By the time Yamiru arrived home, dusk had already fallen.
He carried two wild rabbits, which he had encountered while running back. It had taken him six stones to kill the pair and several hundred meters of chasing to catch them.
His stomach growled loudly as he awkwardly skinned, gutted, and drained the rabbits. By the time he had gathered a few sticks and firewood to set up a makeshift grill, the sky was pitch-black, dotted with countless stars.
The skinned rabbits were skewered on a horizontal stick, their surfaces glistening with golden oil that Yamiru had slathered over them.
"Ah, my night shift... Forget it. I'm not going."
Looking at the roasting rabbits, he suddenly remembered his evening part-time job as a waiter in South City. But a quick glance at the time made it clear he wouldn't make it, so he decided to skip it.
The surrounding area was silent. Yamiru's small courtyard was the only habitation for hundreds of meters around. The only sound was the occasional crackling of the wood in the fire.
As he waited for the rabbits to cook, Yamiru sat quietly in a daze, occasionally rubbing the bandages on his head. At times, he smiled, but that smile would quickly give way to frustration.
"So weak... I got beaten so badly by a juvenile General Blue..." He rotated the spit as he mentally replayed the battle from the afternoon. "But I can't entirely blame myself. Even Krillin, who graduated from the Turtle School, got beaten by Blue. And Goku? If it weren't for that lucky mouse interrupting Blue's powers and breaking his control, Goku would've been done for."
With that thought, he couldn't help but feel a little better about himself.
But as he dwelled on it, he froze. He felt that strange sensation in his eyes—an internal power he could "activate"—beginning to slip away. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he muttered, "What kind of cheat ability is this? It's way too strict! I can't even let myself get a little cocky? Ugh..." He grabbed a stick and jabbed at the fire in frustration.
"Today's battle... Never mind, I'll think about it after eating. Fighting on an empty stomach? Not even Saiyans can do that."
Yamiru briefly considered pulling out the half Senzu Bean in his pocket to test if it could truly keep him full for ten days—or if half a bean would only last five days. Realizing how ridiculous that thought was, he decided against it.
Finally, when the rabbits were sufficiently cooked, Yamiru eagerly pulled them off the spit. He blew on his fingers, which burned from the hot meat, and dug in immediately.
Still, a nagging feeling lingered in his mind. 'Am I forgetting something?'
Stuffing himself with roasted rabbit until his hands and mouth were greasy, he burped in satisfaction and tossed the gnawed-clean bones aside. Leaning back, he gazed at the night sky. The stars shone brilliantly against the dark canvas of the heavens.
'What am I forgetting?'
After letting his food settle, Yamiru returned to his small house and sat at his desk.
Yamiru took out the two half Senzu Beans, rolling them around on the desk as if playing with them, before carefully setting them down with reverence.
"Splitting them in half, even if I lose one, I still have half left—pretty clever, hm?" While Yamiru praised himself, he paused, carefully sensing the subtle changes in his eyes... Hmm, no changes. He complimented his golden eyes again, saying, "Looks like you agree that I'm clever too\~ Since that's the case, I'll give you a cool name. How about... golden, golden, Golden Veil?"
Yamiru gave his golden eyes an overly confident name, then an idea suddenly crossed his mind: What if he ever had the chance to fuse with Goku in this life? Wouldn't that create a Goku Prism? After thinking about it carefully, he realized the difficulty might be a bit too high. It wasn't that the fusion itself was tough, but qualifying for a fusion with Goku without lowering the combat power requirements was hard... After all, he was destined to become the Super Saiyan God, and he, Yamiru...
"...Why am I thinking about such things again?" Yamiru jolted in shock.
He quickly grabbed a small mirror, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them. The reflection in the mirror showed eyes with deep brown pupils.
The next second, as he focused, the eyes in the mirror instantly turned a brilliant gold.
He pursed his lips, organizing his thoughts from the past few days, and then sincerely muttered to himself, "Just be yourself, improve yourself. I don't want to feel so powerless again, like today... As for achieving that Super Saiyan level of power... well, if I get it, then great, if not, it's just fate."
"Sato Yamiru, haven't you read hundreds, if not thousands, of fantasy novels? Do you even understand the concept of a internal demon? Don't let such thoughts become your obstacle, idiot..."
Looking at his reflection, the golden-eyed youth in the mirror, Yamiru smiled at last, "Feels like I've got a personal political commissar now. Whenever my mindset wavers, it reminds me, like it's giving me a lesson in self-education... but, it's not too bad, I guess." He put the mirror down and began to review the battle from the afternoon. Hmm, calling it a "battle" makes it sound pretty high-level.
"Let's see... First... I was stopped by those people outside the school."
"Then I quickly recognized the leader of the group as that blonde general from the original work, and I knew things were bad. I quickly used my smart little brain and thought of how Tonpo could transform, so I told him to change into a woman, the fewer clothes the better, the better the figure, the better the beauty, and just pounce on that guy... But before I could finish, that damned Blue launched a sneak attack!"
Yamiru doodled on his cheap notebook, creating simple sketches that were more like abstract art. His drawings showed stick figures with circle eyes—one of the figures, representing Blue, was throwing a punch at another, representing Yamiru.
He gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, "Good thing I had my positioning right and successfully put myself together, allowing me to put a close eye on that guy. He didn't manage to sneak attack me. But still, I'm a newbie in battles, and when I tried to dodge, I ended up tripping myself... I was so panicked at the time, but I quickly calmed down. When I was rolling on the ground, I grabbed a handful of dirt, because I remembered that Blue also had a bit of a cleanliness obsession! Throwing that dirt on him probably felt like jumping into a cesspit."
He quickly drew another stick figure grabbing the ankle of a smaller stick figure, lifting it upside down in a dramatic pose.
"Sure enough, my kick was blocked, but i cleverly threw some dirt at his face... Feels kind of low, doesn't it? How did I even think of that move? It does not matter, whats matter is that it's worked... I've been corrupted, haven't i?."
Next, he sketched a scene where the larger stick figure's eyes were shaded in black, while the smaller stick figure stood in place, obviously furious after being hit by the sand and using his superpower to freeze Yamiru in place.
Then came the part of the drawing where Blue was punching and kicking the frozen Yamiru... In this moment of helplessness...
"Damn! Thinking back on it still pisses me off! Explosive rage!" Yamiru nearly broke his pencil, grinding his teeth in frustration. "My old man never hit me this hard!" He scratched his head with the pencil, biting down on the pencil cap. "I guess I had it too easy after crossing over. My body's sudden improvement in strength made it easy to beat up small-time thugs... Then I meet someone like Blue and I'm completely clueless…"