That Time I Got Reincarnated As Future Gohan

Prologue: Waking Up

A flash of headlights, the crunching of bones, the impact of the hit, the dripping of blood... All these sensations played through my head like a movie reel as I stared down at my hands—I mean hand, as it seemed I had lost one somehow. This hand, my hand?, weren't mine at all. They felt rough and callous, bigger and more toned. These weren't the hands of an 18 year old literature major in college, but the hands of a hardened warrior. Someone that was in a great amount of pain while laying in a hospitable bed, and I was feeling that pain for myself. Maybe it was because of my little existential crisis, but it took a few seconds for me to notice the immense pain I was currently in, which notified me of its existence through a sudden stab of pain like a blade being driven into my body. I tried to clutch the spot where the pain was coming from, but it was coming from all over. The broken ribs in my chest, the many bruises littered across my body, and most painful of all was the nub where my, or whoever arm's this was supposed to be. My teeth clenched as I tried to not to scream in a painful fury as this body couldn't take me sitting up and my back fell to the bed with a painful "thud".

    My gaze was forcibly glued to the ceiling as I heavily breathed in order to get used to the pain or to at least make it subside in some mysterious way which never came. As my body stabilized itself from the agonizing shock of the injuries, I was finally able to glance around my surroundings without me wanting to take the easy way out of my body's suffering. The hospital, or whatever this hospital-like building I was in that housed me was a dull colored room layered with seemingly familiar yet foreign medical equipment. The dull light of an afternoon sun was main source of light in this room as my eyes wandered seeing a medical curtain to my left and a set of chairs a couple feet away from the bed I was currently in. My eyes finally laid upon the most unexpected sight in the room which took me a minute to realize that it was a kid. When my eyes focused I could see it was a silver haired child, probably around the preteen to young teen range in age, napping peacefully in the dead center of the trio of seats directly opposite of me. I didn't know who he was, but I did. A conflicting feeling of familiarity and them being a stranger simultaneously wrestled in my mind as I studied the child with my thoughts being unable to unscramble themselves enough to have a clear idea as to why I was feeling this way. This train of thought didn't have much time to persist as the sound of a door sliding open and a female voice entering my ears caught my attention.

    An older woman, one with a hair color of a dull blue that was similar in nature to the kid, but seemed almost faded by the sands of time from a once brilliant color I could barely imagine. She donned a black stained lab coat that smelled of oil and her face was hidden behind a clipboard with unknown contents I couldn't read as she muttered to herself while walking in. I watched her approach and set down the clipboard on the bedside table absentmindedly before she had finally taken note of my presence with a tired gaze that immediately lit up upon our eyes meeting. "Gohan!? You're up already? That's great!" She said gleefully as the kid in the back woke up with a start at the loud exclamation. I barely noticed this happening around me as my mind was full of confusion at this unknown woman addressing me with such a strange name. "Gohan... Gohan... like... Son Gohan? From Dragonball?" My mind couldn't piece together how this was possible. "My name... isn't an anime character's. It's...It's.... I don't remember." Panic suddenly invited itself into my thoughts as the seemingly lack of knowledge of my own identity and the debate if I had somehow become a fictional character took over until the woman's voice pierced my thoughts once more.

    "Go... Goha... Gohan...?" My mind suddenly became grounded again as I turned my head towards the voice with a look of confusion and aloofness. The azure pupils that met my gaze carried the burden of concern as she looked at me with sympathy, the kid peeking from behind her also carrying a very similar stare. "W-wha?" I blurted out without thinking as my automatic response just spilled out all of a sudden. "Are you ok Gohan?" The kid asked with a look of concern. Taking a moment to collect myself, and give myself at least a little semblance of sanity, I responded with a casual but, pained "Yeah.". Trunks suddenly embraced me. "Wait...Trunks?" I asked aloud as the young half-Saiyan looked up at his supposed mentor with curious innocence. "Yeah...?" I held eye contact for a moment before glancing away as the floodgates of memories of another life that I never lived entered my mind. I was... or this body was... the body of Son Gohan, the son of Son Goku, and the now mentor of the hybrid child of the now deceased prince of Saiyans, Vegeta. My mind now grasped my current predicament, with full clarity. Or at least as much clarity as someone who recently died and got stuffed in the body of a fictional alien warrior would have. Somehow, someway, my soul or consciousness had been transported from my original body, and into the body of the future timeline's version of Gohan. I wanted to continue to wondering, but one singular thought ran throughout my mind as if an objective had been given to me by a third party into my mind. "DO. NOT. LET. THEM. KNOW. YOU. ARE. NOT. GOHAN!" I don't know who, or whatever gave me this idea, but I quickly embraced it as continued the dialogue. "Um... Are you okay...?" I awkwardly asked as Trunks nodded quickly while continuing to embrace me. As if almost it was a natural response, my sole arm wrapped around the back of kid in a tight emotional embrace. Whatever lingering attachment this body felt towards the kid, it wasn't the kind you would expect from a fictional character, but a genuine human connection that I felt as well. Maybe it was because I had younger brothers of my own, but... I just felt an automatic urge to protect this child. And I would.

    As Bulma looked at our emotional hug with a tearful smile, she cleared her throat to gain our attention as we both simultaneously turned to face her. "I'm sure you've realized by now, but... we were unable to save your left arm. We were lucky enough as is to find you in the rubble from your exchange with the androids but, there was nothing we could do for it. " The doctor said in solemn tone as she looked at me regretfully. "It's fine. I'm just glad Trunks was unharmed for the most part. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to him." I said with a slight wetness in my eyes as my gaze turned from the tearful Bulma to the now tear ridden Trunks as his arms tightened around my torso. I gently comforted him despite the intense pressured on my cracked rib cage with my sole hand as my mind was strangely focused on him. Maybe it the intense feeling of protectiveness, or the natural reaction of Gohan's body, but my mind only revolved around the wellbeing of Trunks and his alone as I didn't even question my circumstances at the present while the kid cried in my arms. The thought "he" had in my mind was... "Carry on my duty.". I looked around after hearing said thought in the unexpected voice of the previous body's owner, I don't know why, but I would accept the request subconsciously and carry on the will of the now departed soul of Son Gohan.