Chapter 4 - New Recruit

In the land of Nyan-Qing, where war is forbidden, and everyone lives happily, this planet challenged Goku Black’s twisted ideologies. It defeated him not with arms but with heart and determination. The arts, scenery, and the food won his and Mitarashi’s hearts.

“So, your majesty, do you have someone to teach me how to cook…?” Mitarashi asks kindly. “Oh, there is no need for you to be taught. I can give you my imperial chef to serve you! As a thank you for sparing our planet!” the emperor offers. Suddenly, a voice from a distance is heard: “HUA-AMA! (Royal Father)” The emperor turned in the direction the voice had come from, and they saw a small lady with brown, messy hair, in a fan-like hairstyle, running towards him. Then she stops in front of her, kneeling mid-run, sliding her knees on the black tiles of the room, stopping in front of her father; “Hua-ama! You mustn’t give them Kus-yi!” she begs. “But, Princess, they need a cook--” the emperor explains, “Hua-ama, Kus-yi is Hua-anya(Royal Mother)’s personal chef! She will be angry with you if you give her away!” she explains. “Then who are we going to give them? Kus-Yi is the one who prepared all of their meals! Also, pay respects to the God of Destruction!” The princess then faces Goku Black and Kowtows, “Greetings, my lord, may ten thousand years of fortune be on your way!” Goku Black smirks, crossing his arms, and Mitarashi smiles, gestures for her to stand up, and she then returns to nagging her father. “I made all those dishes they ate!” she exclaimed.

Goku Black swallowed his saliva into the wrong hole and started coughing. Mitarashi hands him a cup of tea to stop the coughing. “What?! There is no way you cooked this! Servants! Did Kus-Yi prepare the food our lord ate?!” the emperor called in panic. One of the eunuchs approached the emperor and said, “Your Majesty, it is indeed Princess Nia who prepared everything they ate. You see, Kus-Yi cannot cook since she is ill from the feline flu after catching a stray bird during her day off.” The emperor gasps in horror as the food the princess prepared is ingested by the god, as he does not trust his daughter, as she is a princess and not meant for the kitchen, yet she kept on sneaking away from princess duties just to cook and experiment in the imperial kitchen. “The food is actually good… We don’t feel ill at all, your majesty.” Mitarashi speaks to the emperor. “R-really…?” the emperor asks with his sweat dripping from his chin. “If you allow it, I’d rather have the princess be the one to cook for us!” Mitarashi requested. “Hua-ama, you told me that if I did not get married to the man I want, I could travel the world… Maybe working for god is my way to travel the universe instead!” the princess speaks with enthusiasm in her voice.

“Ah… that’s right, daughter… if joining them makes you happy, I would be happy for you…” The emperor assures and embraces his daughter. Goku Black, after his fit of coughing, composed himself. “Your kitten better not poison us,” he said, still rubbing his chest. “I put my life on the line that my daughter will not harm you!” the emperor assures with a bow to his daughter.

The night fell in the empire, and the emperor provided rooms for Goku Black and Mitarashi. She brought new clothes from the emperor to change her master into them, and then she sees him on the balcony of his room, sitting on its railings, facing the glowing city from the height of the palace in the mountains. She laid out his new clothes and approached him as she clasped her hands on her abdomen once again. “My lord, the new clothes from the emperor have arrived; you must change into them, or you will catch a cold.” “You win this time… so I must stay here for a month…?” Goku Black turns around with disdain in his eyes, meeting her gaze. “You can leave this place earlier, but that tells me that you’re not a man of honor,” Mitarashi warns.

“I did not say I want to leave, I’m about to ask if I could stay longer!” the god retorted, squeezing the bridges of his nose. “Oh! So you like it in here?!” Mitarashi jumps toward her master; “Y-yeah.. I do like it here, for some reason, I find this place… therapeutic…” he embarrassingly confessed to her, avoiding eye contact. “That’s nice of you that you would explore new things!” Mitarashi happily said.

“Now, please, let me give you a warm bath, and you wear these clothes provided by the emperor!” Mitarashi insisted. “Alright, take me there,” the god relented, following her into the bathroom. Once they arrived, they were both shocked as they were both expecting to have the bathroom for themselves, as she is his personal servant who bathes her master; instead, they saw five eunuchs waiting for the god to enter, so they bathed him themself. Turns out that on this planet, women cannot bathe men, especially if that man she bathes is not her husband or son. “Miss Mitarashi, please step out as this bathroom is only for men’s bathing,” one eunuch spoke. “B-but, I bathe my lord every day, I am his personal assistant! Or you call a Gugu or Momo!” She tries to explain herself. “It’s alright, Mitarashi, you go fix yourself as well.” Goku Black turns as the eunuch starts to undress him. “Okay… I shall go now, my lord,” she bows and leaves for her room, trusting the eunuchs to bathe her master.

Mitarashi then went to her room, sat on a cushioned stool in front of a table adorned with silver and cold, a small drawer of makeup, and a large mirror as she looked at herself, trying to fix her small lock of hair on the left side of her face. Then she noticed a movement behind the curtains through the reflection of her mirror. She pretended not to notice, then something jumped on her- she immediately dodged, then she grabbed it to see what it was that was attempting to attack her; It was the princess grinning from ear to ear.

“Why would you attack me like that, your highness?” she asked, carefully putting the princess down. “To see if you’re also a god!” she smugly replies to her. “Ah, I’m not a god in a way, more like an overseer of time and space than a servant to the god of destruction,” she explains, fixing the rest of her hair. “Cool! Cool! How long have you been serving our god of destruction?” She asked with curiosity in her voice as her heterochromatic pupils glistened with excitement. “Just a few days. And he’s a handful to manage,” she sighs in exhaustion as she walks to the side of her bed. “You might have a hard time with him,” the princess follows her and sits on the footrest beside her bed. “I will get used to it, your highness. Also, it’s not proper for you to sit on the footrest.” Mitarashi exclaims, trying to lift the princess to transfer her to the edge of the bed instead.

“Don’t ya worry, Miss Mitarashi, once I move into your house, I will help you as much as I can!” she volunteers with enthusiasm. “Thank you, Princess…?” Mitarashi paused, not knowing the princess’s first name; “Nia! I’m Princess Nia!” she exclaimed with a bubbly voice. Mitarashi smiled at this innocent princess who might not know the dangers outside the comfort of the world of Nyan-Qing, a princess whose indeed kind-hearted.

Goku Black returned to his room wearing a purple version of the emperor’s golden coat, signifying the higher level of authority he has over the ruler of Nyan-Qing, artificial braids attached to the back of his hair, and perfume pouches attached to his belt. He definitely fashioned the clothing of a Nyan-Qing nobility, a divine being at that. Mitarashi, Princess Nia in tow, greeted him with a kneel and a bow; “My lord, you look divine in those clothes.” Mitarashi complimented her master’s attire and looks. “You look just like us and Hua-Ama, My lord!” Princess Nia added sparkles to her eyes. “I do like them, they’re comfortable, and I can move freely as well, though, I have to wear my original attire most of the time…” Goku Black, pleased looked at himself on a full body vertical mirror in his room, turning around and checking for more details in his attire.

Princess Nia then turns to Mitarashi, “You should totally try wearing our attire and get your hair styled like mine! It would totally look cool on you!” “Ah, no offense, but… How can I serve Lord Black properly if I have to wear those clothes and my hair styled for it to be stained or damaged during a chore or task?” Mitarashi tried to refuse with a valid excuse. “We can do that when you’re free, then?” the princess continued to insist. “Alright then, when only I’m free.” Mitarashi caved in with the nagging princess. Goku Black, however, is unbothered as he still turns around looking pleased with his appearance in the mirror.

The sun rises in the east of the planet, the god of destruction is early awaken somewhat excited to explore the planet and its people, Mitarashi beside him trying to fix the back of his new purple coat, “I never seen you so excited to go out and check everything for leisure, my lord.” she speaks as she rolls a lint roller on his back; “Everything is a first time between the two of us, a first time for me to see what I cannot see before, and first time for you to see me like this.” Goku Black replies with optimism in his voice, the very first time fixing the cuffs of his sleeves. A smile appeared on Mitarashi’s lips from her master’s words; “Indeed, this is a first time, well, I am honored to see you experience your new firsts, my lord, it warms my heart,” she cheerfully replies to her master. “I’m hungry, let’s get something to eat.” Goku Black stood from his chair and walked towards the door. As Mitarashi opened the door leading to the corridors of the palace, they met two servants waiting for them outside. Once the two saw them, they kneeled and spoke: “Good Morning, Lord Black, Miss Mitarashi, your breakfast is ready as instructed by His Majesty,” one of the servants greeted. “Please allow us to bring you there,” another one spoke.

“Ah, good, then we shall go,” Goku Black spoke as he followed the two servants. Outside the gates of the palace they stay in, an entourage of servants and a sedan is waiting for him; “Please step in and sit on the sedan, my lord,” one of the servants asked the god. Confused, he steps forward and sits in the sedan. Suddenly, by a count of three, the sedan he is seated in is being lifted by the male servants and taking him to his destination on foot. He is shocked that he ended up just grabbing the armrest with his hands. Mitarashi chuckles and follows suit as she walks beside the sedan as his personal attendant.

Minutes later, they arrived at the location, and he was lowered, and he stepped out of the sedan. He directly walks through a new gate, Mitarashi behind him, following him, and the doors of the hall open for them to see another feast for his honor this time. The emperor is happy to see him, beside the emperor is Princess Nia and his empress. Everyone kneels and kowtows to the god of destruction and pays their respect, then lets him sit at the head of the table where the emperor always sits. This time, the emperor sat in the position where princes sit. Despite them all sitting, Mitarashi maintained standing beside her master.

“Good morning, My lord,” the emperor greets the god; “It is indeed a good morning, Emperor. I slept well, the scenery and the room are good, the ride on the way here is surprisingly good, and the food presented is admirable as well…” Goku Black replies as he picks up his pair of chopsticks. “I am glad to hear that. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here, my lord,” the empress happily said. “I’d like to ask you if you allow your daughter to come with us,” Mitarashi asks as Goku Black is occupied trying to bite a large piece of a meat bun. “Well… I am afraid for my daughter’s safety, you see, Nia is my firstborn daughter, she’s supposed to be married to a prince of a local king in the southern empire, yet she isn’t fit for marriage due to her rash personality…” The empress shows her ire at the situation of her daughter. Princess Nia turns to her mother, “Hua-Anya, you must trust me. How will I learn to be a responsible lady if you won’t allow me to go! For sure, Lord Black isn’t going to push for me to fight right…?” she explains as she turns, gesturing for Mitarashi to back her up.

“ Princess Nia is serving as Lord Black’s cook in his dwelling on his planet, north of Nyan-Qing. She is not going to be in combat,” Mitarashi reassures. “I just want her to cook us good Nyan-Qing cuisine, that’s all…” Goku Black is added as he picks and eats a whole crayfish. “My lord, you have to de-shell it--” “you’re not supposed to eat that? --- it's crunchy.” The empress is deep in her mind, afraid for her first daughter’s safety, still after the reassurance of the gods, then the emperor reached for her hand; “Nia is going to be safe with them, she serves the most powerful being in the universe, remember?” the emperor’s soothing words went through her giving her clarity in her mind. “That’s right,” she replied. “Our daughter will be safer with them than being married to a prince who might hurt her when they are away from us,” she added with a convincing tone in her voice.

“Nia… daughter, please take care of yourself when you are with them!” the empress begged her daughter. “Hua-anya, don’t you worry about me. If I’m old enough to get married, I’m old enough to be independent! Besides, I can visit you anytime since Miss Mitarashi told me that Lord Black’s planet is just nearby!” she assures her mother. The two embraced as this could be the last time they would see each other; however, Mitarashi had a different thought of making the princess visit home once in a while when everything is calm back to her lord’s planet.

After the meal, the god is invited to another room. As he enters, there are seven beautiful, well-dressed, and adorned women in line waiting for him. The head eunuch of the emperor is also there waiting for the god of destruction and the emperor. The eunuch announced, “ His Majesty and our Lord have arrived!” Everyone kneels to pay respect to two powerful beings on the planet and one of the universe. Of course, the first one to sit on a designated seat is Goku Black, as Mitarashi arranged his clothes while he sits, followed by the emperor, who is assisted by his head eunuch. “My lord,” the emperor turns to the god, “I present you these women as those who will tend to your nightly desires.” The emperor stretches his arm and his hand in the direction of the women in line who are not moving an inch. “Nightly desires…?” The god’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “I assume mating with my lord…?” Mitarashi asks the emperor with confusion in her voice as well. “Well, not just mating but pampering and pleasing our lord!” the emperor happily offers. “No. No… I am a god of destruction, and procreation is not my duty; I do not have mating desires nor the feeling of attraction to the opposite gender. Do not attempt to offer this kind of thing to me again!” Goku Black is now unhappy with the emperor’s suggestion and presentation. He indeed is correct, a god of destruction has no business having a harem of women, nor procreating with them, as his title suggests, he just destroys, he is a destroyer.

The emperor kneels, asking for forgiveness; “Forgive my incompetence, my lord! I do not know that things like these revolt you!” “Now you know,” the annoyed god stands up, “I’d rather drink tea with the rest of your people than be alone with unconsenting women,” he spoke and leaves, Mitarashi following him. Goku Black then walks down the stairs from the palace, his hands on his back, totally pissed off; “My lord, is there something I can do to calm your nerves down?” Mitarashi asks with concern. The God stopped his descend the stairs; “As a woman yourself, do you think this is alright…?” he asks turns his head to his left as Mitarashi is behind him; “Many cultures, civilizations, planets and systems believe that women are property, giver of off-springs, an object to trade, that is why the emperor is so easy to give Princess Nia to us as our cook because of how they see women, especially what transpired earlier.” Mitarashi voiced her disappointment to her master, “Pathetic.” The god’s reply came out like a snarl, “Well, that’s their culture, the emperor thinks that since you’re a man, you would understand how they look at women. Especially when they look at us. Where I am your servant… who just happened to be a woman…” Mitarashi explains further, the god turns around to face her; “It is your choice to serve me, the way you do because you think that’s the best for me… right?” he asks. “My lord, I am assigned to you by the grand priest and the Omni King, yet indeed, it is my choice to pamper you as I always do from the very beginning,” Mitarashi replied with a relaxed and straight face.

Goku Black lowered his gaze and turned back around to return into walking down the stairs, as he continues to walk down, he feels someone else is walking behind him other than Mitarashi whose following him the entire time, once he turns around he saw a familiar face; It’s Princess Nia, holding with both hands a large meat bun, as big as her head, chewing on it. “How long have you been following us?” Mitarashi asks her as if she just read what’s in her master’s mind; “Since I saw you both descend the stairs? Where are you going, though? You might need a tour guide!” The princess spoke as she wiped away the sauce of the bun on her lips with her sleeves. “Ayah… Here’s a handkerchief.” Mitarashi whips out her white handkerchief to wipe the rest of the sauce that is almost slathered on the princess’s face. As Mitarashi cleans the princess, the god walks toward a small bamboo hut that is serving tea. He sits in one of the bamboo stools and leans his arms on the wooden table. The storekeeper approached him with a small wooden board on which all the tea options were written.

“I’ll have this one,” the god pointed at one of the options as the two followed as they took their seat. “Ah! Your highness, you’re here!” the storekeeper greeted the princess. “Hello, Ming-Yao! I’m just touring these two divine beings around!” the princess pipes up as she’s holding her half-eaten bun. “D-divine beings…?” the storekeeper asks with nervousness in his voice. “Nyah! This woman here is Miss Mitarashi, a Goddess of Time! Then this man beside me is the God of Destruction, Lord Black!” She enthusiastically announced that the storekeeper fell on his knees for a kowtow to pay respect. “I-it is an honor to host two divine beings in my establishment! I wish ten thousand years of fortune on your way!” the man greeted. “You may stand and serve the tea to us.” Goku Black smirks as he commands. The storekeeper stood up and then ran to prepare the tea. Mitarashi turned to the princess; “You don’t have to announce me as a Goddess of time, I’m just an overseer… the only god between the three of us is Lord Black, and no one else.” Mitarashi corrected the smug princess. “Kais are considered a god, Mitarashi. The creator gods, some call them…” Goku Black informs her. “Oohh… so there’s more Gods out there!” the princess speaks as she places her cheeks to her palms, leaning her elbows on the table, looking at the god in admiration.

“Of course there are, you will see them sooner or later when you finally move into my planet.” The god proudly spoke as he crossed his arms once again. In only a few moments, the storekeeper served them the tea of their choosing, then gave them another small bowl with a snout containing fresh milk. The god turned to the princess and asked, “What is this white liquid served to us…?” “Oh, that’s fresh milk! It’s mixed into the tea if you like it to be creamy!” she speaks as she takes the bowl of milk and pours some milk into her tea. “That looks delicious!” Mitarashi commented as the princess stirred her tea with a wooden spoon. The god didn’t know if he would be compelled to do the same or be disgusted by the sight, as it is the first time in his kai existence that someone would mix something else into the tea other than sugar. However, the god relented and mixed some milk into his tea; his mind is racing for whatever abomination this thing will become, or if this is going to ruin a perfectly good tea, and what it will taste like. He mixes it with a wooden spoon, lifts the cup as its edge touched his lips he braced for the worst, then he sips… his eye opened in surprise, swallows the tea and looks down at the milk-tea he just drank, “I-it tastes… better…?” the words from his lips is heard as the two anticipated with his reaction, “t-there’s no way this thing tastes good!” he exclaims questioning his own taste buds. Mitarashi chuckled at his expression, and the princess laughed her heart out due to the reaction of the god of destruction. “Sounds like we need milk for the tea for now on,” Mitarashi speaks as she covers her mouth from laughing uncontrollably, while the princess continues to laugh out loud due to the sight. The princess, after calming down, reaches for the bowl filled with sugar and dumps it in her cup of tea, making a semi-slurry mixture to the horror of both Mitarashi and Goku Black. “I like mine sweet!” the princess spoke as she sipped it in one go. “Oh… My… self… YOU RUINED A PERFECTLY GOOD TEA!!!!” Goku Black screamed as he almost threw the princess out of the establishment. Mitarashi, however, holds her master down to calm him and blames the princess; “You might get sick of all the sugar you drank at once!” she scolded. The princess just smirks at them, content with her life, and returns to eating the rest of her meat bun.

A while later, the god has calmed down from his anger, he looked around he saw a tall mountain with a single cherry-like tree on top, he proceeded to fly and reach that place, Mitarashi followed through as she holds the princess by her side whose flapping her arms to mimic a bird as they are in mid-air and chants “I believe I can fry~”. The moment the god set his foot on the mountain his left hand touching the tree, he saw a beautiful view of the mountains, the palace, the city surrounding it and the nature along with it, the wind is cold, breezing brushing on his ebony black hair, and making the tail of his coat fly like a flag, he lowers his stature as he sits on the green grass under the tree and crosses his legs, placing both of his palms on each knee, he spoke no words, but observe in awe at the beauty of Nyan-Qing’s landscape.

Mitarashi remains standing behind him, clasping her hands on her abdomen as always, enjoying the view with her master while the princes clawed their way up one of the large branches of the tree. From above, the princess spoke, “Miss Mitarashi, I’ve noticed something about you!” She points her finger down, “Huh..?” Mitarashi raised her head in the direction of the princess. “Your mannerisms… like a Nyan-Qing woman, clasped hands, the way you walk… oh! The nail guards! Yeah, those gold long things on your fingers!” she calls her out. “Have you been on this planet before, Mitarashi?” Goku Black asked her as he turned his head towards her direction. “Oh, that, I’ve been observing so many planets and the Nyan-Qing caught my eyes in terms of fashion, and I love how women accessorize themselves, since a kai of time has a lot of time on their hands, pun intended, I seek to accessorize myself with those that fit me well, and the planet of Nyan-Qing is the best! These nail guards? These are actually a gift to me by one of my kai sisters, Gurenshi, who happens to visit the place around… a century ago,” she explains with passion. “I see, then you already observed this planet a while back?” Goku Black inquired, “I saw them on the surface, but not as much information as you learned yesterday from the emperor, my lord.” Mitarashi replies.

Goku Black nods in satisfaction then turns himself to another direction; then saw something metal erected near the city, he points at the object; “Nia, What is that thing sticking up near the buildings…?” he asks as he points his finger; “Oh, that’s the statue of the most influential woman in the Nyan-Qing history!” the princess explains from the tree branch that is about to snap from the trunk. “She’s Emperor Miyao-Su’s 7th princess, Princess Ming-Zho!” she introduced. “Princess Ming-Zho…?” Mitarashi asks, “7th Princess is the one who broke the palace rules of only men will be in court, she encouraged and supported my great-grandfather into reinforcing the ironclad laws, hua-ama showed you yesterday, really cool lady! When she died in the age two hundred thirty seven, many cried for her death, then erected a statue as a symbol of women’s intellect and power in the court… however despite that… no Nyan-Qing women attempted to challenge the court as she did afterwards leaving her the only female minister in history.” she explains with passion in her eyes while dangling herself on a snapping tree branch. “How inspirational… I hope many women on this planet would take inspiration from her…” Mitarashi commented as she dries tears on her eyes with a handkerchief.

Goku Black stood from his seat, holding the trunk of the tree as support; “I think someone has already followed the 7th princess’ legacy without even realizing it…” he spoke with conviction in his voice. “And whose that…?” Mitarashi asked, putting her handkerchief away. The branch finally broke where the princess sits, causing her to fall directly into the god of destruction; however, he perfectly catches her in his arms, and she holds him like a scared cat with her claws exposed and hair standing from her head and tail. “Oh God! I thought I would die right there, even if I could land on my feet!” she exclaimed, full of terror in her eyes. “This one right here, Mitarashi… This one will take the legacy of the 7th princess to the cosmos.” Goku Black, with determination in his eyes, smirks in content as he holds the clumsy princess in his arms.