| Toranks and Goten Part One �I�m gay.� I�ll never forget the day, two weeks ago, that my best friend said that to me. We were sitting on the hood of my red convertible that I had gotten for my eighteenth birthday, staring at the stars. We did that almost every night since I�d gotten the car, almost a year ago � especially since Goten's parents had started fighting again. Goten didn�t have a otossan for the first eight years of his life, and when his otossan came back from the dead, he and his okassan had fought on and off. Oh, did I forget to tell you that on our world you can wish people back to life? Cool huh. Well, the fights and yelling always depressed my friend. Who wouldn�t be upset if their parents scream at each other all night long? Of course, Chichi, his okassan, is the one who does most of the screaming. It is one of the reasons my otossan thinks Gokuu, Goten's otossan, is weak. �No saiyajin male would take shit like that from a woman!� Of course, my �Tossan takes �shit like that� from my mom, but I�m not about to point that out to him. Goten had been silent almost the whole nightlong. I didn�t think much about that, because Goten was usually silent, still is. It�s so strange that a son of the great Son Gokuu could be so withdrawn and secretive. I mean, Gokuu is so loud and happy and obnoxious most of the time. Though, come to think of it, Gokuu is a mystery to most of us too. He seems like such an idiot, but every once in a while, I will catch an intelligent look in his eyes. My otossan, I know, has always suspected intelligence behind Gokuu�s �act� as well. Though, we still don�t know whether our suspicions will ever be proven. Anyway, back to the story. Goten told me with no warning. One moment he was still and silent. Then he just said, �I�m gay.� I didn�t hear him at first. I was too caught up in the scenery above. However, when his words processed through my brain, I jerked my head in his direction. For a moment I just stared at his face, unable to decide if he was kidding or not. Then I laughed and turned my attention back to the stars. �Nice one, Goten. You had me going there for a second.� His laughter did not join mine and I immediately shut up and looked back at him. He stared at me, no hint of a smile on his face and a little anger in his eyes. �I�m serious, Toranks. I debated about even telling you this. But you�re my best friend so I thought you�d understand.� I stared at him, mouth opened wide, trying to process what he was telling me. He was gay? Goten? Jeez. It was then that I realized that we had grown apart over our time in high school. I had become class president, friends with all the homophobic jocks, and become the most popular boy in school. I always had a girl hanging off my arm and never got picked on, unlike some other unfortunate people at my school. Not that any of that went to my head. Okay, maybe it did, but I didn�t think that we had grown apart this much. Sure, he was friends with all the rejects and freaks, but� That thought caught me. Since when had I started thinking like that? Goten was my best friend and his being gay was not going to change that. At least that�s what I told myself then. Nevertheless, I could not help feeling a little angry at his statement. I had no idea where the anger was coming from, or even if it was justified. I just knew I was angry with him. �Goten, how long have you kept this from me?� He sighed and looked away. �A year and a half.� The temper I inherited from my otossan erupted and took over my common sense. �A year and a half! Why the hell did it take you so long to tell me? I thought you were my best friend.� He didn�t even look at me, only shrugged. �Didn�t know you cared. You don�t even speak to me at school anymore.� I stared at him for a moment, denying what he had said, but then looked away, startled at the truth in his words. It was true. I didn�t speak to him anymore. I had stopped speaking to him ever since I had become popular and he had begun associating with the dirt of the school. Again, that thought caught me and I wondered where it had come from. Surely, my friends had not molded me that much. But obviously, they had. I was dressing like them, talking like them, hanging out with only the people that they allowed me to hang out with. I had changed myself for a bunch of plastic friends that I knew didn�t really care about me. And because of that, I had alienated my best friend. �I�m sorry, chibi,� using my nickname for him, hoping that that would make him laugh or at least smile. He did neither. �C�mon, Goten. I didn�t realize-� He leaped off the hood and spun around angrily. �Of course you didn�t. You�ve been too busy sucking up to those rich snobs. What do you even see in them anyway?� I leapt off the car, furious. How dare he tell me something like this and then get angry at me! I was supposed to be the one who was angry! �Watch it. You�re talking about my friends.� He snarled. �They are not friends. They are fake bootlickers and ass kickers. We were friends.� �We are friends, Goten. Nothing could change that.� �Not even that fact that I�m gay?� There was silence for a moment as I just stared at him. I could think of nothing to say. He appeared to study my face for a while and I felt burning shame creep to my cheeks. Of course, it would change things between us. He was attracted to men, for Kami�s sake. Instead of becoming angry like I thought he would, he sadly sighed and turned around. �That�s what I thought.� He leapt into the air and began to fly off. As he did, I came to my senses. Of course, it didn�t matter. It didn�t matter because he was still Goten. He was still the boy that I had grown up with, shared a house with, fought with, and died with. He was still my best friend. I leapt into the air after him, shouting, �Goten, wait!� He stopped flying but didn�t turn back to me, so I flew around in front of him. I was surprised to see a tear in the corner of his eye. �What, Toranks?� I swallowed my fear and pulled him into a hug, hoping he would forgive me. �Nothing will come between us, bro. You are still my best friend and always will be.� He gingerly returned the hug and then pulled away. He studied my face and I could see the wheels turning in his head. �You know that when this leaks out, your reputation will suffer. They�ll probably think you�re my boyfriend.� I laughed at the absurdity of that. �You wish. Anyway, who cares about some stinking reputation? We�re blood brothers, remember?� I raised my right hand, showing the scar that I still had. When we were seven, after an intense training session, we each cut our hand and pressed the palms together, letting our blood mix. We were blood brothers, in every since of the word, other than actually sharing DNA. But that was just a technicality to us. He smiled and held up his own scarred hand and grasped mine. We hovered like that in the air for a few moments before I dropped his hand, growing slightly uncomfortable. I could feel a frown forming on my face, but chased it away with a smile. �C�mon. My mom�s cooking dinner. You can come eat with us.� He smiled broadly. �That would be great.� And that was the end of it. At least for a while� |