On the streets of Lotus Town.
Nami was fleeing for her life.
Dozens of meters behind her, a group of fierce-looking men in suits pursued her, shouting harshly:
"Stop right there! How dare you steal Boss Gato's money! You've got some nerve!"
"Give the money back now, or it'll be the end of you!"
"Stop! Get back here!"
Nami nimbly leaped over a fruit stand blocking the road and turned back to stick her tongue out.
"Bleh! Who would ever give the money back to you guys? You're just Gato's mangy lapdogs!"
The men in suits turned beet red with rage, pointing at her threateningly. "Just you wait! Don't let us catch you!"
Nami ignored them, continuing her sprint forward.
As she ran, she scanned the surrounding buildings, quickly recalling the escape route she had planned earlier.
"That's the alley! If I head in there, I can use the layout to lose them!"
Her eyes lit up as she spotted an alley and rushed toward the entrance.
A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, thrilled at the thought of escaping those dogs and making off with such a hefty sum of cash.
Meanwhile, Goku, who had wandered into the alleyways shortly after arriving in Lotus Town, had been walking in circles for ages. Finally spotting the street, he headed toward the exit with joy, hoping to find someone to ask about Master Roshi and Krillin's whereabouts.
As luck would have it, the alley he was leaving was the exact same one Nami was about to enter!
One was running along the right side of the street toward the entrance, ready to turn in;
The other was walking along the left side of the alley, just about to step out.
The next moment, completely unaware of each other, they collided head-on!
*Thud!!!*
"Ouch!!"
It felt like Nami had kicked a stone pillar. She went flying over Goku's head in a diving arc, slamming hard into the ground.
The large cloth bag full of money slung over her back tumbled to the side.
"Huh?"
Goku, who had taken a knee directly to the chest, stood there completely unfazed, blinking in confusion.
Turning around, he saw Nami clutching her knee in pain and asked with concern, "Hey, are you okay?"
Nami was currently screaming internally:
'Agh! Where did this kid come from? And what is his body made of? Why is he so hard!'
'Waaa! It hurts! My leg hurts so much! My hand hurts too!'
In the midst of her internal freak-out, Goku's voice snapped her back to reality.
Remembering the pursuers hot on her heels, she endured the pain and forced a smile. "Hey kid, could you help me pick up that bag? Oh, and make sure to put all that scattered money back inside."
She motioned toward the large bag lying near Goku's feet and slowly stood up, wincing.
Hearing her request, Goku looked down, then nodded. "Give it to you? Okay, I got it."
With that, he quickly gathered the scattered money into the bag and held it, ready to hand it over to Nami.
Nami stretched her limbs a bit, and once she was sure nothing was broken, she watched him with a wide smile, waiting for the cash. She thought to herself:
'What an obedient child. I guess I'll forgive him for hurting me so much when he ran into me.'
But a second later, her smile froze.
"Catch her! We have to catch that thief!"
"Damn it! She stole so much of Boss Gato's money! If we don't catch her, we're the ones who'll face his wrath!"
Out on the street, the men in suits were shouting angrily.
However, Nami's smile didn't freeze because of the pursuers' voices, but because Goku, hearing the commotion, curiously stepped back a few paces to the alley entrance to see what was going on.
When he saw the men in suits running toward him, he looked down at the bag stuffed with money in his arms, then back at Nami, who was gesturing stiffly for him to hurry up.
His common sense suddenly kicked in. He pointed at Nami and cried out, "The woman they're talking about... that's not you, is it? Did you steal their money?!"
Nami maintained her smile while waving her hands frantically in denial. "Of course not! This is my own money."
As she spoke, she moved closer to Goku, reaching out lightning-fast to snatch the bag from his arms.
Seeing her move, Goku was instantly convinced that she was indeed the thief. He zipped to the side and said seriously, "Stealing is wrong. You shouldn't take other people's money."
Seeing her lie exposed, Nami stopped pretending and lunged at Goku. "So what if I stole from people like them! Just give the money back to me!"
However, though she was as nimble as a 'Cat Burglar', there was no way she could catch Goku.
Goku dodged out onto the street and made a face at her:
"Bleh! I'm not giving it back to you. I'm going to return it to the people you stole it from."
Nami gritted her teeth in frustration, chasing him out onto the street and lunging again, only to hit thin air once more.
Seeing Goku grinning at her from a short distance away, she was absolutely fuming.
'What is wrong with this kid! Not only is he hard as a rock, but he's as slippery as an eel!'
Seeing that the pursuers were almost upon them, she realized she'd be caught if she didn't leave immediately.
Though it pained her to leave, she had no choice but to abandon the massive fortune. She shot Goku a murderous glare, as if burning his face into her memory forever.
Then, without hesitation, she turned and bolted, quickly vanishing back into the alleyways.
A few seconds later, the men in suits reached the alley entrance. They looked at the empty alley, then at the money in Goku's arms, and exchanged confused glances.
"Did the woman get away?"
"Looks like it, but the kid managed to get the stolen money back."
"How did a kid do that?"
"Who knows? Doesn't matter, as long as the Boss's money is recovered."
As they were talking, a voice called out from behind: "Boss Gato is here!"
*Swish!!*
They instantly formed two rows, clearing a path down the middle. Their expressions were solemn as they stood at attention.
Before long, four men in suits carrying a leather sofa walked steadily into the corridor.
Seated on the sofa was a portly man with slicked-back hair, a cigar in his mouth, and expensive clothes. He asked coldly, "Where is the woman?"
"We were incompetent, Boss. We let her escape!"
The men on both sides bowed their heads in unison.
Then the leader looked up and said, "However, your money has been found, Boss. It's right there!"
He pointed at the bag in Goku's hands.
Gato looked at Goku, narrowing his eyes. "A child got it back?"
"By all appearances, yes."
"Oh? Interesting. A child managed to snatch back the money that all of you couldn't catch for so long?"
The men bowed their heads even lower.
"We're sorry, Boss!"
Gato ignored their apologies. He signaled for the men to set the sofa down, then walked up to Goku, patting the head of the boy who looked quite confused.
"Little guy, thanks for getting my money back for me."
Goku looked up at him. "Is this your money, Mister?"
"It is. I worked very hard for it."
Goku's eyes lit up as he handed the bag over.
"Then you'd better keep a good hold on it, Mister. Don't let anyone steal it again."
Gato signaled his men to take the bag. Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of Berries, slowly pulling out a single bill.
Just as he was about to hand the bill to Goku, he tucked it back and asked his men, "Hey, does anyone have a coin on them?"
One of his men immediately checked his pockets and produced a coin.
"I have one right here, Boss."
So Gato put the bill back in his pocket, took the coin, and handed it to Goku. "You did a great job, little guy. Take this and go buy yourself something to eat."
Goku took it innocently and nodded. "Thank you, Mister. You're a really nice person."
At that, Gato gave a cryptic smile before sitting back down on his sofa. He commanded coldly, "Let's go. We're heading back."
Before long, his men carried him away until they disappeared from the street.
Goku looked at the coin in his hand just as his stomach let out a loud growl.
"Hehe, I'm hungry. Guess I'll go buy some food."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]