Aeris walked over to a rock off to the side, sat down, and somehow pulled out a bag of beans from god-knows-where and started eating them.
Crunchy.
Vanilla-flavored beans.
Anyone who knew Aeris would tell you there was something deeply wrong with the way she pulled things out of nowhere. Snacks from a pocket? Fine, whatever. But have you ever seen someone pull half a chilled watermelon out of their sleeve?
With a spoon, no less.
Absolutely ridiculous.
The thing she pulled out most often, though, was vanilla pudding.
That stuff was her one true love.
She'd take it out during fights and eat a bite.
Take it out while watching drama and eat a bite.
She'd even enthusiastically hand it around to the people next to her. At first, most people assumed she was just pulling things out of capsules, which was reasonable enough.
Then later, some poor bastard actually saw her pull it straight out of her pocket.
You believe that shit?
In any case, the things she usually carried were basically always the same few items: vanilla pudding, beans, chocolate, beef jerky, melon seeds, little dried fish, alcohol, mineral water, whole milk, and some cooking tools, seasoning, fruit, vegetables, and the like.
In short, the whole thing was absurd.
And if anyone ever asked?
Well, the answer was simple.
It had all come from a wish she once made to Shenron, not long after returning to Earth.
Because she was genuinely terrified of going hungry.
Honestly, it suited Aeris perfectly.
She was that gluttonous.
Anyway, back to the plot.
Aeris sat there eating beans while watching Gohan beat the hell out of Android 19.
Right when she was getting into it, Bulma carefully poked her little head out from somewhere nearby and started waving at Aeris.
Aeris looked confused, then set the beans down and followed Bulma to a quiet place where no one else was around.
"What is it, Bulma? Why'd you bring me out here?"
"I… I wanted to talk to you…"
That only confused Aeris even more. What exactly couldn't be said in the open that needed to be brought to some weird isolated corner like this? It wasn't like she was scared, but it still felt strange.
"Aeris… I want… I want…"
Seeing Bulma standing there all shy and hesitant made Aeris a little speechless. What was this about?
Bulma let out a breath, then forced herself to continue.
"Aeris… I want to ask you to defeat the androids. Can you?"
Aeris shook her head.
At most, she could only stay here for a few more days.
She couldn't solve this for them.
They had to handle it themselves.
Besides, the androids' ability to hide their energy was seriously impressive. That part, she had to admit.
Finding them wasn't exactly easy.
Though now that one of them had already shown up, the other one was no longer that big of a problem.
At least, that was how Aeris saw it.
Because the truth was, the only people she really cared about were a handful of individuals. As for the rest of humanity?
Sorry.
She was busy.
And more importantly, even if she helped them deal with the enemy now, what then?
What happened when even stronger, even more horrifying enemies showed up later?
Would they just wait to die?
The moment Bulma heard the refusal, the light in her eyes dimmed.
"Really… really not? Aeris… just this once… one time… I'm begging you. I really am begging you this time, Aeris… I really don't know what else to do anymore…"
As she spoke, she clutched at Aeris's clothes and slowly slid downward until she was kneeling on the ground.
"Aeris… please help us. Just this once, okay…"
Aeris let out a sigh and looked down at her.
"If I help you this time, then what about next time? And the time after that? If something stronger appears, something even worse, then what will you do? Rely on me again?"
As she said that, Aeris reached out and wiped Bulma's tears away.
"You said it yourself. In your past, in my future, I'm already gone. So no matter what, I can't help. This is something you all have to get through yourselves."
Then Aeris turned and walked away without looking back.
She truly couldn't help.
If she did, it would only harm them in the long run.
So the only thing she could do was harden her heart and play the villain for once.
Bulma sat there watching Aeris leave without a backward glance, her mood sinking lower and lower.
Everything Aeris had said…
She knew it was true.
But right now, the main force they had left was just Gohan.
She couldn't afford to make one wrong move.
Eventually, Bulma walked over and sat down in the spot where Aeris had been sitting earlier. Then she picked up the bag of beans and ate one.
To her surprise, the bean actually healed her.
Not on Senzu Bean levels of insanity, sure, but still far stronger than it had any right to be.
That was because all those things Aeris carried around had been washed over and enchanted by healing techniques. Naturally, they carried that effect.
Meanwhile, somewhere else, Aeris was wandering around without any particular destination.
Because now she knew that in the future she would…
She lowered her eyes and noticed that both of her hands were already starting to fade slightly.
Aeris remained calm. She casually took out a notebook and started writing in it. She spent more than half an hour scribbling away.
There wasn't really anything complicated inside.
It was mostly just training notes from the old days, things she and Goku had worked on together.
She was writing them all down so that when she left, she could hand the notebook to Gohan.
"Looks like Shenron's time limit… tch. Well, whatever. Going back earlier isn't exactly a bad thing."
Aeris muttered that to herself.
"At this rate, I'll completely disappear in two days at most. Hm. That means I can still oversee Gohan's training for two more days. Looks like I need to raise the intensity."
Once she made up her mind, Aeris cheerfully headed back.
And yes…
She was eating again.
This time it was sunflower seeds.
As she slowly walked back while cracking seeds in her mouth, she looked ridiculously relaxed.
Then again, what else was she supposed to do?
She had nothing better to do right now.
Might as well kill time chewing seeds.
The next day…
Aeris took Gohan out again like usual.
This time, though, she had increased the power of her attacks by a ridiculous amount.
She completely ignored his screams. As far as she was concerned, the more miserable he looked, the better.
The very first wave of attacks left his entire body covered in dark bruises. There wasn't a single patch of skin that looked alright anymore.
Gohan took one of the beans Aeris had been eating yesterday, and the bruises on his body began slowly healing.
"Oh? So you noticed, huh… In that case, looks like the training needs to get even harsher."
Aeris looked at Gohan with a wicked grin.
That smile made his scalp tingle.
There was no helping it.
The way Aeris smiled right now felt like a kid being lured into a scam operation.
It sent goosebumps all over him.
He was willing to bet that the next round of attacks absolutely would not be simple.
Definitely worse than what he had already taken.
What the hell was going on with Aunt Aeris today?
Why had she suddenly turned the training up this much?
This was terrifying.
That had only been the first wave, and it was already harsher than all of yesterday's training put together.
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