge to lick them away, but he pushed it down.

"If I let you..." Piccolo choked on the next word"...Kiss.. me, then will you go away and leave me to train in peace?"

He was going to hell. He knew it. He knew it before, but he knew it for sure now. Nothing else Piccolo had ever done was going to be as bad as this.

"Yes Sir!!" Gohan answered excitedly, almost quivering in anticipation.

Piccolo cleared his throat uncomfortably, trying to ignore the two voices in his head. One was screaming that this was so wrong on every level conceivable to man, while the other was barely able to contain its enthusiasm.
It was only a kiss, he reasoned. A chaste peck at the very most, to satisfy the kid's insatiable curiosity. It was impossible for a twelve year old to know all of the mechanics about an 'Adult' kiss. It wasn't even sexual.

Both parties arguing in his head begged to differ.

Gohan's voice interrupted him. "Uh. . . How do we start?" He asked, nervously.

Piccolo scowled. "I don't know," He said irritably. "Think back to your little book, Gohan. How did they do it?"

He meant only to humiliate the boy, to lash out at him for being able to so easily get his own way, but the boy did not seem to take offense, rather he took the comment seriously and screwed his face up, thinking back to the novel that got them in to this damn mess to begin with.

"Well." He said thoughtfully, "First, they stood in front of each other, real close."

He looked at the 6 feet of space between him and his teacher and frowned slightly.

"A lot closer than this." He said firmly to Piccolo, and crossed the ground surprisingly quickly to stand right in front of the nervous Namekian, his chest grazing Piccolo's abdomen.

He had to crane his neck to look at Piccolo's face, who stared back down at him, his arms still crossed uncomfortably and his mouth scowling while his eyebrows furrowed.

He gazed down at the young Half Saiyan, hoping desperately that he would back out at the last minute, but the determination in his obsidian eyes told him otherwise.

"You're too tall." Gohan said finally.

"And?"

"You need to kneel down." Gohan told him firmly

"What?"

"You need to kneel down, or something." Gohan repeated.

"You are the one that wanted to play this game, Gohan. Deal with it." Piccolo said flatly. If he couldn't say no to the kid, he would at least make sure that it would be damn hard for him to get what he wanted.

Surprise coursed through him and he yelped when his student grabbed both his arms and yanked on them, hard. He looked at Gohan in shock; whose only response was to pull on his arms more insistently. He gave in, and allowed the kid to pull him to his knees. If he hadn't of acquiesced, they probably would have ended up being pulled clean off.

Now, face to face with possibly the last person he desired to be face to face with, Piccolo eyed his attacker's pale skin, radiant and his dark eyes holding glimmers of uncertainty in them now.

Piccolo watched his tormentor squirm, his unsure gaze flickering from his lips back up to his dark, angry eyes. His student couldn't hold his penetrating stare, and instead dropped his eyes back to his teacher's lips and then to something behind his left shoulder.

His hands were still clutching Piccolo's muscular arms, unthinkingly caressing the plates of armour that patched his dark green flesh.
Piccolo shivered slightly under his careless ministrations, his antenna quivering. Curse the kid, and curse his body's reaction to him!

He noticed that Gohan seemed uncertain of what to do now that he had successfully got his superior in to the exact position he wanted him in. Piccolo was equally relieved and disappointed at that. He half hoped that the kid realised what a bad idea this was and backed down.

As the uncertainty in his student's eyes grew, Piccolo grew more confident in his belief that he would not actually go through with this. In fact, so assured was he, that he sneered,and then he did what was probably the worst thing he could have done in the situation at hand.

He challenged a boy with Saiyan blood.

"What?" Piccolo smirked. "Scared?"

Gohan's eyes blazed. "I'm not scared of anything!" he snarled, and wrapping his small hands behind Piccolo's smooth neck, he pulled the shocked Namekian in to meet his lips in a scorching kiss.

His lips pushed against Piccolo's roughly, before softening, gently brushing the older Alien's lips, trying to coax a response from him.

Piccolo couldn't help it. Silently, he begged the God's to forgive him as he closed his eyes and leaned in to the young man's kiss.

It was only a child's kiss, after all.

He told himself that as he gently wrapped one arm around his student's waist, but did not return the pressure. The feeling in his stomach increased.

He felt Gohan's mouth become more insistent, and almost groaned when he felt the brush of a hot tongue against his cool lips, bidding them part.

Child's kiss, his ass.

Helplessly, he acquiesced to the request, allowing Gohan entry in to the wet cavern of his mouth, gasping slightly as he felt his tongue timidly brush his lips, before, gaining more confidence, he began to explore every crevice he could reach. Piccolo's eyes nearly rolled back in to his skull when his young student brushed his fang, caressing it roughly. Lust assailed his every sense, clutching his gut tightly as it squeezed his throat and made it hard to breathe. He could feel his control beginning to slip as desire warred with his sense of righteousness...and won.

He was so going to hell...And at that moment, he couldn't care less.

Piccolo crushed Gohan desperately to him, pressing his arousal in to the younger man's thigh, curling his clawed hand into his long mane of hair as he plundered the oh-so-willing mouth beneath his.

His lust only strengthened when the boy clutched Piccolo just as hard, and whimpered as Piccolo attacked him with the force of his passion. He whimpered. Piccolo's groan ripped through his throat and escaped in to Gohan's hot mouth as lust almost took complete control. His hands roamed the submissive body beneath him as it clutched him desperately and made enticing little noises.

How could something so wrong feel so damn good?

With a great amount of self control, Piccolo pulled away from the lips of his young student, his breath coming in pants as he attempted to cool his own ardour.

He opened his eyes to look at Gohan, whose half lidded lustful gaze nearly sent him over the edge again.

'Why did you stop?" Gohan asked dazedly, trying to catch his breath.

Piccolo didn't answer.

There was another silence, broken only by the two gulping air in to their starving lungs.

"Wow." Gohan finally said; his voice barely above a whisper.

"Hm?"

"I see what the book meant."

Piccolo refused to ask what the book had said. He was already in enough trouble as it was. Instead, he remained silent. Still, he couldn't stop himself from holding Gohan to him a little while longer. He could not resist tempting himself a little more with the lithe, beautiful body so close to his.

Gohan looked at him again, his eyes still dozy, his lips parted and wet.
He glanced down at Piccolo's lips again hopefully, and leaned in to capture them.

Piccolo stood up abruptly, unseating Gohan. His student looked at him with wide eyes full of hurt as he turned his back and walked a few steps away from the temptation with the mussed hair and the soft, pouting lips.

"I did what you wanted." Piccolo stated flatly, still warring with the lust coursing through his hot blood. "Now, leave me to train."

"But...Mr Piccolo..?" Gohan's voice echoed the look in his eyes.

Piccolo remained silent, with his arms crossed over his wide chest, eyes set determinedly away from the one thing he wanted most. He needed to do this, he needed to stop him.
He was just a kid, after all; kids don't know that there are consequences to their actions. Piccolo knew that if he didn't stop there, what would occur from Gohan's stemming curiosity would surely destroy them both.

He was doing this for Gohan.

"Mr Piccolo..." Gohan said timidly to his back.

"Hn?"

"Um." Gohan paused. "Thanks..."

Piccolo stiffened.

Gohan bolted. His energy burnt a hole in the sky as he hauled tail out of there.
Piccolo watched him go, and sighed.

He did it for Gohan, he reminded himself.

He knew the kid would be his undoing.

This was proof.