▸ Column · Dragon Ball universe — West City, modern grounded comic
GOKU replies.
The letter
So I met this guy Daichi at my cousin's cookout and we went on one actual date — noodle stand in West City, walked the market district until almost one in the morning, and he texted me "best night I've had in years" before he even got home. Like, he was still in the parking lot. He said he'd get us tickets to that exhibition match we'd been geeking out about, kissed me goodbye, and then — nothing. Three days turned into two weeks. My "hey, are we still on for Friday?" just says delivered. (I've checked it maybe a hundred times at this point.) Meanwhile his Zeni-gram is full of training clips and little videos of his dog like everything's totally fine. I've gone back over that whole night trying to figure out what I did wrong and I honestly can't find it. So — do I send one final message and ask what actually happened, or do I just accept that someone who seemed that into me can vanish for no reason?
— Left on Delivered in West City
Goku replies
Wait — he just stopped? No message, no "something came up," nothing? I genuinely don't get that. If Daichi's got a problem, why wouldn't he just say so?
But here's what I keep seeing — you've been going back over every minute of that night looking for where you went wrong. That's fighting the wrong opponent. The problem isn't what happened on that date. The opponent is the fear of just asking straight up. Those are totally different things, and you've been training against the wrong one.
You asked if you should send one last message. Yeah, I think you should — but not the anxious kind. Not "did I do something?" Just one honest question, straight on, like you're not scared of the answer. Because you shouldn't be. Whatever he says — or doesn't — that's information. That's the exact spot where you train harder next.
And here's the thing about Daichi: I've handed senzu beans to people who literally tried to kill me. Because sometimes you have no idea what someone's actually carrying until you give them one honest chance. Leave the door open a little. Not because he's earned it. Because sometimes people actually surprise you.
If nothing comes back, that's not you failing. That's him not showing up to the rematch. You're still worth the rematch.
Eat something first, though. And stop refreshing his sparring feed. You can't think straight on an empty stomach and two weeks of worry.
— Goku
Frieza weighs in
Oh, how touching. Kakarot's advice is to send another message to the man who hasn't answered the first one. That's not a senzu bean, darling — that's groveling with additional steps. Your little "hey, still on for Friday?" has been sitting on delivered for two weeks, advertising your wound to anyone clever enough to notice. Don't compound it. You don't petition for attention from those who've decided you don't merit it. You outgrow the situation so thoroughly that Daichi's silence stops registering entirely. In my experience, that renders such beings completely beneath notice. With... one or two irritating exceptions. But we needn't discuss that. Do stop checking his feed.
— Frieza
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