Out of the Blue
Chapter 1: Going back to school
(by NekoKriszty)
The flying teen sighed again on his way to his friend's house. He had real difficulties when being around Videl.
Son Gohan had been flying for minutes now, and the funny feeling in his stomach just seemed to grow more and more. He just didn't get it; before the whole Buu incident they were really good friends, and she was the first person in his age to whom he grew really close to. But nowadays he was always nervous around her, saying and doing stupid things, and thus getting some weird looks from her. He felt lucky that she still thought of him as a friend. Approaching Satan City, he pushed a button on his watch and became the oh-so-famous Saiyaman.
Videl had just finished the finishing touch on her make-up, putting on barely visible lip-gloss, when she felt his ki approaching. She sighed and ran to her backpack to check if she had everything, then opened the balcony door so he could greet her. She chuckled, but immediately stopped and looked in her mirror. Why did I just do that? Shaking her head slightly, she looked over her outfit: blue summer-dress that matched her eyes, a matching black belt and high-heeled sandals. She also had that elegant silver necklace that she got from Gohan for her birthday, which had a tiny reproduction of a dragonball in the middle; also she had her dragonball-shaped earrings on. Those she got from Bulma.
The closer his ki came the more weird and nervous she felt; this feeling had been growing in her since she met this young, mysterious and goofy boy, Gohan, and since his death (or what was considered his death) this feeling wasn't responsible for innocent little things she said and as soon as she said them found them extremely embarrassing. Like my comment when Gohan suggested I should cut my hair… Ooh, I don't think I'll ever forget that… HOW could I say something so stupid? No, this feeling now was responsible for BIG and HUGE embarrassing things she had done, like tripping in her own legs while simply walking and landing in Gohan's arms, who was quick enough to catch her… Not that it wasn't a nice feeling, being in his arms… She drooled about that memory for some seconds, than woke up, shook her head, cursed lightly and went to the balcony to meet this friend who caused her so much trouble.
As she closed the balcony doors behind her, he arrived, wearing his usual Great Saiyaman outfit. At least I managed to convince him to get rid of the cape… Well, he still looks like a goofball. She couldn't deny the truth. And she couldn't help but smile. I hope he will never change.
"Hi, Videl-san! How was this morning?"
"Thanks for asking, just the usual, although there are some reporters down there at my door who want to interview me about… Well, about everything. Argg, why did they have to choose today…?"
click click click
Speak of the devil.
"Miss Satan, Miss Satan, a word here please?"
"Saiyaman, could you tell us a word about yesterday's accident in the bank?"
"Miss Satan, what's your opinion about your father's latest actions to save the planet and everyone on it?"
"Videl, tell us, what's exactly between you and the Great Saiyaman? Are you merely working together, or maybe you are the newest star-couple of Satan-city?"
Videl, as usual, took no notice of them, well, not until the last comment. She flushed, and in the corner of her eye she saw that Gohan's cheeks were rosy, too.
"HELL, NO! WE'RE JUST FRIENDS, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? J-U-S-T-space-F-R-I-E-N-D-S!"
Gohan moved closer to her, and Videl felt a ting at her stomach. What… What's he gonna do?
Gohan went closer and closer to her, until he… Grabbed her hand, yelled "Maybe another time, guys, we're in a hurry" and took off.
"Miss Satan, Mr. Son, wait, please!" But they were already far.
Wow, Videl thought, He handled them so maturely and coolly while I acted like a total idiot… Not to mention what I thought he might do…
Gohan glared back at her, and smiled. "Videl-san, don't be worked up about it. It's natural that you lose control, since they are always there at your tail and it must be pretty annoying."
"What…? How did you know?"
"What?"
"Well… That… Never mind…"
Gohan slowed down "Videl-san, we've been friends for quite a time now, and I can tell when something's bothering you. Especially, cause most of the times it's written all over your face"
Videl's cheeks started burning again, and she smacked Gohan at the back of his head, then took off. Gohan just looked after her confused. Okay… So what did I say now?
Eventually, Videl slowed down, and turned her head towards Gohan, looking REALLY embarrassed. "Sorry, Gohan-kun, I shouldn't have done that… It's just that… Well… You make me feel like no one else has before… I don't really get it…" Her eyes began watering, and Gohan knew he had to act fast.
"Nah, Videl-san, don't worry about it, I shouldn't have teased you… Don't worry; you're just still worked up about the reporters, that's all…" He hugged her in a large bear hug, and she wiped her eyes in his shirt.
"Yeah, you're probably right" NO, this isn't it; I know it isn't, but then what's wrong with me?
Videl smiled up at him, then punched him lightly in the chest "TAG, YOU'RE IT!" And she took off towards the school laughing.
"Ooh, playing nasty, are we…" Gohan smirked as he went after her. Of course he didn't use his real speed, and let her have the lead for a while, then caught up with her, scared her from the back, received another smack on his head and took off. They continued playing until they reached their destination… Orange Star High School.
Since all the trouble with the training for the Budokai and another evil villain threatening the Earth (and the whole Universe), Gohan and Videl missed school for quite a while. No one knew that they would be coming back today, because Videl didn't want any reporters to gather at the school entrance (even if they landed on the roof… There might have been some helicopters and those could have done mayor damage… Or rather Videl could have done mayor damage to them, who knows…). So, it was kind of a surprise to everyone.
They landed without anyone noticing, Gohan turned back to his usual school outfit now consisting of jeans and a baggy white T-shirt showing just a little part of his muscular neck. It was hot, after all. They hurried down on the corridors really fast so they wouldn't be late, and so failed to notice half of the school staring at them, and then starting whispering behind their backs. They began talking about nothing in particular, and were really glad to enter the class in time for a change.
As the two of them walked in, they were so busy talking that they didn't even notice that the whole class went silent. They just went up to their places, Gohan made place for Videl to sit down who gladly accepted it and Gohan sat down next to her. They continued laughing and talking, while the rest of the class was left in total silence.
"What happened? Is this the Apocalypse?" Erasa whispered to Sharpener, who just shook his head and looked really scared.
Finally, Gohan and Videl noticed the tension in the class. They looked around, and Gohan sheepishly asked with the typical Son grin: "C'mon, guys, what's going on here?"
Videl joined him "Were we left out of something?" But before anyone could answer, the teacher came in the classroom. "Okay, now sit down everyone, let's see, who's missing… Miss Satan, Mr. Son, anyone else?"
Gohan spoke up. "Uh, sensei? We're right here"
The teacher froze. He looked up at Gohan, than at Videl, than at Gohan again. Then, he turned around, squeaked "STAY AT YOUR PLACES, EVERYONE!" and lest the room in quite a hurry. Okay, he was running like his life was at stake.
Now, Videl and Gohan were officially freaked out. "Okay, now tell me, what's going on?" Videl demanded with an angry voice from Sharpener and Erasa, who seemed to become smaller and smaller.
"…"
"Sharpener! You know that I would never hurt Erasa, but you I will beat up gladly if you don't give me answers. NOW."
"Videl…" Gohan tried to calm her down, but much to his astonishment as he was standing up, Sharpener let out a freaked out yell and ran out of the room like there was no tomorrow. He even ran at the closed door once, not checking if it was open. Gohan was left speechless, staring at the closed door, then at the others in class. They were… Terrified.
"Umm…"
"ERASA, TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON, NOW!" Videl shook Erasa in her seat, after which she seemed to wake up from her shock. She squealed a little and then looked at Gohan. With a sigh, she informed Videl "That's... Gohan-kun."
"OF COURSE IT'S GOHAN-KUN, I CAN SEE HIM, I'VE KNOWN HIM FOR JUST AS LONG AS YOU HAVE!"
"No, you don't get it. See… About 90 percent of the school watched the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai. The rest heard what happened there on the news. EVERYONE knows about Gohan-kun."
This didn't calm Videl down, on the contrary. "SO WHAT?"
"Erasa looked really surprised. "What do you mean, 'so what?'?"
"By so what, I mean, so what! Who cares if he can shoot beams or fly or that he is the Golden Fighter? I can do some of that stuff, too! He's been doing it his whole life, and you know exactly what he was like before the Budokai! You should know that he didn't change at all just because you know what he can do!" Gohan flushed, murmuring something about Videl not helping him a lot.
The classroom was silent. It looked like some people managed to see things Videl's way, but most of the people still seemed rather scared.
After a moment or so, the loudspeaker on the top of the blackboard turned on, and everyone in the classroom (and in the school) began listening to the Principal.
"Uhmm, students and teachers, please excuse this interruption of class, but I would like to call Mr. Son to my office right now, as well as Miss Satan. Thank you."
The pair looked around their classmates one last time before leaving without a word.
"This was such an awful thing to do!" Videl spoke up frustrated.
"What do you mean?"
"Calling us in on the loudspeaker! You know, he could have sent anyone to get us! But NO, he wanted the whole SCHOOL know we're back to school. I bet he has already called the press, and when we leave we'll have to fight our way through hundreds of cameras!"
"I'm not really worried about the press" Gohan sighed. "I hope they didn't call the police"
"Why would they do that?"
Gohan laughed up darkly. "Because I'm a freak, at least that's what everyone thinks right now. I bet they think I might go berserk and blow up the school or something…"
Videl had to admit, he had a point there. She just grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He smiled at her gently and full of thankfulness as squeezing back. They let go as they entered the office.
The first thing Gohan noticed is that most of the teachers were in the office. He looked around, and standing next to the Principal he noticed…
"Okaa-san?"
"Pappa?"
Videl and Gohan cried out in unison as they looked at their parents: Chi-Chi and Hercule.
Chi-Chi of course hurried towards Gohan, and hugged him "Oh, Gohan, I knew this would happen, you shouldn't have…"
"OKaa-san, could we please discuss this later?" Gohan asked nervously, blushing.
Hercule just stood there, not looking at Gohan, but examining her daughter.
The Principal spoke up. "Now, why we have called you here, I think, doesn't need much explanation."
Hercule coughed, and to Videl's biggest fright, chose to speak. "Please, I would like to hear why I had to pause my training and come over here. Is my daughter in any trouble?"
"Well, no, it's not about her… Rather, it's about Mr. Son here. You see, the staff and myself were informed about… About certain events that took place not too long ago."
"Quit beating around the bush!" Videl spoke up for the first time. "It's about what Gohan-kun did on the latest Tenkaichi Budokai, and you know it's about that, daddy. What I don't get is: what about it?"
"Well, you see… Having supernatural powers as the ability to fly or to… Khmm… Well, destroy half a stadium with just one's will…"
Gohan felt angry with that. "Hey, don't blame me for that! It wasn't me, it was Vegeta, and he died!" Videl simply wondered why his father said nothing about 'tricks' and stuff to defend his own reputation. He just stood there, and looked very interested in the Principal's words.
"That's not the point, is it? The point is that having powers like that we would endanger our students if we let you stay here…"
"You can't blame him for saving the world!" Chi-chi screamed at the Principal's head. Gohan flushed, and buried his face in his hand. "You can't blame him for things that are not his fault! He was born this way, doing that stuff since he was four and a half, but has never blew up anything by accident, on the contrary, he always kept training and helping people, saving the Earth many times, defeating C…"
"Okaa-san, I think you've said just enough" Gohan interrupted before she could finish her last sentence. She just looked at him not believing her ears, then realizing what she had almost said, squealed and chose to stay silent. Hercule looked quite uneasy for a second, but quickly recovered. He coughed again, and fright brushed both Videl's and Gohan's face.
"I don't know about saving the world and stuff, but I do admit that he helped this city a lot as Great Saiya-man, and saved my daughter's life many times. Of course he's not as a great hero as I am, but he should be considered as a hero, at least here in Satan City for fighting criminals and helping others. I refuse to hear this boy being called some kind of freak. He's no freak, just some kind of magician who can use funny tricks, and helps people with them. Am I right, boy?"
Gohan could not believe his ears. Hercule was… DEFENDING him?
Videl fell back, luckily, on an empty chair. I... I... I can't believe... This... This must be a dream or something... She was in a minor shock.
"Y…Yes…" Gohan managed to squeeze out after recovering from his shock.
"I will repeat all these on the television this night on the show I will be participating in. And my final words before I leave to continue my training: if this boy is forced to leave this High School, I will make sure my daughter leaves as well. And just think of what the leaving of TWO heroes of the town would do to this school's reputation." With that, he grabbed his stuff, and left the office.
A minute of silence followed this, as the Principal walked over to his desk, sat down, stared at it for a time, and sighed. He looked up at Gohan and Videl.
"Originally you two were called in so I would tell Miss Satan she doesn't need to worry about her place in this school… Actually, I wish to tell the same to Mr. Son. This school shows no sign of discrimination towards its students, and can't possibly think of any way to damage Mr. Son's chances to study just because… Khmm… Well, you are free from school for today, but as for tomorrow, I expect both of you to be here on time, and Mr. Son will be automatically freed from his duty to be in class in case Miss Satan gets a call from the police in need of help, just like Miss Satan. Thank you for coming here in such a hurry Mrs. Son. I would like to have with the members of the staff here, so if you'll excuse us…"
Gohan, Videl and Chi-Chi lest the office with huge grins on their faces. As soon as the door closed, Chi-Chi collapsed in his son's arm, crying happy tears of joy.
"Oh, Gohan, I don't know what in the world we'd do if you couldn't continue your studies… You would surely become a delinquent, just like…"
"Okaa-san, forgive me, but where's Goten?"
"Oh no, I left him home alone! I totally forgot about him, he may have blown up the house or something!" She stormed out, screaming "KINTOUN!" frantically.
Finally, Videl and Gohan were alone. They smiled at each other, and Videl did something really unexpected: she jumped at Gohan and hugged him really close to her.
Gohan laughed out, and threw her up, then caught her as she fell. They both laughed, and Gohan let Videl down. She turned around, and faced her father.
"Pappa!" Videl called out, and gave him a huge hug, too. "Pappa, I though you hated Gohan-kun! You were so cool in there; you had them silenced in seconds!"
Gohan also moved closer to him, and looked Hercule in the eye. "Umm, Mr. Satan… I would like to thank you… Without you, I wouldn't have gotten out of the trouble for sure…" And with that, Gohan held out a hand for Hercule to shake.
Hercule looked at him, and eyed him for a couple of seconds, then laughed out and accepted his hand. "Kid, there's not much for what you should be thanking me for. It's clear for me that if it wasn't for you seven years back, there wouldn't be much left of this planet. Of course, I would have no trouble with dealing with Cell had it not been for my sickness… Anyway, you are a savior of the whole mankind, and these guys wanted to sack you! I just couldn't leave it at that! Not to mention what the people in the city think of you… Of course, I'm the biggest hero here…" He laughed up loudly, with his typical 'Satan-howl' "… But you deserve at least a normal life, without anyone thinking you're a freak. That's what I will make sure of tonight."
He let go of his hand and looked down at Videl. "As for my daughter…" The two teenagers gulped. "I told Videl that she couldn't meet anyone who wasn't stronger than me. That's of course impossible, but I still want to test you. I want to have a spar with you, to examine your strength, if you are at least capable of surviving. However, I do not have much time, but as soon as I will have a gap in my schedule, we will see if you're good enough. Until then… Well, you do save the town a lot of times, and things like that make people hang out with each other a lot… So, you're allowed to be friends with her, but nothing more, understood?"
"Yes, sir, and thank you."
"Pappa, you're the best!"
"I know, sweet-pea, I know, but now how about we leave and have a nice lunch somewhere together?"
Before Videl could answer, her watch went off. She looked at her father apologetically, who just laughed up at that. "I see, you have to go and punish some bad-guys. Have a good time!"
As Hercule left for the entrance, Videl and Gohan headed towards the roof. After taking off to the place of the bank-robbery, they could see that Videl was right: the place was full of reporters. They took a lot of pictures of them and of Hercule. Videl just sighed at the sight, and looked at Gohan flying next to her. He was smiling, and reached out for her hand. She grabbed his hand without a second thought, and, not even thinking, placed a little kiss on his cheek. Could this really be love?
I have never written so much for a chapter, so I feel really good about this. :) This is my first non-oneshot DBZ fic, please review!
I hope to see you in the next chapter,
NekoKriszty
8th of September, 2006: I re-read and corrected some mistakes (about a dozen... quite a few!). If you find a mistake, please tell me about it so I can correct it! Right now I'm studying Proficiency Masterclass English, and I would be really glad for your help in improving my English! Thank you!
13th of July, 2009: Re-reading again, correcting some things, maybe uploading another chapter. I feel really embarrassed about the OoCness, especially in Videl's case... She changed after meeting Gohan, becoming more girly, but she would never tear up like she did in this chapter. I felt like a real idiot reading this.